What Are the 3 Major Credit Reporting Agencies?

The three major credit reporting agencies in the United States are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. All three are private, for-profit companies, not government agencies, and each one keeps its own separate database of your credit history.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Companies List Lenders, credit card issuers, and collection agencies send account information to the bureaus, but not every creditor reports to all three, so the file Equifax has on you can differ from what Experian or TransUnion has. When people talk about “your credit report,” they almost always mean a report from one of these three.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Reporting Companies

Dozens of other specialty reporting companies track narrower slices of your financial life. ChexSystems focuses on checking account history,3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chex Systems, Inc. and LexisNexis collects public records like liens and real estate transactions.4LexisNexis Risk Solutions. LexisNexis Consumer Disclosure Those are separate systems from the big three and show up in different situations, like opening a bank account.

What Each Bureau Keeps on You

A credit report from any of the three bureaus has the same basic structure. The top section holds personal identifiers: your name and any variations creditors have reported, current and former addresses, Social Security number, date of birth, and sometimes employer names.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Credit Report? This part is for identification and doesn’t influence your creditworthiness.

The core of the report is your account history. For each account you have or have had, the file shows the type of account, when it was opened, your credit limit or original loan amount, the current balance, and your month-by-month payment history. Late payments, collections, and charge-offs stay on the report for up to seven years from the date of the original delinquency. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy can stay for up to ten years from the filing date; other adverse public records like civil judgments fall off after seven.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports

Finally, the report lists inquiries, which are records of who has pulled your file and when. A hard inquiry happens when you apply for new credit; it stays for up to two years and can lower your score temporarily. A soft inquiry (a promotional check, an employer background check, or you checking your own report) has no effect on your score.7Experian. Understanding Your Experian Credit Report

One thing the free report from any bureau does not include is your credit score. Federal law doesn’t require the bureaus to hand you the score when you request your file.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681g – Disclosures to Consumers Many banks and credit card issuers show you a score for free in your account dashboard; the bureaus themselves will usually charge for it.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I Got My Free Credit Reports, but They Do Not Include My Credit Scores

How to Get All Three Reports for Free

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only website authorized by the federal government for free credit reports.10Consumer Advice – FTC. Free Credit Reports You used to be entitled to one free report per bureau per year. The three bureaus have now permanently extended a program letting you pull one free report from each agency every week.11Consumer Advice – FTC. You Now Have Permanent Access to Free Weekly Credit Reports Equifax is also offering six additional free reports per year through 2026 through the same site.

Three ways to request:

Go through AnnualCreditReport.com rather than typing “free credit report” into a search engine. Other sites that advertise free reports often attach them to paid monitoring subscriptions or ask for a credit card up front.10Consumer Advice – FTC. Free Credit Reports

Fixing Mistakes on Any of the Three Reports

Roughly one in five consumers has an error on at least one report, so pulling your files is only useful if you know what to do when something is wrong. Fix an error in two places at once: with the bureau showing the bad information, and with the company that reported it (your bank, lender, or card issuer).

Write to the bureau explaining what’s wrong, include copies (never originals) of documents backing you up, and attach a copy of the report with the disputed items circled. Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof the bureau received the dispute. Online and phone disputes are also allowed, but a paper trail is harder to lose. Send a similar letter to the company that furnished the data. Both the bureau and the furnisher must investigate and correct wrong or incomplete information at no cost to you.14Consumer Advice – FTC. Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the bureau has to complete its investigation free of charge, usually within 30 days. The window can stretch to 45 days if you send in more documentation during the initial period.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy If a bureau willfully violates the FCRA, you can sue for actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, plus attorney’s fees.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance

Because the three bureaus keep separate files, an error you find at Experian may not exist at Equifax or TransUnion, and a correction at one bureau doesn’t automatically propagate to the others. Check each report and dispute with each bureau that shows the problem.

Locking Down All Three Files

If you’re worried about identity theft, two tools let you restrict access to your credit files. You use them at each bureau separately, except where noted.

Security Freeze

A security freeze blocks anyone, including you, from opening a new credit account in your name. Lenders who try to pull your report for a new application won’t be able to, so the application gets denied. When you actually want new credit, you lift the freeze temporarily or permanently. Placing, lifting, and removing a freeze are all free under federal law.17Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Credit Freeze or Security Freeze on My Credit Report

A freeze doesn’t block companies that already do business with you from reviewing your account, and it doesn’t apply to employment, tenant screening, or insurance checks. If you request a lift online or by phone, the bureau must process it within one hour; a mailed request takes up to three business days.17Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Credit Freeze or Security Freeze on My Credit Report You have to place a freeze at each of the three bureaus for full coverage.

Fraud Alert

A fraud alert is lighter. Instead of blocking access, it tells lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity before approving credit in your name. You only need to contact one bureau; it will notify the other two. An initial fraud alert lasts one year and is renewable. If you’re an identity theft victim with an FTC or police report, you can place an extended alert that lasts seven years. Active-duty military members can place a one-year alert that also removes them from prescreened credit offer lists for two years.18Consumer Advice – FTC. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts

For most people who want real protection against new-account fraud, the freeze is the stronger tool, because the alert just asks lenders to verify identity and compliance isn’t uniform.

Who Else Can See Your Reports

Federal law limits who can pull your credit file. A company or person must have a “permissible purpose,” which usually means evaluating you for a credit application, reviewing an existing account, underwriting insurance, screening you for employment, or determining eligibility for a government license tied to financial responsibility.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Landlords can pull your report when you apply to rent, and child support enforcement agencies can access it when setting or modifying payments. Accessing a report without a permissible purpose is a federal violation.

Employers have an extra requirement. Before running a background check that includes credit information, an employer must give you a standalone written disclosure and get your written authorization. The disclosure and authorization can share a page, but that page should contain nothing else, including no liability waivers.20Federal Trade Commission. Background Checks on Prospective Employees: Keep Required Disclosures Simple

If a lender denies your application based on information in your credit report, the FCRA requires it to send you an adverse action notice naming the bureau that supplied the report and telling you how to get a free copy within 60 days. That free copy is in addition to the weekly reports available through AnnualCreditReport.com, and it’s the fastest way to see exactly what the lender saw.