Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion aren't government agencies. They're private companies that collect your data and sell it. Here's what you need to know about each one.
Here's something most people don't realize: the three credit bureaus are competitors. They don't share data with each other. They each collect information independently from creditors, and not every creditor reports to all three. That's why your Equifax score can be 40 points different from your TransUnion score — and both can be "correct."
This also means an error on one bureau might not exist on the others. Or it might exist on all three but with different details. That's why we dispute with each bureau separately.
Founded in 1899, Equifax is the oldest of the three. They hold data on over 800 million consumers worldwide. You might remember them from the 2017 data breach that exposed 147 million people's Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses. They paid $700 million in settlements for that one.
Equifax uses their own scoring model (Equifax Risk Score) in addition to FICO. They're also known for being the slowest to update information after a dispute is resolved. If you get an item removed, double-check that it actually disappeared from Equifax — sometimes they lag behind.
Dispute Address: Equifax Information Services LLC, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0256
Online: equifax.com/personal/disputes
Phone: (866) 349-5191
Experian is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland (though most of their US operations run out of Costa Mesa, California). They're the largest of the three bureaus by revenue. Experian tends to have the most comprehensive data because they have the highest number of data furnisher relationships.
In my experience, Experian is the trickiest to dispute with online. Their online dispute portal sometimes limits what you can say and funnels your dispute into categories that don't match your actual complaint. That's why we send physical letters via certified mail — it forces a real investigation instead of a checkbox-click response.
Dispute Address: Experian, P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013
Online: experian.com/disputes
Phone: (888) 397-3742
TransUnion is based in Chicago and is the smallest of the big three (though "small" is relative — they still hold data on over a billion consumers globally). TransUnion is generally the most responsive to disputes and tends to process them faster than Equifax or Experian.
TransUnion also owns the VantageScore model, which is what Credit Karma uses. So if you've been checking your score on Credit Karma, that's a TransUnion VantageScore — not the FICO score that most lenders actually use. The two can differ by 20-50 points, which is why people sometimes get surprised when they apply for a mortgage and the lender's score is different.
Dispute Address: TransUnion LLC, Consumer Dispute Center, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016
Online: transunion.com/disputes
Phone: (800) 916-8800
According to the FTC, 1 in 5 consumers has an error on at least one credit report. Here are the most common ones we find.
Wrong name, wrong address, wrong SSN, accounts belonging to someone with a similar name (mixed file). Especially common for people with common names like "John Smith" or "Maria Garcia."
The same account showing up twice — often because it was sold to a collection agency and both the original creditor and the collector are reporting it. This double-counting inflates your debt load.
Incorrect date of last activity, wrong date of first delinquency, or accounts reporting as more recent than they actually are. This can illegally extend how long negative items stay on your report past the 7-year limit.
Wrong balance amounts, credit limits not updated, paid-off accounts still showing a balance. These directly inflate your credit utilization ratio and tank your score.
When you apply for a mortgage, the lender pulls all three reports and uses the middle score. When you apply for a car loan, they might pull just one — but you don't get to pick which one. If you only fixed errors on Equifax but Experian still has the wrong information, you could still get denied or pay a higher interest rate.
Each bureau needs to be disputed separately because removing an item from one doesn't affect the others. A collection might get deleted from TransUnion but still be sitting on Experian. Our dispute process handles all bureaus simultaneously — every item gets a customized letter for each bureau where it appears.
Jess tip: Always dispute by certified mail, not online. The online portals limit your options and often don't allow you to include supporting documents. Certified mail creates a legal paper trail with a return receipt — proof that the bureau received your dispute and when. That matters if things ever go to court.
I'll analyze your reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and show you exactly what's wrong — for free.
