Credit Bureaus | Green Bay, WI | GAP Financial Services

Credit Bureaus

There are three major credit bureau companies. Each has a report on you; however, the reports are not always identical. This is because not every creditor reports to all three credit bureau companies. It is also possible for errors to occur that may only affect the credit report for one of the companies.

It is essential to know that credit bureau companies do not give you your credit rating. The credit bureau is a collector of information provided by lenders, collection agencies, and courthouses. Although errors can occur within the credit bureau company, generally, they only report the information provided to them.

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The Right to View Your Credit Report

You have the legal right to view your three credit bureau reports annually at no cost to you. If you wish to view them more often, you may want to look for a credit monitoring service that charges a low fee for allowing you regular access to your credit file. You may also pay $8.00 per file directly to the credit bureau company. The information for accessing your credit bureau is listed below.

How Marriage Affects Credit

If you are married, you must know that both husband and wife have their own file. Much of the information may be the same, but there is no guarantee.

Information from the period before you were married will only report to the credit file of the individual responsible for the credit transaction. Your spouse’s bad credit from before you were married cannot show up on your credit bureau file.

Obtaining Your Credit Score

You can purchase your credit score from the credit bureau companies. Each of them uses a different calculation in their determination of your score. When you receive your score, you will also receive an explanation and suggestions for how you can increase your score.

If you locate an error in your credit file, it is important that you have it corrected. When you view your credit file, it will come with directions for disputing or correcting information. Be prepared to supply copies of paid receipts or other proof as may become necessary. If your dispute is with the information that a creditor provided, the credit bureau will notify the creditor of your dispute and ask them to verify their information. The creditor has 30 days to respond. The credit bureau will respond to you with their findings and provide you with a corrected copy of your credit bureau. If the creditor responds that their information is correct, then you will have to contact that creditor directly to resolve your dispute.

Here are the names and addresses of the three credit bureau companies: