Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are the THREE BIG PLAYERS in the credit reporting business space in the USA, though they are NOT THE ONLY credit reporting businesses in the country.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that THE BIG THREE provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every twelve (12) months… but you have to ask for it.
You may request your FREE Credit Report from all three credit reporting companies all-at-once and compare each of your credit reports side-by-side.
Some would suggest that you ‘STAGGER’ your credit-report-requests.
This means, for example, that you order your first credit report from Equifax now, then in four months, you request your second credit report from Experian, and then in another four months, you request your third credit report from TransUnion.
If you ‘STAGGER’, you can receive THREE FREE CREDIT REPORTS in a span of 12 months.
Understand however, that Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion do business with different creditors, lenders, and retail outlets, which means that each credit reporting company may furnish a credit report which may contain different information about you.
YOU MUST KNOW, if you ‘STAGGER’ you won’t be able to quickly compare the information between credit reports until you actually receive each one, and this may delay your efforts when you are trying to repair your credit.
Once you are done cleaning up your credit reports and raising your credit scores, ‘staggering’ may be a good strategy for you to pursue.
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have made it easy for you to request your FREE Credit Reports through AnnualCreditReport.com.
Simply use one of the following procedures to make your request:
1) ONLINE: AnnualCreditReport.com
- NOTICE: By requesting your credit report(s) online you may access your information instantly. It is suggested that you print your credit reports once received
2) CALL AnnualCreditReport.com at: 1-877-322-8228
- NOTICE: If you request your credit report(s) by phone your credit report(s) will be mailed to you within 15 days. You will need to provide the same information as though you were making your request by mail.
3) MAIL AnnualCreditReport.com at:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105281
Atlanta GA 30348-5281
NOTICE: If you request your credit report(s) by mail or by phone you will need to provide the following information:
- Social Security Number
- Date Of Birth
- Your First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, and ‘JR, SR, etc’
- CURRENT Mailing Address, City, State, Zip Code
- PREVIOUS Mailing Address (ONLY if CURRENT mailing address is less than 2 years)
- Indicate which credit report you want: Equifax, Experian, TranUnion, or ALL THREE
NOTICE: YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR ‘CREDIT SCORE’ THROUGH AnnualCreditReport.com.