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Getting Your Credit Report
An amendment to the FCRA requires each of
the nationwide consumer reporting companies—Equifax, Experian, and
TransUnion—to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at
your request, once every 12 months.
The companies are rolling this out across the country during a
nine-month period. By September 2005, consumers from coast to coast will
have access to a free annual credit report if they ask for it.
For details, see Your Access to Free Credit Reports at
www.ftc.gov/credit
How to Order Your Free Report
The three nationwide consumer reporting
companies have set up one website, toll-free telephone number, and
mailing address through which you can order your free annual report. To
order, visit
www.annualcreditreport.com , call 877-322-8228, or complete the
Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report
Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer
reporting companies at the same time, or you can order from only one or
two. The law allows you to order one free copy from each of the
nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date
of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to
provide your previous address. To maintain the security of your file,
each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you for some
information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly
mortgage payment. Each company may ask you for different information
because the information each has in your file may come from different
sources.
Other situations where you might be eligible for a free report
Under federal law, you're also entitled to
a free report if a company takes adverse action against you, such as
denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment, based on
information in your report. You must ask for your report within 60 days
of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name,
address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company.
You're also entitled to one free report a year if you're unemployed and
plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you're on welfare; or if your
report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft.
Otherwise, a consumer reporting company may charge you up to $9.50 for
another copy of your report within a 12-month period. To buy a copy of
your report, contact:
Equifax-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com
Experian-888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
www.experian.com
TransUnion-800-916-8800
www.transunion.com
Under state law, consumers in Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont already have free access to their
credit reports.
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Correcting Errors
Under the FCRA, both the consumer
reporting company and the information provider (that is, the person,
company, or organization that provides information about you to a
consumer reporting company) are responsible for correcting inaccurate or
incomplete information in your report. To take advantage of all your
rights under this law, contact the consumer reporting company and the
information provider.
Step One
Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information
you think is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents
that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name
and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your
report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the
information, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want
to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled.
Your letter may look something like the one on page 4. Send your letter
by certified mail, “return receipt requested,” so you can document what
the consumer reporting company received. Keep copies of your dispute
letter and enclosures.
Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items in
question—usually within 30 days—unless they consider your dispute
frivolous. They also must forward all the relevant data you provide
about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the information.
After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the
consumer reporting company, it must investigate, review the relevant
information, and report the results back to the consumer reporting
company. If the information provider finds the disputed information is
inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide consumer reporting
companies so they can correct the information in your file.
When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company must
give you the results in writing and a free copy of your report if the
dispute results in a change. This free report does not count as your
annual free report. If an item is changed or deleted, the consumer
reporting company cannot put the disputed information back in your file
unless the information provider verifies that it is accurate and
complete. The consumer reporting company also must send you written
notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the
information provider.
If you ask, the consumer reporting company must send notices of any
corrections to anyone who received your report in the past six months.
You can have a corrected copy of your report sent to anyone who received
a copy during the past two years for employment purposes.
If an investigation doesn't resolve your dispute with the consumer
reporting company, you can ask that a statement of the dispute be
included in your file and in future reports. You also can ask the
consumer reporting company to provide your statement to anyone who
received a copy of your report in the recent past. You can expect to pay
a fee for this service.
Step Two
Tell the creditor or other information provider, in writing, that
you dispute an item. Be sure to include copies (NOT originals) of
documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address
for disputes. If the provider reports the item to a consumer reporting
company, it must include a notice of your dispute. And if you are
correct—that is, if the information is found to be inaccurate—the
information provider may not report it again.
Adding Accounts to Your File
Your credit file may not reflect all your credit accounts. Although
most national department store and all-purpose bank credit card accounts
will be included in your file, not all creditors supply information to
consumer reporting companies: some travel, entertainment, gasoline card
companies, local retailers, and credit unions are among the creditors
that don't.
If you've been told that you were denied credit because of an
“insufficient credit file” or “no credit file” and you have accounts
with creditors that don't appear in your credit file, ask the consumer
reporting companies to add this information to future reports. Although
they are not required to do so, many consumer reporting companies will
add verifiable accounts for a fee. However, understand that if these
creditors do not report to the consumer reporting company on a regular
basis, the added items will not be updated in your file.
When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage
of time can assure its removal. A consumer reporting company can report
most accurate negative information for seven years and bankruptcy
information for 10 years. Information about an unpaid judgment against
you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations
runs out, whichever is longer. There is no time limit on reporting:
information about criminal convictions; information reported in response
to your application for a job that pays more than $75,000 a year; and
information reported because you've applied for more than $150,000 worth
of credit or life insurance. There is a standard method for calculating
the seven-year reporting period. Generally, the period runs from the
date that the event took place.
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