Credit Report Information

By law, individuals have the right to gain access to their credit reports once a year through the government-approved service www.annualcreditreport.com. Reports will be provided from all three credit bureaus. It is important to know that you DO NOT HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING to get your credit report once a year. There are several services that advertise free scores and reports with trial offers to credit monitoring services. Though credit monitoring services are not necessarily a bad thing if you believe that your identity has been compromised, you do not have to sign up for one to gain access to your free credit report. If you feel uncomfortable going through the process online, you may download the appropriate paperwork at www.annualcreditreport.com, fill out the forms, and mail it to the address listed below or you may call the toll free number 1-877-322-8228 and have the forms sent to you by mail.

Annual Credit Report Request
PO BOX 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

CONTESTING INACCURACIES TO YOUR CREDIT REPORT

If you have obtained your credit report either online or by mail and have found that there are inaccuracies, you may contest those by dealing with the credit bureaus directly. The unfortunate truth is that there isn’t really a quick fix for this and the process is imperfect (an understatement). If you call them by phone you will more than likely be sent to an automated system where they will either give you information on where to send your complaint or the ability to sign up for one of their paid services (that may come with a free trial). Our suggestion is that you communicate with them via mail (Experian does not accept disputes through mail) and dispute inaccuracies online as well. All of the bureaus have ticket systems where you may contest elements of your report online which will result in a notice of your complaint delivered by direct mail (in some cases it may be delivered via email as well). Below is the contact information for all three credit bureaus including their websites, toll free numbers and mailing addresses: