Free Instant Credit Reports – Score

Matthew Keegan asked:




Yes, it is true: free credit reports are available for you, the consumer. Thanks to an act of Congress, you can get copies of your credit reports annually. This means that Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union – the Big 3 credit reporting agencies – must furnish one free copy of your credit report to you every year. No, you can’t get your free credit reports sent to you automatically: you must take action. Let’s take a look at how you can get copies of your credit reports sent to you today.

Annual Credit Report – By visiting AnnualCreditReport.com you can sign up through the government approved site that will give to you your free credit reports. Each of the three credit reporting companies is listed therein, so select one and provide your personal information to the company of your choosing. Once your information has been verified, a report will be generated for your review. Take a close look at it: if there are errors you need to follow the company’s procedures for contesting mistakes.

Your Credit Score – Not included with your free credit reports but available for a small fee at the same time is your credit score. This is the score whereby members of the credit industry rate your creditworthiness. The higher your score, the better for you and the lower your borrowing rates will be.

Competing Sites – Some consumers prefer to pay for what otherwise are free credit reports. By signing up with companies who offer this service, you can automatically have your credit reports run and sent to you on a periodic basis. Again, you will pay a fee for something you can get for free. In any case, you will pay for your credit score no matter whose service you use.

As with any report, check your free credit reports for errors. Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax all have procedures listed outlining how you can challenge errors. Make certain that you follow their directions to have wrong information expunged from your report. It could save you money on your next credit card loan, car loan, or home mortgage.

Certainly, there aren’t many things that are absolutely free in this life. Congress has seen fit that free credit reports are offered to American consumers in all 50 states. Run each report at least once annually and check it for mistakes as they commonly occur. Who knows, but those free credit reports could reveal identity theft issues too saving you much grief and aggravation if caught in a timely fashion.

Rodney

Michael Killian asked:




Would FREE copies your credit report be of interest? If you are committed to repairing your credit or simply want to know what is on your credit report, I have good news for you. A free copy of your credit report is available to every consumer annually. This article discusses the free report as well as repairing your credit report once you have your credit file on hand.

Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont always had a right to one free report per bureau each year. But now this same benefit is available in every state – one FREE credit report from each of the three major national credit bureaus every 12 months.

Additionally, consumers may be entitled to a free report under certain other conditions, such as having been denied credit, insurance or a job within the past 60 days. You’re also entitled to a free report if you think your report is inaccurate due to fraud.

But under the new law, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion have an online site where you can get a free report at Annual Credit Report. There is also a toll-free phone number: 877-322-8228. Finally you can write to P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Yahoo News suggests: “If you do use the postal address, it’s best to print and mail in a completed online request form. You can’t get your report unless you answer questions on the form.” There is also information available through Federal Trade Commission.

Once you have your report, what do you look for?

Here are some basic things you should check on your report. Go through your entire report entry by entry. Have the credit agency legend by your side in order to verify coding compliance. Have also a paper and pencil to annotate any item you find in error. Go slowly!

Don’t assume your personal information is correct. You could be viewing
information from someone else’s report with just a simple error such as: first name misspelled, missing Jr./Sr., erroneous address, bad zip code, wrong employer, or any other incorrect personal data.

Insure marital information is correct. Are accounts listed as “joint” really joint?

Is the report in compliance with court settlements? Outdated information is
normally considered to be any item older than 7 years except for bankruptcy, which is usually 10 years.

Closed accounts should not be listed as open. Accounts you closed should
reflect, “Closed by consumer”. Otherwise it can be assumed that it was closed by the creditor– not good.

Accounts should not appear twice even in different sections.

Incorrect histories such as late payments, a credit entry you do not recognize, a pre-marital debt of your
current spouse, or other such items need your attention.

Are there missing reports that would be beneficial to show a good history, and are profiles, credit limits, and balances correct?

A former correction to your credit file that has since disappeared should be brought to the agency’s attention.

You might want to note that each bureau offers credit ID fraud called safeguard services, but for fees. For example TransUnion offers “ID Fraud Watch”. For $10.95 each quarter, you get a credit report every three months and $25,000 of identity theft insurance.

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Additionally you can purchase a credit score for a fee by contacting one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies.

Equifax

Experian

TransUnion

You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report through Annual Credit Report

Readers will probably be interested to know Mike, the author of this article, also offers a free debt elimination mini-course via e-mail. You can enroll at Debt Free In 7.5 Years.

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Final Comments: One final point which I am often asked. If a collection company sells your account to another collection agency, can you get the first one get deleted, or will it just show as a zero balance

Reporting depends on who owns the account there are several directions this can take:

If the original creditor still owns the account but assigns the debt to a collection company then both get to report on that account listing.

If the original creditor retracts the collection and re-assigns it to a new collection agency then both original creditor and the 2nd collection agency can report but the first one must remove their listing off of the credit report.

If the original creditor sells the debt to a collection agency then the creditor will report zero balance / sold to another lender, and the collection agency will report.

If that collection agency assigns a debt to another collection agency then it is allowable for both to report the account listing, but if they take back that account then that assigned collection agency must remove their reporting.

Now if that collection agency sells the debt to another collection agency they get to keep their reporting on the report since they owned the account at one time, and the new collection agency picks up on the reporting.

So the difference is if your account is assigned or sold.

Florence

Tim Gorman asked:




The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT) give all individuals the opportunity to receive a free credit report. Generally, you can request a free credit report once per year. These reports are requested from the three major credit bureaus who report on all activity regarding credit. The intentions of the Acts are to allow the consumer to check the accuracy as well as the privacy of his or her credit report. This is underlined by the fact that FCRA and FACT are enforced with regard to consumer reporting companies by the Federal Trade Commission which is the main consumer protection agency in United States.

A credit report contains data regarding the consumer’s personal contact information, bankruptcy, as well as his or her very detailed credit history details. It is regularly used to evaluate his or her credit worthiness by not only financial institutions offering credit but by employers and others. As such it is important to make sure that the consumer has a right to check the credit report in order to correct any errors or unfair information contained there. This also prevents anyone else from using your identity to commit fraud since such activity will become apparent when you check the report.

You can request the free annual copy of your credit report from the website set up by the three main credit bureaus, namely Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. All three have set up a toll free telephone number and a mailing address to meet the requests from consumers. Contacting the credit bureaus directly will not be fruitful since they will direct you to the website referred above. However you can request the free annual copy from each of the three bureaus separately at different times as long as you request only one copy for 12 months from each bureau.

Once you have filled the form on the website you will be able to see the credit report almost immediately. Using the toll free number or mailing address will get you the report within 15 days of request. However you should have the information needed to verify your identity if the credit bureau requests.

Other methods to get a free credit report

In addition to the entitlement mentioned above .You are entitled to obtain a free credit report if you are denied credit, insurance, or employment due to the contents of the credit report. However you should request the report within 60 days of notice of such denial. Unemployed individuals looking for work, those who are on welfare, and those who have been victims of frauds or identity theft, can also request a free copy of the credit report. It must also be remembered that residents of States of Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont, have access to annual credit reports free of charge for some time through State laws.

Manuel

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

Clara Ghomes asked:




Credit reports of an individual are a record of all his/her past lending transactions such as borrowing money, repayments, information regarding late payments (if any) and bankruptcy. The credit rating or score is based on the credit report of an individual. These ratings help in determining the ease and difficulty with which a person would (or won’t) get credit from credit card companies, banks or any other creditors.

The US laws have allowed every person to request for a free copy of their credit report every year. It’s very beneficial to get a free report, but the opportunity could get wasted if one doesn’t know how to read them. It also could be frustrating if a person doesn’t have any clue regarding how to read or understand their credit report. Nowadays, these reports are many important with the number of identity thefts which are on a rise and regular checking of reports helps a person in dealing with any issues in the report.

A person can request his/her copy of free report from any of the credit bureaus- namely TransUnion, Equifax and Experian (or TRW). One can also go online to get a copy of their financial records. One should make a habit of checking their report every year. Also, the credit bureaus should be contacted in case of any occurrence of incorrect information in an individual’s report.

After receiving the copy, one should sit down and review the report slowly and carefully. Each line of the report should be analyzed to get all the information regarding the debts. Many documents also provide ‘key’ with which one can understand the meaning of the symbols and codes used in the report. Also, a copy of the report should be faxed to the accountant for identification of any tax implications.

Any information which doesn’t make any sense should be highlighted. One should remind themselves to search online for explanation regarding the unclarified information. Friends with adequate knowledge regarding this report can be contacted for advice. One can also try free credit counselling agencies if there is still problem in analyzing the report, why it exists and the information on the report. Also, one should immediately investigate anything that doesn’t look familiar. The information should be reviewed on a monthly basis.

There are also companies which offer services of checking credit reports and confirming information for a fee. But, going online to request free such report can help in viewing the information for free. Also, these reports don’t mention the credit rating of an individual; they just provide all the list of accounts to check that the information on the report is true and contains no errors.

Harold

Ann Born asked:




You have an abundance of alternatives when looking for an absolutely free credit report, no trial. Within the United States, Americans have the ability to receive one absolutely free credit report, no trial from each of the three major reporting companies, yearly. Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian all provide you one free credit report on a yearly basis. The only requirement from you is that you contact any one of them and request your absolutely free credit report, no trial.

You will be required to provide them with proof of identification and current address. This is a necessary step to prove that you are the person shown on the credit report. After you have requested the absolutely free credit report, no trial, you will find your credit report sitting in your mailbox in as little as two weeks. If you are not willing to write these companies to request your free credit report, you can contact them by telephone as well. Depending upon the company you are going with, you may be able to find your credit rating right over the phone. However, you will still need to provide them with some identifying information.

Receiving an absolutely free credit report, no trial, is suitable for most people. There is really no reason you need to have constant review of your credit report. It does not generally change overnight, unless you have many different credit issues to deal with. The internet provides you with a multitude of methods in obtaining a free credit report; however, this will not be an absolutely free credit report, no trial. You will be required to provide credit card information and have to go through a 30-day free trial. There is no reason to risk your money or information online, when you can get a yearly, absolutely free credit report, no trial.

Christopher