Credit reporting agencies: who they are

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. They are competitors, not a single database, and they do not share disputes with each other.

Quick takeaways

Three separate bureaus, three separate files.
Disputes do not carry across bureaus.
Specialty reports exist and can be disputed too.

The big three

Each maintains its own file on you from whatever lenders choose to send it. Same person, three files, three sets of possible errors.

Specialty agencies

There are also reporting agencies for check writing, rental history, insurance claims, employment screening and more. You have the right to your file from these too, and errors there can cost you an apartment or a job.

Dealing with them

Dispute in writing, keep records, and never assume fixing one bureau fixed the others. Verify each correction on a fresh report.

Want someone to look at your actual reports?

Start the free intake and a Knox specialist will walk your file with you — what can be challenged, what should stay, and what to do next. No cost, no obligation.