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About Your Permanent Record - Part IV

Under the Fair Credit Report Act you are allowed to obtain a copy of your credit report anytime you request it. If you have been denied credit in the past 30 days, suspect fraud or are unemployed and looking for a job, the report is free! In all other instances, the credit bureau is permitted to charge a small fee.

Note: Credit scores cost extra, but reports are free.

Experian (formerly "TRW")

This agency traditionally had the highest market share, but Equifax is gaining popularity. The score Experian uses is the FICO-based score that was developed for specifically for their company.

Experian will accept disputes online, provided you first order your credit report through their company. Your credit score and report can be purchased online for $14.95. You can order a tri-merged report with scores for $39.95. For $89.95 you get unlimited access to your reports for a year, with notifications of score changes.

Equifax

Equifax's proprietary score is known as the Beacon Score. It is based on the FICO model. Equifax has been growing in popularity

Equifax will accept deletion letters by fax and disputes online, provided you first order your credit report through their company. Your credit score and report can be purchased online for $12.95. You can order a tri-merged report with scores for $39.95. For $9.95 per month you get unlimited access to your reports for a year, with some credit protection and fraud services.

TransUnion

Their score is called the Empirica score. Like the other agencies, their score is an industry revision using the FICO model. The least favorite choice among lenders.

TransUnion will accept deletion letters by fax and disputes online without the requirement that you order your credit report through their company. Your TranUnion credit score and report can be purchased online for $12.75 or less, their fees vary. Your credit report with FICO's score will cost you $12.95. You can order a tri-merged report with scores for $45.90. For $15.90 per quarter you get 4 reports for a year, with score, and ongoing fraud alerts. This is the best of the yearly maintenance deals.

Ordering your report online gives you access to it immediately, which will allow you to have faster results. When you order online, you then have the option of disputing the information online or via regular mail, though online yields much less significant results.

Disputing your credit information online is convenient. You’ll save money on postage and generally get email confirmations of the dispute. However, your ability to make specific challenges is limited. Also, most of the dispute process involves making the agencies adhere to a strict standard of time that is set by law. Providing the dispute online may speed up their ability to comply with those strict timeframes.

When you order your report, whether online or by phone, be prepared to provide the following information:

• Full name
• Social Security Number
• Proof of address such as a utility bill
• Phone number
• Driver's license number
• Current and previous addresses
• Date of birth
• Current employer

When you order your report, it's best if you have your spouse or business partner order their report as well.

If you will be looking to have credit decisions made for major purchases or your business your credit profile will only be as strong as the weakest link in your chain.

Additionally, you can have some economies of scale in handling the dispute process if there are some issues on accounts owned jointly. You can print the same letter to contest the issue, just changing the file name and social security number.

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