ANSWERS: 1
  • The Federal Credit Reporting Act ensures that each American citizen can receive, upon request, a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, once every 12 months. A credit report includes information on your residences, both past and present; your bill payment history; whether you have been arrested and whether you've filed for bankruptcy, been foreclosed upon or had something repossessed.

    Get Your Credit Reports

    You can order a copy of your credit report either online, by phone or by mail. To order online from any or all of the three credit reporting agencies, go to annualcreditreport.com. This is a free service set up by all three agencies and available to anyone over the age of 18. Simply go to the site and select your state of residence. You will then fill out a basic personal information form including your current address and your previous address. After filling out the form, you may be asked for other identifying information. Often, the site uses multiple-choice questions such as: "Of these 4 choices, in what state did you work at XYZ company?" and it will give you a list of options for you to select. This is to determine that you are really who you say you are and hopefully provide you with questions only you would know the answer to. Alternatively, you can call (877) 322-8228 and go through a voice menu to get your report. You can also fill out a form available at ftc.gov/credit and send it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The free report you are entitled to each year is only available through this service. If you would like to receive your credit report more than once a year, you can go to each one of the three major credit bureaus separately and request them. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you were denied credit for any reason, but otherwise you will have to pay for a copy. Go online to Experian.com, Equifax.com or TransUnion.com to order those reports. Alternatively, call or write to each of the companies and receive your report that way.

    Warning

    Be careful of websites that proclaim to give free credit reports. Often the free report is subject to an annual or monthly membership fee. Many sites have "free credit report" in their URL or purposely misspell annualcreditreport.com in order to trick consumers into giving their credit information or credit card information to them.

    Source:

    Federal Trade Commission: Your Access to Free Credit Reports

    Moneycentral: How to Get a Credit Report for Free

    More Information:

    Annual Credit Report

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