Sometimes we simply forget about a payment, or get behind on a loan. Other times a credit report error (or worse, a case of identity theft) can lead you on a wild goose chase just looking for a simple address or phone number. Life can get messy, and creditors aren’t always the easiest to contact when you need to.
When it comes to tracking down your creditors, it’s often easier said than done. It’s not uncommon to not know the exact company name of a creditor, let alone their address or phone number. Things can get even more complicated when a creditor decides to hire a collection agency, which may be harder to identify and contact.
If you need to write a credit dispute letter, or if you simply need to contact a creditor to verify the amount of money you owe, then you’re going to need a phone number or address. Here are the best places to look for this information:
Check Your Credit Report
The first place you should look to find creditors is your credit report. By law you are allowed one free credit report per year, which you can access at AnnualCreditReport.com.
To find contact info for your creditors, look in the account history portion of your credit report. Here you will find info (address, phone number, and abbreviated account number) of all your accounts from the last 10 years, whether they’re open or closed. If an account has gone to collections, it will show the contact info for the collections company.
Other Places to Look
If the contact info you find on the credit report proves unreliable, there are several more places you can check:
- Search Google. Look for a company “contact us” page, or info on an online yellow pages or business listing.
- Your state’s corporation commission.
- The Better Business Bureau; you can search online here.
By searching in these places, you should be able to find at least an address and phone number of virtually any registered business.
Read this recent blog post to learn more about how to understand your credit report and use it to improve your score.
photo credit: getswipp via photopin cc
photo credit: nimble photography via photopin cc
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