Get a Free Credit Report

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, is a federal law that is designed specifically to regulate how your information is used by credit reporting agencies. The Fair Credit Reporting Act restricts who can get access to your more sensitive credit information as well as how that specific information can be used for or against you. The Fair Credit Reporting Act also requires that each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies, which are Equifax, Trans Union and Experian, provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every twelve months at your request.

Ordering your Credit Report

These three companies have come together to put up a single central website, as well as a mailing address and a toll free website which make it possible for you to order your free credit report and score, however it is possible you may need to pay to see the score. You can order your free credit report on an annual basis through these methods:

- Visiting http://www.annualcreditreport.com
- Calling 1-877-322-8228
- Completing a request form and mailing it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

These three nationwide consumer reporting agencies only provide free annual credit reports through the address above, phone number and the website. You should not contact them individually or personally about obtaining your free credit report.

While there are a number of unofficial websites that claim to offer credit reports and score for free, the only authorized website offering the free annual credit report is the one listed above. Most of the other web sites that offer "supposedly" free reports or credit score generally require that you purchase some kind of product in order to get the credit report for free. While consumers may be offered other services and products on the authorized website mentioned above, they are never required to purchase these products or services in order to get access to the free annual report.

When you order your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com, you will be asked to provide your name, your address, your date or birth and your social security number. You may also need to provide your previous address if you have relocated in the past two years. In order to verify your identity with the credit bureaus, you may need to provide information that you would know but that no one else would, such as the amount that you pay in your monthly mortgage payment. Each of the credit agencies may ask for different information because they draw information from different sources. If you cannot authenticate your identity for online delivery, you may need to choose one of the alternative methods for retrieving your credit reports.

All of the information in your credit file at the time of your request must be provided for you, except for a couple of exceptions:

• Information containing credit scores,
• Information concerning risk scores,
• Information containing other predictors,
• Information concerning FBI security clearance checks.
• Make sure to know what to ask your attorney when it comes to talking about your free credit report. The following questions are worth asking:
• I have requested my free annual credit report but have not received it yet. Is there a specific period of time in which the free credit report must be sent?
• Are the credit reporting agencies required to give me my credit score when I request my free credit report?
• Can my spouse request and receive my personal annual credit report in my place?

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