Lenders that do and don't report improving credit
stories By Michael D. Larson and Julie G. Bandy
• • Bankrate.com
Subprime lenders -- which specialize
in lending to people with blemished payment records -- charge higher
interest rates but boast that their loans help people repair their
credit. But some of the companies don't share that information with
other lenders by reporting their borrowers' performance monthly
to a credit bureau. That means that consumers who get back on track
and make on-time payments won't have that information on their credit
records, effectively hiding them from other lenders who might want
to give them a better deal.
Here's how the companies stack
up:
Sub rosa subprime
lenders: Who reports? Here are the 10 top loan servicers in the subprime lending
industry showing which report their customers' payment histories
to credit bureaus.
Company
Amount serviced (in billions)
Market share
Report monthly to credit bureaus?
Associates Home Equity
$25.1
10.4%
Yes
Household Financial Services
$22.6
9.4%
Yes
Advanta Mortgage USA
$17.5
7.2%
10%-20% reported quarterly, the remainder
monthly
Money Store
$13.3
5.5%
No (will begin this November)
ContiMortgage Corp.
$13.1
5.4%
Did not respond
GreenTree Financial
$10.3
4.3%
Do not report on about 20% of their
loans
Commercial Credit/Travelers
$9.1
3.8%
Yes
Ocwen Financial Corp.
$7.8
3.2%
Yes
FirstPlus Financial Group
$7.2
3.0%
Yes
Equicredit Organization
$7.1
2.9%
Yes
Sources: NMN/Quarterly Data Report for the
loan amounts and market share as of mid-1999, company officials
contacted by Bankrate.com for whether they report.
