--- title: "How to Order Credit Reports" slug: "how-to-order-credit-reports-new-credco-application" tags: ["Credco", "Encompass Desktop", "EPC"] updated: 2026-08-21T17:06:54Z published: 2026-08-21T17:06:54Z canonical: "docs.cotality.com/how-to-order-credit-reports-new-credco-application" excludeFromSearch: true excludeFromExternalSearch: true --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cotality.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How to Order Credit Reports ## Overview Order Credco® credit reports to evaluate your borrower’s creditworthiness and assess potential risk. Quickly select your borrowers, choose a credit product and submit your request in just a few clicks. Use this workflow to order the following credit products: ****Instant Merge**** Instant Merge is a **hard inquiry** report that allows you to combine credit data from **one, two, or all three national credit bureaus** (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) into a single, easy-to-read report. This report is suitable for most lending scenarios and is commonly used during the underwriting stage of loan fulfillment. ****Prequal**** Prequal is a **soft inquiry** report that allows you to perform an initial, non-decisionable **credit check for prequalification without impacting the consumer’s credit score**. With proper authorization, use this report to help your borrowers understand their credit standing and explore loan options. It is commonly used during the application stage of the loan process. ****Home Equity**** Home Equity is a **hard inquiry** report that allows you to evaluate borrower eligibility for **Home Equity Loans** or **Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs)**. This report assesses eligibility against bureau products based on the needs of private investors and is commonly used during the underwriting stage of loan fulfillment. ****Preapproval**** Preapproval is a **soft-inquiry** credit report that enables lenders to assess a borrower’s eligibility **without impacting the consumer’s credit score**. This report is obtained under the permissible purpose of "extension of credit" and may be used for loan decisioning purposes. ****Instant Merge Limited**** Instant Merge Limited is a specialized credit report that aggregates mortgage-related data from the national credit bureaus. It can be configured as a mortgage-only report, with or without credit scores, and is typically used during the underwriting process. --- ## Order credit reports **Encompass® Desktop** Follow these steps to order credit reports on **Encompass® Desktop**. [Embedded content](https://app.storylane.io/demo/kvfnvoipzztt?embed=inline) 1. Sign in to Encompass® Desktop using your credentials. 2. From your **Pipeline**, select the appropriate loan from the list. 3. In the left navigation bar, select **Services**, then choose **Order Credit Report** from the menu. 4. On the Credit Report popup, select **Cotality Credco**. 5. Click **Submit**. 6. Click **New Order**. 7. Confirm the details in the **Loan Information** section. If multiple borrowers are on the loan, you can make a selection from the **Borrowers** dropdown menu. 8. Confirm the **Account** associated with your order. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: If only one account is assigned to your user profile, it will display as a read-only field. If multiple accounts are available, use the dropdown to select the appropriate account. 9. From the **Request Type** dropdown menu, select **New Request**. 10. From the **Product** dropdown, select the appropriate product from the list. 11. Select the applicable **Bureaus** by checking the appropriate box(es). 12. Select the **Report Language**. 13. From the **Report On** section, select **Individual** or **Joint** using the appropriate radio button. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: For orders with two borrowers, selecting **Individual** will pull the credit report for the first borrower listed on the loan. 14. Confirm your import selections: - Select **Auto-Import Liabilities** to automatically import liabilities into your Encompass loan file (or uncheck it to prevent the liabilities from importing). - Select **Exclude Zero Balance** to exclude zero-balance accounts (or uncheck it to include zero-balance accounts in your import to Encompass). > [!NOTE] > **Note**: The Auto-Import Liabilities and Exclude Zero Balance options are not available for Prequal, Home Equity, Preapproval, or Instant Merge Limited orders. 15. Review the **Application Information** section. Observe that the Borrower fields are grayed out and locked from editing. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: If any of the borrower information is incorrect, exit the application, update the details in your Encompass loan file, and then return to the Credco application to submit your order. 16. Review and confirm the **Current Address** and update it if needed. > [!NOTE] > **Tip**: Select **Normal Address** to change the address format type. Options include Normal, PO Box, Rural Route, or Military. For military addresses, refer to the [**Entering Military Addresses**](/ext/docs/entering-military-addresses-new-credco-application#overview) article. 17. Confirm or enter the **Previous Address** and **Mailing Address**. - Select **+Add Previous Address**. - Select **+Add Mailing Address**. 18. If your borrower provided a file freeze PIN to access a frozen credit report, expand and complete the **File Freeze PIN** section for each applicable bureau, and select the acknowledgement checkbox. 19. Enter any comments or notes in the **Notes** field. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: Comments or notes entered here will appear in the header of your credit report. 20. Select **Submit Order** to complete the process. The **Order Summary** page displays with your completed report. > [!NOTE] > **Tip**: A copy of the credit report will also populate to your Encompass eFolder. **Encompass® Web** Follow these steps to order credit reports on **Encompass® Web**. [Embedded content](https://app.storylane.io/demo/5g36yrjgokft?embed=inline) 1. Sign in to Encompass® Web using your credentials. 2. From your **Pipeline**, select the appropriate loan from the list. 3. In the left navigation bar, select **Services**, then choose **All Services** from the menu. 4. On the **All Services** page, click **Order Service.** 5. In the **Order Service** popup, select **Credit** under **Categories**, then choose **Cotality Credco** from the **Providers** list. 6. Click **Next.** 7. Click **New Order**. 8. Confirm the details in the **Loan Information** section. If multiple borrowers are on the loan, you can make a selection from the **Borrowers** dropdown menu. 9. Confirm the **Account** associated with your order. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: If only one account is assigned to your user profile, it will display as a read-only field. If multiple accounts are available, use the dropdown to select the appropriate account. 10. From the **Request Type** dropdown menu, select **New Request**. 11. From the **Product** dropdown, select the appropriate product from the list. 12. Select the applicable **Bureaus** by checking the appropriate box(es). 13. Select the **Report Language**. 14. From the **Report On** section, select **Individual** or **Joint** using the appropriate radio button. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: For orders with two borrowers, selecting **Individual** will pull the credit report for the first borrower listed on the loan. 15. Confirm your import selections: - Select **Auto-Import Liabilities** to automatically import liabilities into your Encompass loan file (or uncheck it to prevent the liabilities from importing). - Select **Exclude Zero Balance** to exclude zero balance accounts (or uncheck it to include zero-balance accounts in your import to Encompass). > [!NOTE] > **Note**: The Auto-Import Liabilities and Exclude Zero Balance options are not available for Prequal, Home Equity, Preapproval, or Instant Merge Limited orders. 16. Review the **Application Information** section. Observe that the Borrower fields are grayed out and locked from editing. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: If any of the borrower information is incorrect, exit the application, update the details in your Encompass loan file, and then return to the Credco application to submit your order. 17. Review and confirm the **Current Address** and update it if needed. > [!NOTE] > **Tip**: Select **Normal Address** to change the address format type. Options include Normal, PO Box, Rural Route, or Military. For military addresses, refer to the [**Entering Military Addresses**](/ext/docs/entering-military-addresses-new-credco-application#overview) article. 18. Confirm or enter the **Previous Address** and **Mailing Address**. - Select **+Add Previous Address**. - Select **+Add Mailing Address**. 19. If your borrower provided a file freeze PIN to access a frozen credit report, expand and complete the **File Freeze PIN** section for each applicable bureau, and select the acknowledgement checkbox. 20. Enter any comments or notes in the **Notes** field. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: Comments or notes entered here will appear in the header of your credit report. 21. Select **Submit Order** to complete the process. The **Order Summary** page displays with your completed report. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: A copy of the credit report will also populate to your Encompass eFolder. --- ## Outcome You can order credit reports to evaluate your borrower’s creditworthiness and assess potential risk in just a few clicks.