As a bankruptcy attorney, my clients often ask me to assist them in
ordering their credit reports (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion). 
The
major obstacle to this is that they usually do not have a credit card
they could use to order online and I have not yet found a way to pay
for their credit report online out of my own funds.  I would like a
Google researcher to identify a provider of online credit reports who
will
allow me to advance the fee for all three reports.  I would
also like this provider of credit reports to include complete
addresses for the creditors listed and also include credit scores.  If
I were to order a 3-in-1 report for myself with all three credit
scores, I would expect to pay between $50 and $75 in total.  My
clients would have no problem signing whatever releases such a
provider requires before releasing the online reports to my office.

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Clarification of Question by jht-ga on 15 Oct 2002 03:44 PDT

I am aware of the many third-party providers of credit reports out
there and the additional threat of using them due to their access to
personal credit information.  However, notwithstanding that threat, my
clients need a quick way to obtain their credit info with creditor
addresses.  To this day, I have yet to find an online credit report
provider that provides addresses for the creditors listed in the
reports.

Hi JHT, 

You can open your own account with the credit reporting agencies. 

After all, credit managers for various entities are able to get
quick credit reports, undoubtedly online, when they need them. 
Why not you. Your need for them is legitimate. You do need the
information relatively quickly so you can file those bankruptcy
petitions. Waiting weeks to get a report is out of the question. 



Contact the three major credit bureaus directly and set up the account. 
As long as you have signed authorizations, you will also have the
legal right to access the information. You already know that.

You can tell them the kind of report you will always need.
They will structure your account to generate that for you,
for a specific price, and still give you options for other
reports you only need periodically.

The three primary US services are:

Equifax
North America Sales: 1-888-202-4025
http://equifax.com/universal/contactus.shtml

Experian - for Credit Manager Membership information
CreditExpert 1 800 787 6864 
http://experian.com/customer_service/mail.html

TransUnion 312-466-7363 or use their form
http://www.transunion.com/Business/ProdInfoRequestForm.jsp
(Evictions and landlord-related judgements tend to be 
reported to Trans Union. You may not always find them on
the TRW/Experian or Equifax.)

Incidentally, if you join the Apartment Owners Association, 
you can get your own credit check account at a discount, 
without having to make your own arrangements with each entity.
(I suspect the reports will not have the full address listing
you require for filling out the bankruptcy filings, though.)
http://www.aoasc.com/creditcheck.html

Your TaxMama-ga

P.S. Did you check to see if your Bar Association has many
any arrangements. You're not the only BK attorney in the community.
Surely, someone has already set something up? If not, perhaps it's
another service your Bar Association can look into arranging.

Because the amount credit reporting agencies can charge people is
regulated (<= $8.50 per report), no one should have to pay anywhere
near the amount you mention for their credit reports. If someone tries
to charge you that much, RUN, don't walk, away. While you're at it,
report them to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

If your client has "been denied credit or employment based on your
credit report, you can obtain your credit report from the company
where your creditor obtained your credit report free of charge if you
request it within a 60 DAYS after receiving the denial letter."
http://www.ez-creditreport.com/credit-report-bureau-free-eligibility.html

There are a ton of e-businesses that offer the "Big 3" (Equifax,
Experian, and Trans-Union) report for varying prices: some are
reputable, some not. Because I don't know what else these businesses
might do with my confidential information (if you order your reports
through them, you are basically giving them access to EVERYTHING in
your credit file), I refuse to deal with them. I always order my
report directly from each of the Big 3.

However, youu can get a combined report from the Big 3 through Equifax
for $29.95:
https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/webapp/ConsumerProducts/pgConsumerProducts?^start=&orderSource=EH3&PP=P6
I believe that these will also contain your credit scores.

I hope that this information is helpful to you!

10-15-2002

Contact a local apartment manager (they frequently use credit reports
as a background check on their prospective renters) and get a
recommendation from them about what companies they use to order their
reports from (they usually can get them for about $10-$40 each).  Or,
contact the credit bureau reporting agencies individually yourself and
ask them to quote you a rate or recommend a vendor that offers the
services you want.  Or go to a search engine and do a search on the
term "credit reports" or "background check" and you will find many
companies across the USA that offer this service nationally.

4keith-ga