Why you Need to Know what a Credit Bureau is
The credit bureaus give your credit report to certain companies qualified by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to view your credit report. Credit bureaus get your information from companies each month and include this information in your credit report. If you do not pay your credit card, for example, your credit card company may report you to a credit bureau. There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. The three bureaus often have different information about the same person, because different companies report to them and give them different reports. To get accurate information about your credit score, you need to order credit reports that cover all three bureaus. Sometimes, one credit bureau will provide incorrect information about you that may affect your credit rating. Sometimes, different credit bureaus will have the same inaccurate information about you. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information the credit bureau has about you is correct.
To help each credit bureau provide the most accurate information about yourself to potential lenders, you need to maintain good credit scores by paying your bills on time, avoiding excessive borrowing, and generally behaving in a financially responsible way that sees you paying everyone you owe on time. Another thing you can do to help each credit bureau maintain your correct information is to check the information each credit bureau has about you and ensure that it is accurate and up-to-date. To do this, get a copy of your credit report and check for inaccuracies. Just make sure the credit report is based on each of the three credit bureaus and does not rely on just one credit bureau for its information. If you find any mistakes, you can let each credit bureau. If you have been the victim of identity theft, you should file for a 90_day security alert with each credit bureau and contact police as well in order to file charges. You can also help each credit bureau by making your identity clear on applications. Each time you apply for financing or a loan, for example, you should use the same name in order to avoid confusion. You should avoid being “Jane Doe” on one application, for example, and “J.S. Doe” on another. Providing your social security number on applications can help a credit bureau properly identify you. When you provide a social security number to a credit bureau, that credit bureau can send out information about you to lenders, not information about someone else with the same name.