IS there a way to find out which credit bureau a creditor uses to approve or deny your application?

Question

I am 19 and have an account on Experian that is not mine, I am currently disputing it however its charge off and has that score at like a 537. I have okay credit with transunion and equifax (690 and 671) and I have been told that creditors subscribe to a credit bureau and use it every time they receive an application to approve or deny. When I call and ask they say " we use all three" which is not true b/c when i get the denial letter it lists which credit bureau they checked.

I am NOT going to apply for too many cards and have heard the American Express ONE is pretty easy to get. I have added a security freeze to my experian file so if anyone tries to use that bureau, they will be rejected ( as they would deny me if they seen the charge off). I just want to know if there is anyway to find out which bureau a creditor uses BEFORE applying for their card?

Answer 1

There really is no way for the general public to know.

The lenders that I use to secure auto loans I know which bureaus they look at because I have to know.

Most lenders pull differ ant bureaus based on Zip codes.

Of the 15-lenders I use not one of them pulls all three.

Answer 2

There really is no way to know which bureaus a lender will check beforehand. They sometimes use one, or two...rarely do they use all three unless it's a major loan such as a mortgage.
You would only know after the transaction. My advice would be to have your Experian report cleaned up before you apply for anything else. That way, you won't have to worry about which source the lender is using.

Answer 3

They probably do use all 3, just not for every inquiry. And, no, there is no way to find out in advance which they will use except asking them. I bet that whoever you ask doesn't know anyway.