Credit Reporting Agency Errors
Banks and credit unions use check and bank screening reports to help decide whether to offer you a checking account or to cash your checks. For example, you may have negative information in your report if you had a checking account before and you have an unpaid negative balance on that account, such as from an overdraft that you have not repaid, if the account was closed by the bank, or if you were suspected of fraud related to the account. If you have been a victim of bank account and/or check-writing fraud, or have had prior difficulties opening or closing a bank account (such as being denied a bank account), review your check and bank screening report(s) and dispute them if inaccurate..
Employment screening companies provide information such as credit history, employment, salary, and education and professional license verification to employers and others, including to non-profit volunteer organizations and to government agencies such as to verify employment income to determine eligibility for government assistance. They may also provide residential address history and Social Security Number verification; criminal arrest and conviction information, as well as fingerprint information from state and federal criminal record databases; status on global watchlists, motor vehicle and driver’s record information; drug and alcohol testing and health screening information; and non-profit and volunteer activity verification. Employment screening can include both pre-employment screening and on-going workforce monitoring. Many employment screening companies won’t have information on you unless you authorized an employer or other end-user to obtain a report. If possible, when you give your authorization, ask for the name(s) of the employment screening company being used. Contact those reporting companies to fact-check your reports. If the employer is checking your credit history in separate reports, from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, request and review those reports too.
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Fact-check your medical specialty report before or when applying for private life, health, critical illness, long-term care, or disability income insurance. Generally, if you haven’t applied for individual life or health insurance at an insurance company that uses services from the listed company, the company won’t have a consumer report for you to request.
AnnualCreditReport.com will route you to any of the three companies you select. Before giving you a copy of your report, each company will ask you a few detailed questions to authenticate your identity. These questions are designed to be those only you can answer. They might be questions asking you to verify information about an existing or closed loan. The question could ask you to identify a street address where you have never lived and you would respond that it was not an address where you lived. The purpose of these questions is to protect the security of your information.
If you run into difficulty getting your free Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian annual credit report(s) from AnnualCreditReport.com or its toll-free phone number provided above, try contacting the respective institution(s) directly for help:
- Equifax, (888) 378-4329. For reports in Spanish, choose Option 8 when calling or visit equifax.com.
- TransUnion, (833) 395-6938. For reports in Spanish, choose Option 2 when calling.
- Experian, (888) 397-3742
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Tenant screening companies provide information such as credit history, eviction information, rental payment history, identity verification, income and employment verification, and criminal background data to landlords, property management companies, and others. A tenant screening report with negative information in it, such as prior housing evictions, could result in a rejected lease application, or it could result in approval of the application but with tough conditions inserted into the lease agreement such as a requirement that you pay months of additional rent in advance or a higher security deposit. Many tenant screening companies won’t have information on you unless you apply for rental housing or otherwise authorize a landlord or property manager to obtain a report from them.
If you are denied as a tenant, “conditionally accepted”, or asked to pay a higher deposit or rent the landlord or property management company is REQUIRED to give you an adverse action notice so you may have the opportunity to correct any errors. The adverse action notice should contain the name of the tenant screening agency they used. The largest in the US are listed below.
The companies listed in this section sell data primarily to help entities manage credit and fraud risk. This information frequently supplements other datasets, such as the traditional credit data that the nationwide consumer reporting companies sell about you.
Tenant screening companies provide information such as credit history, eviction information, rental payment history, identity verification, income and employment verification, and criminal background data to landlords, property management companies, and others. A tenant screening report with negative information in it, such as prior housing evictions, could result in a rejected lease application, or it could result in approval of the application but with tough conditions inserted into the lease agreement such as a requirement that you pay months of additional rent in advance or a higher security deposit. Many tenant screening companies won’t have information on you unless you apply for rental housing or otherwise authorize a landlord or property manager to obtain a report from them.
If you are denied as a tenant, “conditionally accepted”, or asked to pay a higher deposit or rent the landlord or property management company is REQUIRED to give you an adverse action notice so you may have the opportunity to correct any errors. The adverse action notice should contain the name of the tenant screening agency they used. The largest in the US are listed below.
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