Who Are The 3 Major Credit Bureaus?

Have you been turned down for credit recently?  If so, rest assured you're not alone.  With the economy faltering and the average american household struggling to make ends meet, many hard working people are finding their credit scores quickly declining.

Though some companies only utilize one credit reporting agency, many base their decisions off of reports from all 3 major credit bureaus. There are many reasons that they use reports from all 3 credit bureaus…the very same reasons that you should be using 3 bureau reports to check up on your own credit!

The main reason that you should be checking your credit report with all three major credit bureaus, is because some companies only report to one agency. What is contained in one report from one company may not show up on another and vice versa. In order to get a complete picture of what your credit report truly looks like, it's important to get information from all three major credit reporting bureaus and compile the results.

This will help to prepare you for all of the information that may have been used to determine your creditworthieness!

If you've been turned down for credit recently, there are a few things that you should know about the 3 major credit bureaus.

The 3 major credit bureaus are…

• Experian
• TransUnion
• Equifax

Each of these credit agencies have been around for a long time and set the standard for credit record keeping and recording. It's safe to say, If you have a delinquent financial account, they will be among the first to know about it.
When rejected for credit, you will be able to see which of the 3 major credit bureaus was consulted about your credit history. 

Tip…

When you get such a letter, you have thirty days to write in and ask for a copy of that credit report. When this happens, you should always take advantage of the offer because it entitles you to a free copy of the credit report detailing the exact information that was used to make a decision about your application for credit.

In any other circumstance, you'll have to pay for your credit information. While there is now a government sponsored program that allows you to get one free credit report a year, in most cases that is not enough. You need to know what's going on with your credit, and then how you can fix any potential problems.

Another thing that the 3 major credit bureaus can help you with is protecting you from identity theft. In order to get the biggest identity protection benefit from the 3 major credit agnecies, you need to pay close attention to your report on an ongoing basis.

it is critical that you pay attention to listings on your credit report that you may not have taken out. If you see anything that is in default and you have no memory of obtaining the line of credit or loan, you may be a victim of identity theft!

While this is a slow way to learn about potential identity theft, often times it's the first signe that something is amiss. When you see something on a report from any of the 3 major credit bureaus that is not of your doing, contact them immediately and then go through the proper channels to see what you can do to stop the activity.

The main thing to keep in mind here is that monitioring your credit information is an ongoing process.  Make a plan to work with the 3 major credit bureaus (Experian, Transuion, Equifax) on a regular basis.  With a littlem dilligence and planning, you may be able to avoid uncomfortable and potentially life changing financial catastrophies like identity theft and credit fraud.