Free Instant Credit Reports – Score

Davion Wong asked:




There are various ways of getting your free 3 credit bureau report considering that the government has a mandate to give every citizen his own free copy of the credit report once a year. This will give you the chance to track down and monitor your financial information and verify the authenticity of the details recorded in your profile.

There are many credit-reporting bureaus around offering to give you your free yearly copy of this important document; however, the government designated the three main credit-reporting agencies as the official source of your personal financial record, and they are the Experian, the TransUnion and the Equifax. Therefore, if you want to get your financial profile, it is best to get your free-report from these agencies.

Every time you apply for a loan or credit card, your payment behavior with them will be recorded in this report; hence, they should ideally report them to each of the three main reporting agencies in order to make your profile consistent. However, this is not always the case in reality because sometimes there are some creditors who only report them to one agency.

For example, your payment record with a certain credit card company is submitted to the Experian only; without bothering to submit them to TransUnion and Equifax. Consequently, your score for Experian is different with your grade in Transunion and Equifax as a result of absence of your additional profile in the two reporting agencies. Hence, it is important to regularly check your free 3 credit bureau report every year in order to confirm the accuracy of the information contained in your report. This will greatly improve your rating if you have an excellent record.

Where to get your free credit bureau report? One way to get your copy is to request them individually from each of the main agencies mentioned herein. They are tasked by the government to supply you with your free financial record every year upon request.

Another method is to get them online through their web site where the three main official financial institutions have combined their services in one site at AnnualCreditReport.com where you can initiate your request. This method offers more convenient process in obtaining this important document because you don’t need to make three requests from each of the major reporting companies; you only make one request and you will get your free 3 credit bureau report.

Cathy

~just.me~ asked:


From Transunion, Equifax and Experian? I need copies of all three, but each you must pay 14 to 30 dollars EACH for. Is there one place I can pay One fee and get all of the TRUE reports. I need to dispute a few things on my credit, but I already viewed my free credit reports around 6 months ago, and I am not eligible to view for free.
Yes, I already went to annualcreditreport.com and got my reports around 6 months ago, so they no longer let me in. Should I wait until I am eligible again to view for free, and then do my disputes? I just don’t understand my I have to pay for my reports and send them in to the company I got the report from in order to file a dispute.

Theresa

Zach Ford asked:




Thanks to the Federal Trade Commission, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, the three big credit reporting bureaus, must provide you the consumer with a free copy of your credit report at least once a year. This means that a free credit report is yours once a year, all you have to do is request it. With today’s technologies, it has never been easier to view a free copy of your credit report from all three of the major credit bureaus. What better way to stay on top of your financial goals?

Know what’s in your credit report! There is no charge!

Yes, it’s free to check your credit report. Do you know what’s in yours? If you know what’s located in your free credit report, it will save you time when shopping for a loan or a lease, and money too. Even if you have never dealt with having bad credit, you still need to know what is in your report and check it annually for errors. Errors can damage your financial health and cause a bad relationship between you and your financial lenders.

You can obtain a copy from all three credit reporting bureaus by visiting http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Of course, you can go to their websites individually if you wish, Experian is http://www.experian.com Equifax is http://www.equifax.com and TransUnion is http://www.transunion.com. Be warned that they will ask you to sign up for account with them and offer other services to you. All three can also be contacted through regular USPS mail. The best way to contact all three of them at the same time without being slammed with offers of services they offer is to obtain your free credit report through [http://www.AnualCreditReport.com].

Betty

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:




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