Free TransUnion credit report, FICO score and dispute : Bad Credit Advisor

Free TransUnion credit report, FICO score and dispute

Everyone should be monitoring his or her credit report as this is vital for a financial well being. You can get free TransUnion credit report, using your right on one copy of annual credit report a year, as well as free reports from Equifax and Experian. As I stated many times these free reports are not very useful as they don't provide your FICO score and their format, at least for me is too messy to start a meaningful dispute. Since inaccurate information can lower your credit score or indicate identity theft, continuous credit report monitoring is important. The best and quite economical way is to get current copy of TransUnion credit report, free or not, and see what is there.

Under certain circumstances, you get a free TransUnion credit report from the agency itself. You may be eligible for a free TransUnion report if you have been denied credit, insurance or employment based on information from your TransUnion credit report within the last 60 days. Additionally, if a government denied your license or benefit application, or you couldn't get a rental apartment or a utility service, or your are unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60 days. You may also be eligible if you receive public welfare assistance or if you believe your TransUnion credit report is inaccurate due to fraud. Order it here.

If you can not get it for free, just buy it. TransUnion sells a personal credit report for just $11. Note that $11 does not buy you TransUnion FICO. That will cost you $7.95 extra. And instead of FICO score you will get VantageScore which was developed jointly by Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Still it is worth it. And if you live in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Main, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Vermont, or Virgin Islands, you may be entitled to an additional free or reduced price credit report. Here is the form you can use to request your report. You can also use the same form to purchase your personal report by mail. If you decide to order by phone for mail delivery, call at 800-888-4213.

TransUnion dispute can be conducted in three ways - online, by mail and by phone. No matter which way you choose, having a File Number or FIN, available on either free TransUnion credit report or the one you purchased, will be very useful and often a must. Disputing online is the fastest way. This page allows you to create an account for a dispute and takes you from there. To dispute with TransUnion by mail, fill this application, requesting an investigation. You must have Adobe Advocate Reader installed.

When disputing by phone, you can talk to live customer service representatives, available Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 11:00 pm Eastern, excluding major holidays, to assist you with the dispute process. If you have a recent TransUnion credit report with erroneous information, call at 800-916-8800. Before you place your call, make sure you have:
- your TransUnion file number, if you have your TransUnion credit report
- Social Security number
- date of birth
- current address
- company name of the disputed item as listed on your credit report
- account number of the disputed item as listed on your credit report
- reason for your dispute, e.g. it is not your account, debt was paid off
- any corrections to your personal information

Once a dispute is submitted, your creditor may take up to 45 days to verify the information. Again, in my opinion TransUnion has been consumer friendliest credit agency, so get your free TransUnion credit report or just buy it to see where you stand.

Previously,
Free Experian credit report, score and dispute
Free Equifax credit report and how to dispute with Equifax
Experian credit report and score

Wed May 6, 2009 02:05PM by Tony | More in Credit Bureaus | Comments (0)