<i>Do companies in other areas typically report such accounts to the credit agencies?</i><p>Generally the companies themselves do not report to credit agencies.  However, once the account is turned over to a collections company then that company will nearly always report the delinquency to the credit agencies.  So from the consumer point of view, the statement &quot;If I don&#x27;t pay my bill, it will show up on my credit report&quot; is true, but there is a middleman in the process.