There are three credit bureaus in the U.S.: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. These companies keep credit history records on millions of Americans. They compile reports lenders use to evaluate potential borrowers.
Triple Reporting
When a company decides to report on a customer's credit behavior, it can report to any or all of the three bureaus. Because of this, for a consumer to accurately monitor his credit report, he must obtain the credit report from all three credit bureaus.
Obtaining Credit Reports
Each of the three credit bureaus offers copies of a consumer's credit report for a fee. These are available for a one-time fee of $12 to $15 for each bureau.
Monitoring Services
There are also subscription services that allow access to all three bureau's credit reports. These usually cost around $30 a month. These subscriptions are usually offered at a cheap or free introductory rate, then automatically rebill at the normal rate after the trial is finished.
Free Credit Reports
Consumers can get a free credit report within 60 days if they were denied credit due to information on their credit report from one of the bureaus. Also, once a year consumers can get a copy of all three of their credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only authorized source for the free annual credit report by the Federal Trade Commission.
0 comments:
Post a Comment