How Can I View My Credit Report After I Was Denied Credit?

Consumers are denied credit for a variety of reasons: too much credit, numerous late payments, judgments, job instability, lack of credit and errors on the credit report itself. If you have recently applied for credit and have been denied, federal law gives you the opportunity to obtain a free copy of your consumer credit report. Knowing what adverse information is in your credit report is the first step to improving your financial situation.

Who to Contact for a Free Credit Report

After you have applied for credit, you should receive a written statement advising you of the lender's decision. If you were denied credit, that statement should list the reasons why you were denied. It will also provide you with the name of the credit bureau that provided the information on which the lender's decision was based. You are entitled to receive a free copy from the credit bureau that supplied the information, not from all three credit bureaus.You should contact this particular credit bureau and explain to the bureau that you were denied credit from your potential lender and that you would like a free copy of your credit report. There is a 60-day time limit on obtaining this free credit report, so you should act quickly.

Here is the contact information for all three credit bureaus: For Experian, you must call 1-866-200-6020. TransUnion requires you to complete a form at its website (http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/creditTools/freeCreditReport.page). You can contact Equifax by phone, mail or through its website (https://aa.econsumer.equifax.com/aad/landing.ehtml). You can request your free report by mailing your request to Equifax Information Services, P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, Georgia 30374; or by telephone at 800-685-1111.

How to View the Credit Report

In response to your request, the credit bureau will mail you a copy of your free credit report or you may be able to view the report instantly online. Once you have viewed your credit report, you will be able to see the adverse information that has kept you from obtaining credit. You can then begin improving your credit through steady on-time payments, payoffs and a reduction in your overall debt.

How to Dispute Information

If you find inaccurate information on your credit report, you can dispute the information with the credit bureaus.You should notify the credit bureau in writing that you have found inaccurate information. List the inaccurate information that the report contains and provide documentation to prove the information is inaccurate. This information can be sent in the form of a letter to the credit bureau or you can simply dispute items directly on the credit bureau's website. Once the credit reporting bureau has been notified of your dispute, it typically takes 30 to 45 days for it to investigate your claims with the creditors. If the investigation reveals the information is inaccurate, the credit bureau has to notify the other two credit bureaus to remove the inaccurate information from your credit report. The credit bureau will also supply you with a written report of its investigation.