Free Instant Credit Reports – Score

Tim Gorman asked:




Even though everyone in United States now has a right to obtain a free credit report annually from each of the three main credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, there is still considerable doubt among consumers as to whether they can get a credit report without having a credit card.

In fact having a credit card is not required to get your credit report. Everyone is free to have a look at his financial records without any charge whatsoever once a year. This is mandated by law. However many (in fact almost all) of online credit report providers that offer free credit card reports use credit cards as a method to verify the identity. This is one of the main reasons for the confusion. Consumers should be wary of using such services and they must go through the small print.

In any case there is no need for a credit card to obtain your free credit report and you can bypass the need to go through other online sites when you can obtain the credit report from the legally mandated source site. All you have to do is to visit the central website maintained by the three main credit bureaus to provide the free credit reports according to the provisions of The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT). This website is named annualcreditreport.com and once you complete the form there, you can almost immediately see your credit report.

You will be asked for proof of identity but it will not be your credit card. You will be asked to provide your name, address, date of birth, and social security number. If you have changed residence you will be asked to provide previous address. In addition the credit bureau from which you requested the report will ask you to answer a question, the answer to which only you may know. Questions may change from one bureau to another, but they will most likely comprise employment history, previous addresses or telephone numbers.

You can also request your free credit report through the toll free telephone number or through the mailing address provided by the three credit bureaus. Using that method you will get the report within 15 days of the request.

Federal Trade Commissions which mandated the law for receiving your annual credit report free of charge has given notice that only one website has the authority to provide your free annual credit report. That website is annualcreditreport.com. They also warn of other websites that offer free credit reports, but with the catch of having to signup for credit monitoring. It should be noted that the only true way of receiving your report without having to register for other services is to contact the credit bureaus directly. This is done either via the website, telephone or through postage mail.

Since you can request the credit report from each of the three credit bureaus annually you can space the requests out instead of requesting all three report at once. That way you will not have to wait 12 months for your next free credit report. Note, however, that the three bureaus have different sources for the information they include in their reports. Therefore, their credit reports for the same person tend to differ from each other.

Darrell

Helen Hecker asked:




If you’re wondering “Why do employers look at your credit report?” I’m going to outline the reasons below. Of course it’s always good to maintain a good credit report and score if you possibly can. But there are times when it may affect your future employment. And you want to know this in advance so you’ll be prepared.

First of all most small businesses and small companies don’t do much in the way of background checks. A background check can include checking your credit report, credit score and history, verification of your identity and your criminal history. Some companies will only check your credit report or they may only check your criminal history.

If you apply for a job with the federal government, they will check all three of these in a background check more than likely.

Private businesses, small companies, large companies and the federal government will do a more thorough background check if you’re going to be involved in handling cash or valuables. This would include bank tellers and other bank employees, chief financial officers, controllers, anyone who works for a brokerage of any kind and financial institutions or financial-related businesses. Jewelry-related businesses will do very thorough checks because diamonds and rare gems can be easily concealed.

An employer cannot use bankruptcy as a reason not to hire you. Although they may tell you another reason, there is no way to know if it’s because of a bankruptcy unless they tell you this. But there is a federal law that says an employer cannot refuse to hire you or promote you or fire you because of a bankruptcy.

One of the main reasons an employer wants to see your credit report is they want to check your employment history and see if it matches and to verify your social security number. If you have applied for a credit card or loan there may be employment information and your future employer can double check this way.

Most employers know that your credit report and credit history are not going to be reliable factors to predict if you’re going to be stealing from them. So they will check your criminal history to see if you have bounced any checks. That is a more reliable way for them to evaluate you. They will also look for evictions, foreclosures, repossessions and collection agencies.

Your employer or future employer does need your permission to check your credit report. If they hire another company to do a background check that includes it, they have to get your written permission first.

If you’ve applied for a job and lied on your application about any recent criminal history or about your identity, experience or your education and your report and history indicates otherwise, you can count on not getting the job.

All of this is a good reason to check your report at least twice a year. That will give you time to correct any serious errors on it. These errors or bad marks may prevent you from getting a job and you may not know why.

You can get one copy of your personal, instant, online, free, annual credit report each year but a second one you may have to pay for unless you see a copy that has been ordered by someone you have given permission to when they are verifying your credit history.

If your credit problems, credit report and score and history are not very serious and fairly recent then most employers will overlook small marks on your report. Employers want good people and don’t want to eliminate you because of a late payment or two. So make sure to get your free report and check it now so you’ll know where you stand and clean up and fix your credit report soon. These are just a few of the reasons that answer the question “why do employers look at your credit report?”. There are other tips you’ll want to know before you apply for a job also.

Brittany