Get Your Credit Report for Free

There are many websites that will offer you your credit report but did you know you can get an annual credit report for free? Any of the three major credit bureaus; Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, will send you your credit report absolutely free. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) states that every person is entitled to receive free credit report once every twelve months from the credit bureaus. Fortunately, you need not contact each reporting agency separately for your free credit report. You can one report from all three agencies together online at www.annualcreditreport.com. Be aware of the websites that will charge you for a credit report, you should never have to pay for your credit report unless you are ordering it more than once a year. Most changes made to your credit report can take up to a year to appear so there is no need to order your credit report more than once a year anyway.

Getting a credit report for free once a year is important so that you can have a better idea of what your credit score is. Annual credit reports help you monitor your credit to help you avoid credit problems before they begin. You credit report contains information about your credit history for this year but also for the past seven years.

If you have ever been denied credit unreasonably, you should request your credit report. Any reason you have been denied credit shows up on your credit report. If a mistake has been made or if someone has been illegally using your name to receive credit, it will be on your credit report. It is important to check your credit report once a year to make sure all the information about your credit is correct and up to date to ensure a more accurate credit score. With your credit report you can see your list of accounts to make sure that you have not missed any payments. The annual free credit report also contains a list of people or businesses that have requested credit information on you. You should also check this to see that all of these names are familiar to you.

There is no reason not to request your annual credit report for free. You can visit the website annualcreditreport.com or you can call the toll free number 877-322-8228. You can also go to www.ftc.gov/credit and print out the annual credit report request form. Once you fill out the form you can mail it to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA
30348-5281

Remember, there is no need for you to ever pay for your credit report as long as you are only ordering it once a year. The FCRA has made sure that you are entitled access to your credit report for free.