ALERTS NOTIFICATION USER GUIDE

(1)

ALERTS NOTIFICATION USER GUIDE

Equifax Canada Inc.

Box 190 Jean Talon Station Montreal, Quebec

H1S 2Z2

ABOUT EQUIFAX®

Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers. Customers have trusted Equifax for over 100 years to deliver innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses - large and small - rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well-being.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. employs approximately 6,900 people in 14 countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX. Equifax is a registered trademark of Equifax Inc., Atlanta, Georgia. All rights reserved.

For more information visit

(2)

CONTENTS:

ALERTS AND DEFINITIONS……….3 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS………4 GLOSSARY OF TERMS………..5

(3)

your credit file. We will monitor your credit file on a daily basis and notify you via email or via text messaging of additions to your credit summary. It is important that you review these changes to ensure that they are legitimate and not the result of fraudulent activity.

Alerts and Definitions: What is an alert?

An alert is created and emailed to notify you of additions to your credit file based upon specific changes to your credit summary.

Equifax Canada monitors your credit file every business day. You will be promptly alerted to new inquiries on your credit file, so you can act quickly, should you suspect fraudulent activity. More specifically, you will receive alerts when any of the following occurs:

Address Change: To alert you if the address on file is reported as changed. The address is deemed to have changed if there is more or less information than previous in the address line. For example, if there is a change in Postal Code or in city.

New Inquiry: To alert you if a lender has obtained a copy of the report in order to evaluate an application for credit made in your name.

Name Change: To alert you if there has been a name change registered to your credit file. This is indicated by a change in the last name or first character of your first name.

New Trade added: To alert you if a new debt obligation has been opened in your name within the last 3 months since you registered for monitoring services.

New Collection Item: To alert you if a debt obligation has been classified as in

collections for an amount of at least $200. This amount can be paid or unpaid or both.

New Bankruptcy added: To alert you that a bankruptcy has been added to your Credit Report during the last 4 months. This is important as bankruptcies will lower your credit rating and your eligibility to borrow at favorable interest rates in the future.

Derogatory added: To alert you of a foreclosure, judgment or garnishment public record within the last 3 months

(4)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

How will I know if there is a change to my file?

You will receive an email or text message notifying you of a change. Once you receive the email simply log into your account to view the changes.

What if I already know about the change?

The email alerts are to simply notify you that we have seen a specific change to your credit file. If you are aware of the change just log in and view the change.

If you are not familiar with the change let us know and we will work with you to investigate. Our customer service team is available to answer your questions.

(5)

ACCOUNT NUMBER - A reference number assigned to an individual’s account by either a creditor or collection agency.

ACCOUNT HISTORY - Shows payment history on a month-to-month basis for the last 24

months. Abbreviations, which are defined under “DEFINITIONS: Account History” located at the bottom of each page of your profile, are used to describe your payment status each month including the most recent month reported.

ACCOUNT STATUS - Shows the current status of your account and may indicate delinquencies that were reported in the past seven years.

ACTIVE ACCOUNT - An account for which activity has been reported to a Credit Reporting Agency in the last 90 days.

ALIAS - A name reported in your credit file that differs from your primary or given name. This commonly occurs if you've applied for credit or loans under different variations of your name -- "Robert P. Smith" and "Bob Smith," for example. ALIAS is sometimes referred to as “Also Known As” (AKA).

AMORTIZATION - The reduction of a mortgage loan by regular payments.

AMOUNT DUE - Generally, the minimum monthly payment you must make, not the total amount you owe.

ANNUAL FEE - The yearly fee charged by a lender to maintain an account.

ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE (APR) - The cost of credit at a yearly rate. Knowing the APR allows you to effectively compare loans, even when they are structured differently.

ASSET - Any holding that has a monetary value or use. Houses, real estate, cars, jewelry, and stocks & bonds are considered assets.

AUTHORIZED USER - A person allowed to charge goods and services on a credit card by the primary user of that card. Authorized users -- unlike users of a joint account -- are not legally responsible for payment.

AVAILABLE CREDIT - On a credit account, the credit limit minus the current balance. To many creditors, your total available credit on all your accounts is an important factor.

BALANCE AMOUNT - Amount due to the creditor at the time account information was last reported.

(6)

BALANCE - The outstanding amount owed to a creditor on a particular account.

BALANCE DATE - The last date the file was updated by the Credit Reporting agency with creditor information.

CLOSED ACCOUNT - An account that has been closed by you or your creditor. Such accounts remain on your Credit Report for seven years from the date of last activity.

COLLECTION AGENCY - A firm assigned by a creditor to collect overdue amounts. Some creditors have internal collection departments. Like creditors, collection agencies report account information to consumer reporting agencies.

CONSOLIDATION LOAN - A loan obtained in order to combine multiple debts into one, typically at a lower interest rate.

CONSUMER - An individual who purchases products and services.

CONSUMER DEBT - Debt incurred for items that aren't considered tangible investments such as credit card debt, car loans, and personal loans made by family members.

CONSUMER STATEMENT - Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right to add a consumer statement to your credit file to explain disputed information about your accounts.

CREDIT CARD - A card used to make purchases or take out cash loans that require the user to pay some or the entire outstanding amount each month. Credit cards are differentiated mainly by their terms.

CREDIT CARD ISSUER - A bank or other institution that extends consumers credit through a credit card.

CREDIT FILE - A record of an individual’s credit payment history as reported at a Credit Reporting agency. The credit file is a collection of an individual’s credit history, indentifying information, and other records maintained by a Credit Reporting agency. “Credit File” is sometimes used interchangeably with Credit Report, but technically a credit file is the source from which a Credit Report is generated.

CREDIT HISTORY - A record of how a consumer has paid credit accounts in the past. It is used as a guide to determine whether or not the consumer is likely to pay future accounts on time.

CREDIT LIMIT/CREDIT LINE - The amount of credit issued by a lender.

(7)

Equifax Canada, all rights reserved CREDIT REPORT - A report that a prospective lender or employer obtains from a consumer reporting agency that displays the manner in which a consumer has met his or her past credit obligations. It is used to help determine creditworthiness of the potential borrower or to confirm identity of an individual.

CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY - Also known as a credit bureau. An organization that compiles information from various financial institutions and courts to create an individual’s credit file.

CREDIT SCORE - A score based on variables in your credit file that is indicative of your credit worthiness.

CREDITOR - A person or business from whom you borrow or to whom you owe money.

CURRENT RATINGS - Shows total of all account types that are currently delinquent 30, 60, or 90 days.

DATE ON FILE - Date your credit file was started.

DATE OPEN - Date account was opened.

DATE PAID - Date account was satisfied.

DATE OF STATUS - Date account status was last updated.

DELINQUENCY - A debt on which payment is overdue.

DISCHARGE - To release a debtor from responsibility for a debt, often as a result of bankruptcy.

DISMISSED BANKRUPTCY - An instance in which a judge has ruled against a consumer's petition for bankruptcy, sometimes at the consumer's request. Such cases are recorded in the public records section of the consumer's Credit Report, and the debts covered in the bankruptcy remain outstanding.

DISPUTE - To question the accuracy of information in a Credit Report.

FILING DATE - Date item was filed with the courts.

FORECLOSURE: The legal process by which a creditor may sell mortgaged property to recover a defaulted mortgage.

FRAUD ALERT - If you suspect that you're the victim of identity theft or credit fraud, you may contact the Credit Reporting agencies and place a fraud alert on your credit file. Such an alert

(8)

will prevent new credit accounts from being opened without your express permission.

HARD INQUIRY - An indication on your credit file that a lender has obtained a copy of the report in order to evaluate your loan or credit application. An excess of hard inquiries within a six-month period may lower your credit rating.

HIGH/LIMIT - The highest balance since the account was opened or the limit on the account.

HISTORY RATINGS - Shows the total of all account types that were delinquent 30, 60, or 90 days in the past seven years.

INQUIRY - A request for a copy of your credit file, usually from a bank(s), landlord(s), potential employer(s), mortgage broker(s), or the institution(s) from whom you’ve applied for credit. Too many inquiries may be considered a negative factor as it suggests that you are becoming overextended. Inquiries made by companies for marketing purposes have no impact on your credit rating and are not included here. See also hard inquiry and soft inquiry.

INQUIRY DATE - Date your credit file was requested.

INSTALLMENT ACCOUNT - An account with a fixed payment for the term of the loan.

INSTALLMENT LOAN - A credit account in which the debt is divided into amounts to be paid successively at specified intervals set by the terms of the loan.

INVESTIGATION - The process a Credit Reporting company undertakes in order to verify Credit Report information disputed by a consumer. For more information, see correcting inaccuracies on your Credit Report.

JOINT ACCOUNT - A credit or loan account held by two or more people. All account holders assume legal responsibility for the repayment of the account.

JOINT CREDIT REPORT - A combined report created by merging the credit files of joint applicants and used by creditors to assess a joint application for credit, usually involving a mortgage. Note that the credit files remain separate.

JUDGMENT -A determination by a court of law that, in the case of credit, may require a person to fulfill an obligation -- to pay a debt, for example. When a judgment has been satisfied (i.e. the debt has been paid or settled), the consumer has fulfilled its requirements and is no longer liable. Information about judgments is recorded in the public records section of a Credit Report.

LENDER - A company that lends money to consumers or enables them to make purchases on credit. Sometimes used interchangeably with creditor.

(9)

LOAN TYPE - Type of loan for which an inquiry was made.

MINIMUM PAYMENT - The smallest payment you can make on a revolving credit account to maintain your account status as being paid as agreed.

MONTHLY PAYMENT - Average monthly payment reported to the Credit Reporting agency- may be estimated by the agency if not reported by the creditor. (This may be indicated by an asterisk “*”).

MORTGAGE - A loan designed to facilitate the purchase of a home, in which the home itself serves as security for the loan. If the borrower doesn't make the required payments, the lender may through a legal process known as foreclosure, sell the home in order to recover the

amount owed on the mortgage. "Mortgage" can also refer to the legal document detailing the borrower's responsibilities, including the payment schedule and terms.

NET 30 ACCOUNT - An account where the balance must be paid in full at the end of 30 days.

OPEN ACCOUNT - An account that is currently in use.

ORIGINAL CREDITOR - Shows the original creditor that turned the account over to the collection agency.

OWNERSHIP - Designation by a lender of an individual responsible for payment of an account.

PAST DUE AMOUNT - Amount currently past due.

PRIMARY USER - The person under whose name a credit card account is listed. A primary user can authorize other people to use the account, but the primary user is ultimately responsible for repaying all charges.

PRIOR DELINQUENCIES - Date account was last reported delinquent.

PUBLIC RECORD - Information obtained from court records about such things as tax liens, bankruptcy filings and judgments against you in civil actions.

REAL ESTATE ACCOUNT - A fixed payment account involving ownership of property (such as mortgage payments).

(10)

SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER (SIN) - The unique nine-digit number assigned to every legal resident of the Canada. Because no two people are assigned the same number, the SIN is usually the main identifying factor in a person's records, including Credit Reports.

SOFT INQUIRY - An instance in which your credit report is accessed without affecting your credit rating. Soft inquiries include your own requests for your credit report, promotional inquiries by credit card companies, and "checkup" inquiries by your existing creditors. Inquiries associated with your credit monitoring services are soft inquiries.

TAX LIEN - A charge upon real estate or personal property for the satisfaction of a debt or duty ordinarily arising by operation of law.

TERM - The amount of time in which a loan must be repaid in full

TRADELINE NAME - Account name.