Free Annual Credit Reports – How to Get Them
Overview
Reviewing your annual credit reports is essential to ensuring your credit is in good standing and accurately reported. There are three main credit bureaus that store your credit information; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These bureaus don't report your payment history and information; rather they store the information that others report (banks, utilities, etc.).
It is important to get your free annual credit report from all three bureaus because they differ slightly in the manner in which they report your information. Often times, the reports are similar, if not identical. However, it can only take one reporting error on any one of the three reports to cause you grief.
Getting Your Three Free Reports
Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), all Americans are entitled to one free credit report from each of the aforementioned credit bureaus. At the least, you should access these three free reports once per year.
Other Ways to Get a Free Credit Report From Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion
In addition to your guaranteed three free annual reports mentioned above, you can also get a free credit report from the three bureaus when any of the following scenarios occur.
- You are on welfare.
- You were denied credit within the last 60 days.
- You are currently unemployed and seeking work within the next 60 days.
- You have had your identity stolen and have reported it to the police.
Where to Get Your Free Reports
If you want to get your three free reports at one time, you can visit annualcreditreport.com. This website will give you your three free reports with no strings attached or credit monitoring trial.
You can also go to each of the credit bureaus websites and request your report by calling, emailing, or sending them a request via snail mail.
When you get your free reports, you will not get your credit scores; the three digit FICO score that most of us want to see. The credit score is often used to quickly gage your credit health. To get your scores, you must purchase them. This can be done by visiting each of the three credit bureau websites and paying for your score or by using our website; theFreeAnnualCreditReports.com.
By signing up for a trial membership of credit monitoring, you can get all three of your annual credit reports and your three credit scores; free of charge. Although the credit monitoring service is a useful tool, you may not want it. Not a problem. Simply cancel the monitoring service and poof; you have your free reports and scores.
Questions and Answers
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