> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://faq.universalaccountservicing.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Your credit file

> How to check what the credit bureaus hold on you, manage a freeze, and dispute something that is wrong.

We report your account to the credit bureaus as part of servicing it. If what they hold about you is
wrong, that is worth fixing — it affects more than this account.

<Warning>
  **The three bureaus do not share information with each other.** Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
  each hold their own file, and correcting one does nothing to the other two.

  Whatever you do below, do it at each bureau separately.
</Warning>

## Where to start

UAS primarily uses **TransUnion**, and **Experian** may also be used. So TransUnion is the sensible
first stop — but only the first.

| Bureau         |                                               |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **TransUnion** | [transunion.com](https://www.transunion.com/) |
| **Experian**   | [experian.com](https://www.experian.com/)     |
| **Equifax**    | [equifax.com](https://www.equifax.com/)       |

Each lets you create an account, view your report, manage a freeze, and raise a dispute.

## Checking your report

Create an account with the bureau, then use their service center to view your file. You can review
what is held about you — your name, addresses, and the accounts reported — and check it matches
reality.

## Credit freezes and fraud alerts

A **freeze** stops new credit being opened in your name. It also stops a lender checking your credit
when you apply for something.

<Info>
  **If an application has stalled, a freeze is a common reason.** You can lift a freeze temporarily
  and then let it go back on. You do not have to remove it permanently.
</Info>

A **fraud alert** does not block anything, but tells lenders to take extra steps to verify it is
really you.

Both are managed at each bureau, and a freeze lifted at one bureau is still in place at the others.

## If what we reported about your account is wrong

You have two routes, and you can use either. Coming to us directly is usually quicker, because we
hold the account record the bureau would come back to us for anyway.

**Write to us**, so there is a record of what you disputed and when:

> **Universal Account Servicing, LLC**
> ATTN: Billing Errors and Disputes
> 603 East Street STE 301
> Parkville, MO 64152

If your account is a bank or credit union loan, **check your own agreement first** — some give
P.O. Box 12027, Parkville, MO 64152 for this instead. Either reaches us; use the one your agreement
names.

Your agreement sets out what to include, and it is worth following exactly:

1. Your name and the date of your agreement
2. The specific information you say is wrong
3. Why you say it is wrong
4. Any documentation that supports it

If you believe the account was opened in your name by someone else, send an identity theft affidavit
or a police report with it — that follows a different route from a billing dispute.

<Info>
  **How long it takes.** An investigation is completed within **30 days**, or **45 days** if you
  send further information part-way through. If we find the information was wrong, we correct it
  with every bureau we reported it to.

  While a dispute is open, we cannot keep reporting the disputed information without also reporting
  that you dispute it.

  A dispute that repeats one already decided, or that comes through a credit repair company, may be
  closed without a fresh investigation. If yours is closed on that basis and you have new
  information, say so and it will be looked at again.
</Info>

<Note>
  **If your account has already left UAS**, we no longer report on it, and we cannot correct a period
  we did not report. Send the dispute to whoever holds the account now — if you are not sure who
  that is, ask us and we will tell you, and pass on anything you have already sent.
</Note>

## Disputing what a bureau is reporting

If something in your file is wrong, raise a dispute with the bureau holding it. Each has an online
dispute process where you describe what is wrong and attach supporting documentation. The bureau
tells you how long their investigation will take.

<Note>
  **This is not the same as disputing a charge on your account.** A bureau dispute says the bureau's
  record is wrong. A charge dispute says something on your UAS account is wrong — see
  [Disputing a charge](/getting-help/disputing-a-charge).

  If the charge itself is wrong, start there. Correcting the account is what corrects what gets
  reported.
</Note>

## What your signing packet already told you

If you financed through a program that issues a credit score disclosure, your packet included a
section on your credit score and on disputing inaccurate credit report information. Worth digging
out — it was written for exactly this.