February 06, 2006

Hello Tony

I bought a used vehicle from a local car dealer. The loan was paid off on time and in full about two years ago.

Recently I checked my credit report and this loan was not on my credit report. The loan was active for 18 months.

When I called the dealer about it today he said that they are too small of a company to put this loan on my credit report. I asked him if there was any way to do this and he said "not really."

This leads me to believe that there is a way and he just doesn't want to mess with it. If you know anything about all this please help me out.

Great site by the way!!

Dean T.

Answer:

Hi Dean,

Thanks for the kind words about my website!

Most small businesses such as buy-here pay-here car lots don't report payment activity to the credit bureaus. I'm not sure how it works, but I think a business has to pay a monthly fee to the credit bureaus in order to report to them.

I don't know of any way to get the on-time payments listed. You may want to call the credit bureaus and ask them.

Probably the most you can hope for is to use this car dealer as a credit reference the next time you apply for a loan.

All my very best...

Tony Iorio