S. Michael Windsor asked:


All About Free Credit Reports

Obtaining a free credit report is not a daunting task. However, finding the right way that best suits you can save you a lot of time and money when looking into your credit score. There are several ways to get a free credit report. One of the ways is simply visiting one of the three credit reporting companies and simply following their directions at their website. In many cases the free credit report will be provided in exchange for a free trial on your part or something very similar. While this is not necessarily a problem as it has a 30 day money back guarantee period or similar, it can be a slight drawback since there is a bit more responsibility on your part. But, realize that during these 30 days you can really look into your credit report and utilize the additional services these companies can provide at no cost! Now that is a great deal. Better than just a free report with nothing else.

Other ways of obtaining just a free annual credit report can be through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If you go to the FTC website and follow the necessary links, you will end up at a form which you must fill out and submit to the FTC. The information the commission wants from you is your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth mainly. After filling out the form, you can send it over to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281 and wait for a credit reporting company to respond as opposed to instantly through the credit reporting companies directly.

For individuals who have been denied credit or similar, they are provided a free credit report through the inquiry on the part of the lender, insurance company or even employer. After receiving this notice, the person inquired upon has the opportunity to receive a free credit report from the company who provided the organization with your credit report. In addition, if a person is currently unemployed and planning on getting a new job within 60 days or are on welfare, they are eligible for a free credit report as well.

Having a good FICO credit score and clean credit report is very necessary in order to obtain quality loans, jobs, insurance, even places to live and it is very important to look at your credit more than just once a year. Monitoring your credit regularly will allow you to find any negative marks and/or errors due to such things as identity theft immediately. It can be quite astonishing how fast unnecessary items can appear and quickly lower your credit score. Many people don’t even notice this until either they get an annual report, if they do, or apply for a loan and discover the problem. Take advantage of the no cost trials consumer credit reporting companies provide and see how easy monitoring your credit can actually be.



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Ben Cortese asked:


The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.

That’s right; you are entitled to receive one free credit report every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. In addition to consumers who are eligible for a free credit report through the Annual Credit Report Request Service; consumers in some states are eligible for a free credit report under state law. The following states have laws that make free credit reports available to consumers: Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont.

Commonly called a credit report, what a credit report is really is a credit file disclosure. A credit file disclosure includes a record of anyone who has received a consumer report about you within a certain period of time. These are often referred to as “Inquiries”. The credit file disclosure includes certain information that is not included in a consumer report about you to a third party, such as the inquiries of companies for pre-approved offers of credit card companies, or medical account information.

A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

You are also entitled to a free report if a company takes adverse action against you, like denying your application for credit, employment or Insurance. You have up to 60 days to request your report after a decline. You’re also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you’re on welfare; or if your report is inaccurate because of identity theft.

For more information, see Your Access to Free Credit Reports at http://ftc.gov/credit



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