Central Credit Register

The Credit Reporting Act requires that NAMA (including National Asset Loan Management Designated Activity Company) submit personal and credit information to the Central Credit Register in relation to all forms of personal and business loans for €500 or more. This requirement also applies to over 500 other lenders in Ireland, including banks, credit unions and asset finance houses.

From 30 September 2018, NAMA provided information backdated to 31 March 2018, including personal information in the case of individuals who are borrowers (and in due course guarantors) in their personal capacity and credit information to the Central Credit Register and has continued to provide monthly updates thereafter. This will be for all existing loans to individuals, partnerships and corporates held or advanced by NAMA.

NAMA will also be obliged to check the CCR when considering loan applications for €2,000 or more.

If you are a borrower and/or guarantor in your personal capacity, another purpose of this Notice is to inform you that the Credit Reporting Act requires NAMA to process personal data for the Central Credit Register.

All personal data that NAMA provides will be used by the Central Credit Register to ensure that loans and borrowers are correctly matched.

NAMA has a legal basis to process this data for this purpose under the Credit Reporting Act.

Your personal and credit (or loan information) will be sent by NAMA to the Central Credit Register through the Central Bank of Ireland’s secure reporting channels. That information will then be stored securely by the Central Bank of Ireland on the Central Credit Register, where it will be used to create your credit report. The Central Bank of Ireland will then be the data controller in relation to any personal data held on the Central Credit Register.

The current list of personal information (being personal data) and credit information is set out in the Credit Reporting Act and regulations issued by the Central Bank of Ireland in Statutory Instrument No. 486 of 2016 which are available on its website (see below).

The Central Credit Register needs this information to ensure it creates a complete and accurate record of your loans, including credit facilities you may have with other qualifying lenders.

A credit report will contain factual personal and credit information only. The Central Credit Register will not calculate a score or grade for your credit report nor decide if a loan is approved or not. Lenders, such as NAMA, will continue to make that decision.

Information will be kept on the Central Credit Register for five years after a loan account has been closed.

Lenders, including NAMA, may only access your credit report when:

• considering an application for a new loan (and will be obliged to do so from 30th September 2018 onwards in considering any loan application for €2,000 or more);

• you ask to change the terms of a loan facility; or

• NAMA is reviewing a loan in arrears.

No other person, such as employers or landlords, can access your credit report without your written consent.

The Credit Reporting Act requires that NAMA must obtain certain personal and credit information from any loan applicant, in relation to any loan application for €500 or more and to provide that information to the Central Credit Register.

NAMA is also under a legal obligation to hold or obtain from you up to date identification documentation for any borrower or loan applicant, where that is not already held.

If you are a borrower and/or guarantor in your personal capacity then, from 31 March 2018 on, NAMA will be required to obtain your personal public service number (PPSN) from you in relation, for example, to any loan application and to provide that to the Central Credit Register.

In addition, NAMA is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the personal and credit information submitted to the Central Credit Register and may require your assistance in verifying that information to ensure accuracy.

When making any credit application, you will also be required to advise NAMA if you have an outstanding aggregate debt of more than €5,000 for any loans which are not governed by Irish law where you were resident outside the Republic of Ireland when those loans were entered into.

Accordingly, over the coming months, you will increasingly see these requirements forming part of NAMA’s credit application process. NAMA may also write to you separately if there is any particular information required by the Central Bank or further identification documentation is required from you in relation to your existing loans.

You should note that compliance with these requirements may impact on NAMA’s timelines to advance facilities on foot of loan applications.

When credit reports become available, you will have a right to:

• request your credit report at any time (your first credit report each year is free);
• insert a 200 word explanatory statement on your credit report;
• apply to have your credit or personal information changed if you believe it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. Any such application must be made in writing, with supporting documentation. If a requested amendment is not made by the CCR, you can enter an explanatory comment for inclusion on your credit report.

The Central Bank has published details of how to submit a request for a credit report on www.centralcreditregister.ie.

Please note that there are restrictions on the manner in which NAMA (or any lender) is in a position to report to the Central Credit Register. For example:

(i) where a loan is limited in recourse to a specific property or other asset, it is not possible for NAMA to report this and the full amount of that loan will still appear on your credit report (notwithstanding that NAMA may have no further recourse to you in that respect);

(ii) if you have entered into a settlement agreement with NAMA in relation to joint borrowings, but all parties to those loans have not done so, it is not possible for NAMA to report such a settlement at an individual level, so there will be no reference to your settlement agreement being in place and related loans must be reported on in full;

(iii) if you have entered into a settlement agreement with NAMA but certain terms or conditions must still be met, it is not possible for NAMA to report this, so there will be no reference to your settlement agreement being in place and related loans must be reported on in full;

(iv) if you are either the subject of, or discharged from, a bankruptcy or similar personal insolvency arrangement, but either your bankruptcy estate has not been fully administered or NAMA continues to hold security assets (which fall outside of that bankruptcy or personal insolvency arrangement), it is not possible for NAMA to report this and related loans must be reported on in full;

(v) if you are party to a limited liability partnership, which has been dissolved arising from the bankruptcy or other insolvency related event of one of your partners and NAMA has not been made aware of that dissolution, NAMA will report on those loans as partnership loans;

(vi) if a receiver (or similar insolvency office holder) has been appointed over your assets secured in favour of NAMA and that receiver has borrowed monies, as your agent, which is secured on those assets, NAMA will report on those loans in your name and not in the name of the receiver.

If any of these or similar issues apply to you, we suggest that you obtain a copy of your credit report and exercise your right (under s.13 of the Credit Reporting Act) to include an explanatory note on your credit report to clarify any such circumstances.

You can only do this directly with the Central Credit Register (see contact details below). NAMA will not be able to note this on your report or provide any further assistance in this regard.

You will also have the right to report and be informed of suspected impersonation if you reasonably believe you have been, or are being, or may be about to be impersonated by any person. In such cases, you can request the CCR to note this on your credit report for the purposes of alerting other credit providers of that impersonation. NAMA will also be obliged to notify you if it believes that you are being impersonated.

You do not need to take any action in relation to this Notice.

It is simply to inform you that NAMA will commence sending this information to the Central Credit Register by 30 September 2018 at the latest and the information will be backdated to 31 March 2018.

Because compliance with the Central Credit Act is a legal obligation for NAMA, your consent is not required in order that NAMA do so.

How can you find out more about the Central Credit Register?