Need to remove "Fraud Alert" from your bureaus? Here's an easy tip how

A fraud alert is a statement that appears on your three major credit bureaus. Often it is used if you have been a victim of identity theft, or if you wish to keep tight control over your credit report.

It alerts potential creditors that they must contact you to verify information before pulling your credit.

But there are times when this doesn't serve you. For instance, when I was trying to obtain new credit lines and a mortgage, the fraud alert slowed down the approval process to a grinding halt.

This happened because the creditors had to call me first and make contact with me before they could go ahead and review my credit report. The delay occurred because I was unaware when the creditors would try to call me.

Apparently some of the creditors claimed they left a message but I didn't receive it. Then I had to call them back, often leaving a message for a representative to call me. This resulted in another delay.

Originally I had put up a fraud alert because I did have unusual activity on my bureaus.

But in this instance, the fraud alert was hurting rather than hindering me. So, there are times when you need to remove it.

I found that by calling Equifax at 800.525.6285 during normal business hours took care of the problem. They did ask for my confirmation number, which I did not have. So if you have a confirmation number for a report within 90 days that will help. Otherwise they will provide that to you.

Then I asked to have my fraud alert removed. They stated that I should simply fax in a written request to 888.826.0573, which I did. Put it to Attention: Fraud Department. I was also asked to include two forms of ID. I included 3: utitily bill, social security card, and driver's license.

The representative indicated that the alert would be removed within 48 hours, and that they would also share this request to delete with the other bureaus, Experian and TransUnion.