Nearly 45 million Americans have damaged credit.
Delinquency subjects borrowers to late fees, damaged credit and an increased risk of falling hopelessly behind.
It badly damages credit scores for tenants, with effects that can last for years.
Although he had worked hard to repair a mildly damaged credit score, several major lenders rejected his application for a new credit card a few months earlier.
With millions of Americans nursing damaged credit reports after a bruising recession, some lawmakers are seeking to limit the use of credit reports as a factor in hiring.
Joblessness, damaged credit and falling home values have left people unable to borrow or to repay debt and businesses reluctant to hire and invest.
Short-term investors in America and Europe, it said, were using new powers such as the ability to nominate board directors to push for actions which could damage credit quality.
Consumers rarely emerge from debt settlement programs with their credit card balances eliminated, these critics say, and many wind up worse off, with severely damaged credit, ceaseless threats from collection agents and lawsuits from creditors.
A deteriorating economy would damage credit quality at most banks, but Sharada Vibhakar, a bank analyst at Parker/Hunter, an investment bank and brokerage firm, is somewhat optimistic.
It can take quite some time to restore damaged credit.
Victims suffer financially and devote countless hours to retrieving stolen funds, restoring damaged credit, and detangling the mess that's left behind.
