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May 16, 2006 8:23 am US/Mountain
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Overdue Library Books Can Hurt Credit Score
by Ericka Lewis
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Local and state governments across the United States have turned to collection agencies to get money from people who don't pay fines and parking tickets. The collection of nearly $40 billion from consumers that is owed to governments can end up hurting people's credit score.
"An overdue library book, if it ends up in collections on your credit report, can impact you up to 100 points on your credit score," Kim McGrigg with Consumer Credit Counseling said.
McGrigg said people have often been surprised when library fines, parking tickets and court fees make their way onto a credit report.
"Most people expect if they miss a credit card payment it will impact their credit history," she said. "Most people do not expect if they don't return a library book it will impact their credit history."
The Denver Public Library said it has reported more than 27,000 people to a credit bureau since it started working with a collection agency in 2000.
"We're here to serve the community and we want to make sure we can serve them to the best of our ability and having our books back is a way that we can do it," Susan Donovan with the Denver Public Library said.
Denver, along with the Arapahoe Library District and Aurora Public Library, all have partnerships with a collection agency. Denver libraries give people at least 7 months to pay a big fine before turning it over to a collection agency.
Denver's parking enforcement agency has been working with a credit bureau for years. It gives people about 90 days to pay a fine before turning the matter over to a collection agency.
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