Request your free credit report and score.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to demand one free copy of your credit report, from each of the consumer reporting companies, every 12 months. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
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"Who goes a-borrowing goeth a-sorrowing."
- Thomas Tusser |
A credit bureau is in the business of gathering information about how various individual consumers use their credit. They collect information from any and all financial transactions the consumer indulges in, and maintains all financial history about the consumer.
Your credit report contains contact and address information; it has a history of how you manage your credit and pay your bills; and it has information about whether you have ever been sued, arrested or have filed for a bankruptcy.
Agencies can sell access to your information to anyone with a legally-recognized reason. The consumer reporting companies are legally allowed to sell this information, under certain conditions, to prospective creditors, insurers, employers and anyone else who has a permissible reason or wants to use the credit report to evaluate your creditworthiness and to decide on your applications.
For example, if you have a major credit card company promoting a new credit card. To narrow down their market segment into likely candidates, they would get in touch with the credit bureaus and give them a profile of the sort of consumer they believe might be interested in the new credit card.
The profile would include criteria with regard to personal income, region or state of residence, the number of credit cards the person might already possess, their credit score ranking and so on.
The credit bureau would then search through their records, pulling out the credit record and credit score of all consumers that match the given profile. If you fit the bill, you would be one of the people to get special offers mailed to you, or you may even receive a phone call from a telemarketer.
Although there are only three major credit bureaus nationwide, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, there are dozens of much smaller credit bureaus throughout the US. Many of them focus on and serve specialized niche markets.
However, as a general rule, most credit grantors and companies that report to these are also likely to report to at least one of the three national credit bureaus.
It is vital for you, as a consumer, to keep track of your credit report, not just to know what’s in it, but to use that information to your advantage. Be on the lookout for any errors on your free credit report and score, before those pesky errors become a problem.
You can order your free credit report and score very easily, either online by phone or by mail. You can find your free credit report and score online at www.annualcreditreport.com.
You can also order via phone, by calling 1-877-322-8228 or complete and mail the free annual credit report and score request form to the Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
Credit Bureau Contact Information
Here are the main addresses and phone numbers for the major credit bureaus:
Experian
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
1 888-397-3742
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
1-800-685-1111
Trans Union
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
1-800-888-4213
For any further information, or clarifications, you can refer to the brochure prepared by The Federal Trade Commission, a consumer protection agency, about your rights, options under the FCRA, how to order your free credit report and score, and so on. Also, check out our free tools on FICO and Credit Reports.
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"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."
- Woody Allen |
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Debt is NOT your friend. It's not a wonderful "tool" for building wealth. That's a myth.
