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

Ima Johnson asked:




Being able to know your financial standings and your credit scores plays an important role. This is one thing that can dictate whether you will be qualified for a loan, for a credit card application, for a house and even a car or not. Maintaining a good credit score can help you increase the chances of having your application approved – but what if you have been an identity theft victim? Furthermore, how are you supposed to know whether your identity has been stolen or not?

These are just few questions that may bother most people, especially those who are planning to apply for a loan (or at least those people who have a pending loan application.) The only thing that can help you determine whether you have been an identity theft victim is through a credit report. Just for your information, a credit report includes all your financial history as well as your credit scores for the year. You can obtain for a free credit report every once in a year.

This way, you can keep track of your credit cards and financial history, and easily determine whether someone has been trying to steal your identity. If this thing happens, it is your responsibility to immediately call your credit card company and have the card disabled as soon as possible. As of today, you may have already realized the importance of a free credit report and what does it has to do with identity theft.

How to get a free credit report? This is the very first question that you may ask. Obtaining an annual credit report is quite easy. All that you have to do is to look for companies or bureaus offering this kind of services. Make sure that you inspect the company closely, and see whether they are a legit company or now.

Obtaining an annual report may seem to be an easy thing to do, but finding a legit company offering a legit annual financial report is another thing. To further help you out, you can call the government’s financing department and verify if the company or website that you are looking for is a genuine one.

Ellen