The Credit Bureau System

Note that the credit bureaus are private, not government credit reporting companies. All three companies are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. They are in business to make money just like any other business. Their business is to store information reported by many creditors, and in turn, sell back credit bureau information to those same companies. The more credit data that the credit bureau can provide on any individual is to their advantage.

How Credit Bureaus Get Their Information

SUBSCRIBERS
Companies that subscribe to the credit bureaus' services send credit history to the credit bureau. Updates are sent by the creditor to the credit bureau periodically. It should be noted that since the creditors report at different times to each credit bureau, different amounts and dates can appear on each reedit report. Many times this information is reported incorrectly and inaccurately. Creditors that report to the credit bureau are most often banks, savings and loans, mortgage companies, large department stores, finance companies, VISA and MasterCard banks, oil companies and companies that are members of the credit bureau.

PUBLIC RECORDS
Credit bureaus also get their information from public records such as the local courthouse. This information may include judgments, bankruptcies, tax liens, wage attachments and notice of default on properties. It may be noted that the credit bureau may pick up from the public record a notice of default but later fail to record the correct information if the default was corrected.

MISSING INFORMATION
In reviewing your credit report you may notice that much information is missing or inaccurate. The reason for missing information is that not all creditors belong to the credit bureau. For example, if you are paying off a bill with a small store, and they are not a member of the credit bureau, your good payments will not be reported on your credit report. For a small fee, you are able to list this good credit on your credit report.

The Credit Bureaus
Across the Nation there are three major credit bureaus; TransUnion, Equifax, & Experian. There are, however over 2,000 smaller credit bureaus located in every medium size city in the United States. Because each of these smaller credit bureaus may or may not be affiliated with one of the "Big Three", they will have different information in the consumer's credit file. When you apply for credit, a creditor might check only one credit file. If they find anything derogatory on your credit report, they probably will not check with the other credit bureaus.

If you are denied credit, the creditor, by law, has to let you know which credit bureau has the negative information. However, the other credit bureaus may also have the incorrect information. Therefore, when checking your credit you need to look at all of the credit reports.
The three major credit bureaus are:

TransUnion
P.O. Box 390 Springfield, PA 19064

Experian
P.O. Box 2104 Allen, TX 75013-2104

Equifax
P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for correcting any credit report problem which a consumer has not been able to correct through the credit bureau.

Headquarters
Pennsylvania Avenue & 6th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20580

Local Offices
California : 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102
California : 11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027
New York : 26 Federal Plz., New York, NY 10278
Texas : 8303 Elmbrook Dr., Dallas, TX 75274
Illinois : 55 E. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60603
Ohio : 668 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114
Washington : 915 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98174
Colorado : 1405 Curtis St., Denver, CO 80201
Georgia : 1718 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30367
Massachusetts : 150 Causeway St., Boston, MA 02114

If you feel there is a violation of your credit report, you may write to the nearest FTC office with a copy of it going to the FTC, Washington, D.C. office.

Don't expect the FTC to take an active interest in your case. They are there to monitor the credit bureau and only to take an active interest in the problem if there are many complaints about the same problem. If you have written the FTC, continue working to correct or restore your credit during this time.