If you are having trouble filling out your debt list or are not sure if you’ve left off any debts owed to creditors, first look at your old bills and old bank and credit card statements if you have them. But you can also get free credit reports about your credit to help you make sure. These reports should contain a list of your reported creditors. You are entitled to one credit report from each of the three credit reporting businesses every year. The three major credit reporting businesses (also called credit agencies) are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.
To get your free credit reports, go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228, the official place to get your free credit report. The company you will reach by going to that website or calling that number is a business and may try to sell you items, but you do not have to buy anything to get your free credit reports. Again, you are legally entitled to one credit report every year from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. For help reading your credit report, please see our other programs (Money Sense online) or contact the specific credit reporting business. For example, if you have a question about an item on your Equifax credit report, call Equifax.
Do not become overwhelmed and paralyzed by these “to do’s.” If you start to get stuck, write your debt list with the debts that you know of. You can get a credit report and professional help later. Of course, don’t treat your incomplete debt list as a final list until you can be sure that it is truly complete.