- Each month, the credit agencies request repayment information for all customers of a particular bank. The reports do not include information regarding any particular customer's checking or savings account. Instead, banks report how well a loan is being paid--if it is on time, if it's late, how late it is, and what the outstanding balance is.
- Most lenders report the same information to all bureaus with regard to their mortgage loans. This information includes: the amount of a mortgage payment; whether or not the payment was made on time the previous month; if not, how far behind the mortgage payment is; when the mortgage was opened; the original balance on the mortgage; and the current outstanding balance.
- Banks are not required to report how much interest was paid. In fact, most lenders do not specify how much a particular customer is paying in interest on his or her mortgage. Instead, the bank will report the mortgage payment--which includes both principal and interest--and the mortgage balance. With rough calculations, the actual interest being paid can be gleaned from this information.
- Banks are, however, required to report all interest paid on any mortgage to their customers at the end of each year. This number is mailed to all mortgage customers and contained on Form 1098. Since the federal government allows for a tax deduction on mortgage interest payments, points, origination fees, and closing costs, banks must report this figure to their customers by the end of each January.
- It is inadvisable for a customer to rely on a credit report for up-to-date mortgage information. Most credit reports lag about 30 to 60 days behind. To get accurate, up-to-date information, customers should call their mortgage lenders.
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