The Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act entitles you to see what's in your credit history and obtain a free annual credit report. Having your credit information is useful to have when a credit card or loan application is denied or if you don't get job because of information in your credit report. Due to the popularity of these provisions in federal law, numerous websites have sprung up that promise you a free annual credit report. But the Federal Trade Commission warns you that many of these sites are not what they seem--nor are they free. There's only one website maintained by the three major consumer reporting agencies through which you can access your annual credit report without a charge.
Step 1
Go online to: annualcreditreport.com which is the only online portal established by Congress to access your free annual credit report:. You can opt to pull your credit reports from all three consumer reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) at one time; or you can access one report from each individual agency and spread out your free credit reports over a period of time.
Step 2
If you don't have Internet access or don't feel comfortable getting your annual credit report online, call 1 (877) 322-8228 or send a written request to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P. O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5281. The official website contains a link so you can print out and fill out the request form for your report (according to information on the site, you will need Adobe viewer installed on your computer to view and print the form). If you call or write for your report, you will have to wait an additional 15 days to receive it from the time you make the call or written correspondence was received.
Step 3
Keep in mind that you will have to pay each consumer reporting agency an additional fee to see your actual credit scores--these are normally not included as a part of your free annual credit report. The FTC determines the fee that the reporting agency can charge. According to agency representatives, as of December 2009, the cost for an Equifax and Experian credit score was $7.95 and the cost of a TransUnion score was $5.95 (plus tax). You can choose to purchase your credit scores when you get your free annual credit report online or request them from the three agencies directly:
Equifax
1 (800) 685-1111
www.equifax.com
Experian
1 (888) 397-3742
www.experian.com
TransUnion
1 (800) 888-4213
www.transunion.com
Step 4
Beware when using any other "free annual credit report" site, warns the FTC. Such sites may use the term "free credit report" or "free credit score" in the URL or misspell "annualcreditreport" to lure you into the imposter site. These sites are in business to make money; they do so by getting you to sign up for a "free trial" that converts to a paid service once you actually use it. If you don't cancel your free trial period, you may be giving the website permission to start charging your credit or debit card. Also, more nefarious sites exist only to gather your personal information to sell to identity thieves. The FTC notes that the three consumer reporting agencies will never contact you via email or phone regarding your free annual credit report.
Things You'll Need
- Computer with Internet access
- Telephone access (optional)
- Computer printer, pen, envelope & stamp (optional)
- Credit or debit card (if ordering credit scores)
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