How to Contact a Credit Bureau

If you need to contact a credit bureau, such as Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax, you can do so by phone, mail, or online. You can contact them to get a copy of your free annual credit report, or you can contact them to dispute an item on your credit report. Remember, under the Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a credit bureau can not update your records unless the information is inaccurate or an investigation is done and the creditor fails to respond. NOTE: Creditors, not credit bureaus, are responsible for correcting the information. If you want to correct your credit report, you will initially need to contact the creditor to report the inaccuracy. If you skip this step, you may find yourself struggling to get the situation resolved. After contacting the creditor, follow up by forwarding the communication with the creditor to the credit bureau in the form of a dispute. This is the procedure outlined in FCRA and it will ensure your credit report is corrected as quickly as possible.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Pen
• Computer and Printer
• Envelope
• Money for Postage
• Possibly a Phone
• Possibly a Computer and Printer

1. MAIL: This is the best method of contacting the credit bureaus, because it provides a paper trail of the communication. It is recommended that you contact them by certified mail about disputes.
   TransUnion Dispute:
   TransUnion Consumer Solutions, P.O. Box 2000
   Chester, PA 19022-2000,
   TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance Department,
   P.O. Box 6790,
   Fullerton, CA 92834.
   EXPERIAN:
   Experian,
   P. O. Box 2002,
   Allen, TX 75013.
   EQUIFAX: P.O. Box 740241,
   Atlanta, GA 30374
   
   To request a FREE ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT from all agencies:
   Annual Credit Report Request Service,
   P.O. Box 105281,
   Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

2. PHONE:
   You may contact the credit bureaus by phone.
   TRANSUNION: To order a FREE annual credit report call: 1-877-322-8228. To dispute an item on your credit report call: 1-800-916-8800. EQUIFAX: To order a FREE annual credit report call: 1-800-685-1111. To place a fraud alert on your credit report call: 1-888-766-0008. To dispute an item on your credit report, you must order a copy of the report and call the number on the report for disputes.
   EXPERIAN: To order a FREE annual credit report call: 1-888-397-3742. To place a fraud alert on your credit report call 1-888-397-3742. To dispute an item on your credit report, you must order a copy of the report and call the number on the report for disputes.
   For a FREE ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT from all three agencies you may also call 1-877-322-8228.

3. ONLINE: You can contact the bureaus online quickly and easily. There are links below for each of the bureaus websites. You can also get a free copy of your credit report annually, from all three reporting bureaus, by going to the Free Annual Credit Report link at the bottom of this page. There is only one official website to obtain your
   FREE ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT: http://www.freecreditreport.com. Don’t be fooled by other sources requesting you pay a fee.

Resources

• Equifax
• TransUnion
• Experian
• Free Credit Report

[BeautyByNature]

on 2/13/2009 Good to know if I ever need to contact a credit bureau.

[TaxGuru]

on 2/13/2009 This is very good information for anyone that needs to contact a credit bureau. Well written.

[vikki9]

on 7/6/2008 Great article: thorough and complete. Thank you. *****

[purrfect1969]

on 7/5/2008 Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, there will never be any mistakes on my credit report and I won't have to contact them, but it is still nice to know how.

[Limowreck]

on 7/5/2008 Wow... great reference article. Good info!