How to Monitor All Three Credit Bureaus

You have two choices for ways to monitor all three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian). You can choose to subscribe to a monthly monitoring service such as CreditReport.com that monitors your credit for you. Your second option is to pull your credit reports from each agency, for free, and complete an annual check-up of your credit. The main difference is that the monitoring service alerts you to any changes to your credit reports immediately by sending you an email or message in the mail. If something changes on your credit report and you're manually monitoring it, you'll only know once a year when you check the reports.

Instructions

Monitoring Service

1

Choose a monitoring service. There are multiple monitoring exists from which to choose. All three credit agencies also offer this service, which is a three-in-one monitoring service. Fees for these types of services start at $9.95 per month. Compare and contrast the features that each service offers and choose the most cost-effective one that provides the most important features to you.

2

Register for an account. Once you choose a monitoring service you have to provide all of your personal contact information, including your full name, address, phone number and Social Security number. The service will also ask for an email address if you want to receive alerts via email. Some services offer a text alert service, so you will also need to provide your cell phone number if this is how you want to receive updates.

3

Pay for service. You must provide a debit or credit card number when you register for the account to pay the monitoring service's monthly fee.

4

Review alerts. When any changes are made to any of the three credit reports, you will receive an alert. The alert lets you know that something has changed on your credit report and it provides an online link to review the change. If the change is correct or positive then no action is required on your part. If the change is negative or inaccurate, follow the dispute instructions listed for each credit agency to initiate a dispute.

Manual Monitoring

5

Request a copy of each credit report. Contact each of the three credit reporting agencies to request a free copy of your credit report.

6

Review the reports. Go line-by-line and carefully review the information listed on the report for accuracy.

7

Dispute or adjust incorrect items. For inaccurate items, follow the instructions on the credit report to initiate the dispute process on the items that are inaccurate.

8

Correct accurate but negative items. In order to improve your credit, contact the creditor and try to make payment arrangements or come to an agreement on clearing up blemishes on your credit.

9

Repeat. Once a year, repeat steps one through four.