How to Contact a Consumer Reporting Agency
Consumer reporting agencies monitor the financial activities of individual consumers to determine how creditworthy an individual is. This information is then sold to companies like banks who need to make informed decisions about who to lend money to. Therefore, it is important for individuals to know how to access this information and how to dispute it if errors are found.
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Instructions
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Determine which agency needs to be contacted. The three main consumer reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Individuals may wish to contact these agencies to get a credit report, credit score or to dispute information on a credit report.
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Contact Equifax via regular mail by sending an inquiry to Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc., P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374. To order a credit report or score from Equifax, go to Equifax.com or call 1-800-685-1111. If you need to report fraud or identity theft, dial 1-888-766-0008 or go to Fraudalerts.Equifax.com.
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Contact Experian by regular mail at P.O. Box 949, Allen, TX 75013. To order a credit report or score from Experian, go to Experian.com or call 1-888-397-3742. To dispute information on the score or report, call the phone number listed on the report. If you need to report fraud or identity theft, call 1-888-397-3742. If you are a member and have questions, call 1-800-787-6864.
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Contact TransUnion by regular mail at TransUnion, 2 Baldwin Place, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022. To request a credit report or order a credit score, call 1-800-888-4213 or go to Annualcreditreport.Transunion.com. If you need to dispute information on a credit report or credit score, call 1-800-916-8800. To report identity theft, call 1-888-909-8872.
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Tips & Warnings
All individuals are entitled to a free credit report (not score) once every twelve months from each bureau.
Check your credit report before applying for loans to see if there are errors in the report. Those errors could cause you to have a lower credit score which could lead banks to charge higher interest rates or even deny a loan.
