Terry Clemans

Terry Clemans has been involved in the credit reporting industry for more than 20 years and has been the Executive Director of the National Credit Reporting Association, Inc. (NCRA) since January 2001.

NCRA, founded in 1992, is a national trade association that represents mortgage credit reporting, tenant screening, and employment screening companies throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  NCRA membership includes more than 80% of the companies in the United States that can produce a credit report that meets the requirements of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD for mortgage lending.

In his position at NCRA, Terry has provided testimony before Congressional hearings and represented the mortgage credit reporting industry to many government agencies including the FRB, HUD, FTC, FBI, SBA, OFEO, DOJ, and the White House’s OMB.  Additionally he has been involved in credit-related issues with numerous industry and consumer groups including IAMB, NAMB, USPIRG, CFA, CU, NCLC, NCRC, NAR, MBA, The Brookings Institute and many others at the Federal and State level.

In the media, Terry has been quoted in newspapers across the nation and authors a monthly column in The Mortgage Professional. Among some of the most notable media sources that have featured his quotes are, The Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, CNBC, CNN, CSPAN and National Public Radio.

Prior to becoming NCRA’s executive director, Terry owned and operated American Credit Connection, Inc. (ACC) from 1991 until 1998 when he sold it to Factual Data Corp., a publicly traded competitor. During that time, he grew his company from a three-person start-up to 24 employees at the time of its acquisition. In addition to president of ACC, Terry served as a member of the NCRA board of directors from 1994 - 1998 and was a “Charter Member” of the association in 1992.  At Factual Data he served as the Vice President and Regional Sales Manager of the central region (Chicago) and the National Marketing Director of Factual Data’s Empfacts Employment Screening Division.

During his time in the Chicago area mortgage industry, Terry served as a Director of the IAMB, and on the IAMB executive committee, in addition to many other roles that earned him the IAMB’s President's award in 1995 and Vendor of the year in 1997.

Terry graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Northern Illinois University in 1987.

He was a member of the NIU Hall of Fame 1983 Mid-American Conference and California Bowl Championship football team. From 2000 – 2006 he served on NIU’s Alumni Association Board of Directors. Terry and his wife Kay met at NIU, have been married since 1988, and live near Chicago.