How To Change Your Company's Address in The Business Credit Report

An inaccurate address in a business credit report can significantly contribute to a company's credit application being rejected. It may also hinder auto-reported transactions from being directly included in a business credit report. That's why I always begin my enhancement services with new clients by assisting them in updating their company's information in their D&B, Business Experian, and the Equifax for Business credit reports.

When looking for information about how to change your company's address in the business credit report, you might come across various tips on how to do so. However, online resources may not be aware of some essential actions you should take beforehand. It's important to complete several steps prior to submitting the address change to the bureaus, as these actions are crucial to ensuring that the change doesn't adversely affect your scores and ratings.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Your business address contributes significantly to your company's legitimacy, credibility and creditworthiness.

• Failing to update the business address can lead to duplicate DUNS numbers being created for your company. This can cause confusion for creditors who attempt to pull a business credit inquiry and find conflicting information. If there is a risk that they may have to pay for multiple inquiries to get the information they need, they will often simply decline the application until the issue is resolved.

• If a commercial credit bureau is seeking verification of the company's location and their research finds a different business at that address, they may flag your company as being "out of business." That can be catastrophic to your company's credibility. It can take weeks or months to clear up the confusion, and that can be especially costly if you are negotiating contracts, applying for funding, or opening accounts with new suppliers.

• If you are a small business, you may be directing some deliveries or finance-based statements (specifically banks and credit cards) to a home office address, while using a different virtual or maildrop location as your company's mailing address. Oftentimes, auto reported transactions don't get reported to a credit report if the "payment method" address differs from what the bureaus show on file for the company's "physical location."

PRE-UPDATE CHECKLIST

☐ Before you update the company's address with the bureaus, make sure it is updated on your corporate registration. This is an important step because that is where the bureaus will go to check the legitimacy of the update. If it can't be confirmed at the state level, the bureaus may question whether the submitted update is legitimate or a thinly veiled attempt at avoiding creditors. An updated business registration also helps confirm that the address change isn't associated with corporate identity theft.

☐ Take the necessary steps to update the business address on the company's website. Check to see how quickly this can get accomplished. Depending on the backlog of your web developer, you may be waiting a week or so for this to get updated and then manually confirmed for accuracy.

☐ If your company is an incorporation or a partnership, prepare a copy of the business minutes showing the change of address has been approved by all owners, officers, or directors. You may need to provide the meeting minutes to your banks and credit card processors to authorize the change if the address update results in mail being redirected.

☐ If the address will result in mail being redirected, be sure to fill out an official change of address with the post office. If you are using a virtual address or maildrop location, they will also need to be made aware of any forwarding that may need to be arranged.

☐ Make sure you have everything handy so you can submit all updates at once. Every time you submit updates, those changes can cause fluctuations in your business credit scores and ratings. By submitting all updates at once, you can limit those fluctuations and allow your business credit report to recover more quickly and completely.

NOTIFYING THE BUREAUS

Dun & Bradstreet makes it easy to submit updates to the business credit report using their DUNS Profile Manager service. It's free and available to any named owner, officer or director. You will need to submit updates to your business credit report through the my.dnb.com portal.

• If you already have access to the portal, you can access the DUNS Profile Manager on the existing My Apps dashboard. Just click on the dropdown at the top of the page to make sure you are viewing the correct business and then click on the DUNS Profile Manager box. If there is no DUNS Profile Manager box, you can click on the Manage Company Profile button below your business information in the column on the right.

• If you don't already have access to the free portal, you can get access by going to DUNS Profile Manager on the D&B website and creating an access account. Access is limited to named owners, officers and directors.

• If you aren't listed as such on the D&B portal, you may need to submit corporate documents to verify your affiliation to the business. This can take up to 10 days.

• You will also have the option of temporarily logging into your company's business bank account to verify your ownership details. This will usually provide immediate access tot he update portal.

Business Experian

To update your company's address on Business Experian, you can either use the online portal on BusinessCreditFacts.com or submit a written request to Experian Commercial Relations. The online method requires authentication to verify you are an owner or officer, while the written method requires a letter with supporting documents, an officer's signature, and other company details.

• Online Update (Recommended)

• Go to the "Update My Business Information" page on BusinessCreditFacts.com.

• Search for your business: Enter your business name, city, and state to see if your business is already in Experian's system.

• You will be prompted to authenticate your identity as an owner or corporate officer.

• Once authenticated, you can update the address and other business details directly on the page.

• Written Request

• Obtain a copy of your business credit report and circle the incorrect address.

• List all variations of your company name and previous addresses for the past 10 years.

• Include the new, correct address.

• Provide any supporting documentation you have.

• Provide the signature and phone number of an officer of the company.

• Mail the information to:

Experian Commercial Relations

P.O. Box 5001

Costa Mesa, CA 92628

• Or email the information to: BusinessDisputes@experian.com

Equifax For Business

• Call the Equifax Commercial department: 800-727-8495

• Tell them you need to update your business details.

• They will need to start a case.

• Provide your business email address

• Watch for an email from: commercialdisclosures@equifax.com

• Reply back to that email providing the following information

• Your full name

• The name of the company.

• Only use your personal name and title if —

• you are an owner operator, sole proprietor, etc., and

• the business is in your name only

• Complete business address including city and state

• Business phone number

• Business email address

• Tax ID

• You can dispute any derogatory payments or write a separate page of required changes.

• Fax the changes to: 888-826-0711

• For 1-on-1 assistance, send all of the above in an email to: cust.serv@equifax.com

TRACK THE UPDATES

It is not enough to submit the changes and then assume they will get completed. You will need to watch for notifications from the bureaus requesting additional information. You will also want to check the report frequently over a period of weeks to make sure the updates were completed in their entirety and that your scores and ratings have sufficiently recovered.

NOTIFYING YOUR CREDITORS

• Once the updates are completed, you should contact all of your banks, credit cards, vendors, suppliers, and customers of the change of address. This is particularly important if your creditors are large corporations who could be potential auto-reporters to the commercial credit bureaus.

• If the updates have brought improvements to your scores and ratings, you may choose to send your creditors and suppliers an updated copy of your credit report. Improved credit scores will usually bring:

• more favorable payment options

• increases to existing credit lines

• initiate previously unverified auto-reporting to the bureaus

ASK FOR HELP

I am always happy to help small business owners improve their creditworthiness and opportunities to achieve the credit they deserve. In many cases, I can provide the information you need to get the updates completed quickly, efficiently, and at no cost to you. If you need help finding or reviewing your business credit reports, please don't hesitate to give me a call at 800-918-7505 or schedule an online appointment here.