Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you're entitled to receive your credit report from the three nationwide consumer reporting bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — once a year without any charge. Obtaining a copy of your credit reports from each of these entities is important, notes the Federal Trade Commission; Equifax, Experian and TransUnion obtain information from varying sources, so the data in one of your credit reports might not be the same as it is in the others. Taking a good look at your three credit reports can give you a good idea of what debts you have outstanding and if there are errors in any of the reports before you apply for additional credit or a major loan, such as for a home or a car.
Step 1
Be aware that many "free credit report" websites are imposters, advises the FTC. Only one website, annualcreditreport.com, is authorized to give you your free credit report from all three consumer reporting agencies. Other sites may use the term "free report" in their URLs to confuse you. Others purport to offer you all three credit reports, as well as monitoring services, but ask for your credit card information and begin charging you after a trial period is up. Be particularly wary, urges the FTC, as some of these sites exist to collect your personal information.
Step 2
Order your three credit reports online through annualcreditreport.com, by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by filling out the Annual Credit Report Request Form (see Resources) and mailing it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5281
The FTC states that while your three credit reports are available to you immediately if you access them online, you'll have to wait if you call or write for your reports, usually 15 business days from the date you called or your correspondence was received.
Step 3
Note that there are other circumstances in which you can obtain your credit reports for free. These include if a company denies you credit, insurance or employment and you request your reports within 30 days (typically, the company will indicate, specifically, which credit reporting agency it consulted). You can also get a free annual report yearly if you're out of work and plan to seek employment, if you receive welfare benefits or if you are the victim of fraud (such as identity theft).
Step 4
Request your three credit reports from the three reporting bureaus more frequently if need be, but be aware that you may have to pay a fee of more than $10 for each additional copy that you order, warns the FTC. The contact information for Experian, Equifax and TransUnion is provided in the Resources link below.
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