Tips on Obtaining Free Credit Reports

Before signing up to pay for on-demand credit reports, consider that the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, which is part of the broader Fair Credit Reporting Credit Act (FCRA), mandates that Equifax, Transunion, and Experian, three major credit-reporting companies for consumers, give each person requesting it one free credit report per year. And sometime this year, CoreLogic, another credit-reporting company, will begin offering free credit reports.

Your credit report has your name, address, date of birth, social security number, and employer. Also included are the types of credit accounts you have: credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, etc. Your credit limit and your payment history (whether you’ve paid on time or been late) are also included. Prospective lenders look at a report to decide whether to give you a loan, and some prospective employers look at it before making a decision to hire you. However, employers must have your written permission before looking at your credit report.

Authorized Website For Free Reports

When requesting a free credit report, visit the only website authorized by the federal government for truly free credit reports.You can request your credit report online, by phone, or by mail. The federal website will not send you an e-mail asking for personal information. Do not respond to websites that do. They may be phishing for personal information for fraudulent purposes. If you are unsure whether you are signed in to the authentic government website, the safest way to get your credit report is by phone or mail, states the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer rights organization based in San Diego.

Free Report Online

The fastest way to get your credit report is to go online. Sign in on the above-mentioned website to see your report immediately. After filling in some personal information, you can select whether you want to see all your credit reports or just one or two. If you’re going to make a major purchase such as a house or a car, perhaps you want to see all three credit reports at once. But if this is just a routine check of your credit, maybe you’ll want to look at just one report now.

By Phone

Call 1-877-322-8228 and answer the prompts to order your credit reports from Equifax, Transunion , or Experian, which will be mailed to you within 15 days. CoreLogic’s phone is 877-532-8778.

By Mail

You can print the form for ordering a free credit report by going to the website or by sending a letter with your full legal name, address, social security number, date of birth, and what reports you want to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P. O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5281

Circumstances To Qualify For a Free Credit Report

If you’re unemployed and will be job-hunting within 60 days, if you’re on welfare, or were a victim of identify theft or fraud, you are entitled to one free credit report in a 12-month period. If a company denies you a job, insurance, or a loan because of your credit report, it must give you a letter stating that you were denied because of your credit report and include the name, address, and phone number of the the credit-reporting company that supplied the information on which the rejection was based. Then you have 60 days from receiving notice of unfavorable action to request a free credit report.

States Offering Free Credit Reports

Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont offer residents one free credit report a year in addition to the ones available annually through the major credit-reporting companies. Georgia offers its residents two free reports a year. So, residents of these seven states can get free reports by contacting their respective states and by contacting the federal website.


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