Free Credit Score and Reports

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the three credit reporting agencies; Equifax, Experian; and Trans Union must provide you with a free credit score and reports once every year.

A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.

To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form you can print it from ftc.gov/credit and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through the details above.

You may order your free credit score and reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each company one at a time. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.

There is a caveat in acquiring these reports, however. There are several online sites who claim to offer free credit scores and reports.

However, you will find they charge a fee. Do not deal with these companies. There is only one website authorized to fill orders for the free credit score and reports. In addition, when using online sites, specifically the former, ensure you type in the correct spelling of this site as there are others sites with similar, but incorrectly spelled names.

Also, annualcreditreport.com will not ask for any personal information, unlike other sites. Never give your social security number to anyone online. If necessary, write to the three reporting agencies and obtain your credit score and reports in this manner, alleviating any worry that your personal information has been filtered through cyberspace. If requesting by mail, your reports should arrive within 15 days. However, if you request the information on line, you will be able to view the reports for a specified period of time.

Obtaining your free credit score and reports should be done on an annual basis to correct any errors or incorrect information. This is necessary to keep your score high, and also to check if anyone has opened an account under your name. Identity theft is, unfortunately, a fact of life. The more diligent you are, the more unlikely anyone will be able to tamper with your credit.