The information in a credit report is sold by the credit agencies to organizations that are considering whether to offer credit to individuals or companies, it is also avaiable to other entities with a "permissible purpose." The consequences of a negative credit rating is typically a reduction in the likelihood that a
lender will approve an application for credit under favorable terms or at all. Interest rates on loans are often based on credit history in an almost backwards-intuitive way--the higher the credit rating, the lower the interst while the lower the credit rating, the higher the interest.
You can find brokerage
loan rates for your home.
In the United States, in certain cases, mortgage net branch
insurance, housing and even employment can also be denied based on a negative credit rating. Laws to protect consumers are in place however, to regulate this behavior.
Interestingly enough, it is not the credit reporting agencies that decide whether a credit history is "adverse." It is the individual lender or creditor which makes that decision. Each lender has its own policy on what scores fall within their guidlelines. The specific scores that fall within a lender's guidelines is most often NOT disclosed to the applicant due to its nature as a trade secret. In the United States, a creditor is required to give a reason for denying credit to an applicant immediately and must also provide the name and address of the credit reporting agency who provided data that was used to make the decision.