No, actually it doesn't at all. And frankly, it is none of your business. It's important for giving certain types of loans, not for doing pre-paid transactions

No, actually it doesn't at all. And frankly, it is none of your business. It's important for giving certain types of loans, not for doing pre-paid transactions like renting a room for a night. Credit information should be need-to-know, and you should be respectful of others' privacy (and perhaps more cautious of your own). You're nuts if you think I am giving you 7 years of address history, all my credit accounts, my spouse's accounts, and how much is on my mortgages, just so I can rent your guest house for a weekend vacation. You can verify that you're able to put a reasonable deposit on my credit card, and that I'm not a criminal, and that's all you need. I've actually been a landlord for about 3 years, and I don't even do credit checks on a 12 month lease. I've never had to keep a dollar of anyone's damage deposit.