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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, & Esperian (TRW). 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 (410) 712-0034
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064 

Experian (formerly TRW) 
       (800) 682-7654      
       P.O. Box 2104
       Allen, TX 75013-2104

Equifax
P.O. Box  740241 
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
(800) 685-1111

ACCEPTABLE RATINGS 
Ratings TO Accept 
PAID IN FULL AS AGREED 
CREDIT LINE CLOSED BY CUSTOMER 
NOT RATED (TO NEW) 
R1 RATING 
DISPUTED (only if you feel that it is the best you can get) 
 
DISPUTE AFTER RESOLUTION (same as above) 
Ratings NOT TO Accept 
BANKRUPTCY 
DISCHARGED BY BANKRUPTCY 
CONSUMER COUNSELING 
DISPUTE AFTER RESOLUTION 
DISMISSED 
UNPAID 
MAKING PAYMENTS 
SKIP 
WAGE EARNER BANKRUPTCY 
Your Credit Report And Rights As A Consumer 
Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, you: 
May obtain a credit report from the credit bureau for a 
reasonable fee ($8 to $15).  
May obtain a credit report from the credit bureau at no 
charge within 30 days of being rejected for credit. You must 
send a copy of the rejection letter to the credit bureau.  
May be represented by anyone of your choice at the credit 
bureau.  
May dispute any information on the credit report that you 
feel is listed incorrectly. The credit bureau must 
re-investigate the information and within a reasonable time, 
verify the information. A reasonable time has been construed 
to be 20 working days by some credit bureaus.  
May have derogatory information such as late payments and 
judgments taken off the credit report within 7 years. 
Bankruptcies will come off in 10 years.  
May place a 100-word consumer statement in your file to tell 
your side of any derogatory information.  
May have the credit bureau notify those you name (at no cost 
to you) who have previously received incorrect or incomplete 
information on you and provide them with the corrected 
credit report.  
May have your credit report withheld from anyone, who under 
the law, does not have a legitimate need for the report.  
May sue the credit bureau if it willfully or negligently 
violates the law.  
The above nine items just list a few of your consumer 
rights.  
The Federal Trade Commission 
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.  

FTC Headquarters
Federal Trade Commission
Pennsylvania Avenue & 6th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20580
(202) 523-3830

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