Credit Bureau

Companies that gather and sell the information in your * credit report are called credit bureaus or consumer reporting agencies (CRAs). The information in your credit report that a credit bureau sells to creditors, employers, insurers, and other businesses is called a consumer report. This information is used to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

Contacting A Credit Bureau

There are three major nationwide credit bureaus:

• Equifax
  P.O. Box 740241
  Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
  Telephone: 1-800-685-1111
  Web site: www.equifax.com
• Experian
  P.O. Box 2104
  Allen, TX 75013
  Telephone: 1-888-397-3742
  Web site: www.experian.com
• TransUnion
  P.O. Box 1000
  Chester, PA 19022
  Telephone: 1-800-916-8800
  Web site: www.transunion.com

Creditors and insurers may use CRA file information as a basis for sending you unsolicited offers. These offers must include a toll free number for you to call if you want to remove your name and address from lists for five years. Completing a form that the CRA provides for this purpose will keep your name off the lists permanently. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or go online at www.optoutprescreen.com and you may opt back in at any time by calling the same number.

For more information go to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website at www.ftc.gov.

Glossary For This Page
(In Alphabetical Order)

* Credit Report
A document used by the credit industry to examine an individual's use of credit. It provides information on money that individuals have borrowed from credit institutions and a history of payments. More about Credit Report

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