Annual Free Credit Report

By law, you are entitled to receive one free credit report from each of the three national credit reporting agencies per year. You can order them or view them immediately online at www.annualcreditreport.com after you provide identification information.

In addition to your free annual report, a federal law known as The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) also gives you the right to obtain your credit score from each of the three national credit reporting agencies, but you will have to pay a fee per score. When you buy your score, often you get information on how you can improve it. Credit reporting agencies don’t share files, so you’ll need to contact each reporting agency to make sure the information about you is correct.

If you have questions about your score, contact a credit reporting agency. The three national credit reporting agencies are:

Equifax
1-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

Experian
1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com

TransUnion
1-800-888-4213
www.transunion.com

Credit reports are important because they are the raw data that go into your credit score.

In the past, not everybody was entitled to a free credit report. Instead, consumers had to pay or qualify based on certain activity within the credit report. Some states required that residents periodically be entitled to a free credit report, but it is now nationwide.

How do I Get my Free Credit Report?
The nation’s credit reporting agencies have teamed up and built a website that you should use to get your free credit report. The site is www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also call them at 877-322-8228 and request your free credit report.

Contacting the Credit Agencies Directly
You can also call the major credit agencies directly and ask about a free credit report. However, the FCRA-mandated  Annual Free Credit Reports  are only available through the website and phone number above. In other words, you might have to pay if you contact a credit agency directly.

What Information do I Need for a Free Credit Report?
You’ll need to be prepared with your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. You’ll also need any prior addresses from the past few years. Finally, you’ll be asked to disclose something that only you know (like the amount of a given payment, for example) as a security measure.

When Can I See my Free Credit Report?
In order to manage the process, availability is only available to certain regions at certain times. As of September 1st, 2005, the entire nation has access to a free credit report.

You can see your free credit report instantly online (at www.annualcreditreport.com). If you use the toll-free number, it may be 15 days or so until you receive the report.

What Else Should I Know About Free Credit Reports?
The regulations only entitle you to get a free credit report – not a free score or any other service. As you order your reports, watch out for sneaky attempts to sell additional items that cost money.