CREDIT WATCH : Overdue Bill

In 1969, when TRW Inc. branched out into credit reporting from its base in space, defense and auto parts, American consumers owed something on the order of $131 billion.

For a company already fluent in computer language, whose satellites would be able to read the license plate on a car in Red Square, logic dictated it could also easily keep track of whether Americans paid their bills on time.

But nobody at the time had any idea that consumer debt would soar by more than 600% over the next 22 years. That growth obviously swamped TRW’s computerized records.

TRW has not admitted mistakes, let alone inundation of its system, but to settle lawsuits filed by 19 states it agreed in court Tuesday to do better. It will speed up the business of weeding out errors that creep into its credit reports and will respond faster to panicky calls from consumers whose credit is cut off through no fault of their own.

It also agreed to accomplish all of this under a tight set of deadlines worked out by 19 states and the Federal Trade Commission.

Furthermore, consumers requesting a free copy of their credit report will get it in four days, the company said.

TRW shares with two other big credit reporting firms about $1 billion of income a year. Consumer advocates say they expect the others to follow suit.

None of this will pay any credit card bills. But it surely will erase some of the aggravation visited on people who already have enough trouble trying to pay up nearly $1 trillion in debt.