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Credit Report Free Online - How to get a
Totally Free Credit Report
Free Credit Reports
are available to all Americans from September 1, 2006 and you
don't need to fulfil any special conditions to get your credit report
now. A recent
amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires
each of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to provide you
with a totally free credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. 
Your
freeannualcreditreport contains 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 this
information to creditors, insurers, employers, and
other businesses that use it in deciding whether to extend
credit, insurance, employment, or rent a home. There are three
nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and
Trans Union.
In recent months, consumers have asked the FTC for more details
about their rights under the federal FCRA and the Fair and Accurate
Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, which established the
free annual credit
report program. They’ve also asked about credit reports in general.
Here are the most frequently asked questions and the answers.
Q: How do I know when I’m eligible to get a free report?
A:
Beginning September 1, 2006, free credit reports will be accessible to all
Americans, regardless of where they live.
Consumers in the Western states — Alaska, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming — can order their
free personal credit report beginning
December 1, 2004.
Instant access to your
Credit Report
Look up your 2008 Credit Score - Easy, Fast and Free
Consumers in the Midwestern states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,
South Dakota, and Wisconsin — can order their free reports beginning
March 1, 2006.
Consumers in the Southern states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Texas — can order their free reports beginning June
1, 2006.
Consumers in the Eastern states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West
Virginia — the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all U.S.
territories can order their free reports beginning September 1,
2006.
Q: How do I order my free report?
A: The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up one
central website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address
through which you can order your
free annual credit report. To order
a free credit report online,
go to www.annualcreditreport.com, call 877-322-8228, or complete the
free Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:
Annual Credit
Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The
form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from www.ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer
reporting companies individually. They only provide the free
anual credit reprt through www annual credit report com,
877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box
105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your credit report
free from each of the three nationwide
consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order from
only one or two. The free
credit report law allows you to order one free copy from each
of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
Q: What information do I have to provide to get my free report?
A: You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number,
and date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may
have to provide your previous address. To maintain the security of
your file, each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you
for some information that only you would know, like the amount of
your monthly mortgage payment. Each company may ask you for
different information because the information each has in your file
may come from different sources. www.annualcreditreport.com is the
only authorized source for your
totally free credit report
from all three nationwide consumer reporting companies. www.annualcreditreport.com and the nationwide consumer reporting
companies will not send you an email asking for your personal
information. If you get an email or see a pop-up ad claiming it’s
from www.annualcreditreport.com or any of the three nationwide
consumer reporting companies, do not reply or click on any link in
the message — it’s probably a scam. Forward any email that claims to
be from www.annualcreditreport.com or any of three consumer
reporting companies to the FTC’s database of deceptive spam at spam@uce.gov.
www.annualcreditreport.com or any of three consumer reporting
companies also will not call you to ask for your personal
information.
Q: Why would I want to get a copy of my credit report?
A: You may want to review your credit report:
Because the information it contains affects whether you can get a
loan — and how much you will have to pay to borrow money; to make
sure the information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date before
you apply for a loan for a major purchase like a house or car, buy
insurance, or apply for a job;
to help guard against identity theft (that’s when someone uses your
personal information — like your name, your Social Security number,
or your credit card number — to commit fraud). Identity thieves may
use your information to open a new credit card account in your name.
Then, when they don’t pay the bills, the delinquent account is
reported on your credit report. Inaccurate information like that
could affect your ability to get credit, insurance, or even a job.
Q: How long does it take to get my report after I order it?
A: If you request your report online at www.annualcreditreport.com,
you should be able to access it immediately.
If you order your report by calling toll-free 877-322-8228, your
report will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days. If you
order your report by mail using the Annual Credit Report Request
Form, your request will be processed and mailed to you within 15
days of receipt.
Whether you order your report online, by phone, or by mail, it may
take longer to receive your report if the nationwide consumer
reporting company needs more information to verify your identity.
There may be times when the nationwide consumer reporting companies
receive an extraordinary volume of requests for credit reports. If
that happens, you may be asked to re-submit your request. Or, you
may be told that your report will be mailed to you sometime after 15
days from your request. If either of these events occurs, the
nationwide consumer reporting companies will let you know.
Q: Are there any other situations where I might be eligible for a
free report?
A: Under federal law, you’re entitled to a
free credit report and score if a company
takes adverse action against you, such as denying your application
for credit, insurance, or employment, and you ask for your report
within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will
give you the name, address, and phone number of the consumer
reporting company. 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 fraud,
including identity theft. Otherwise, a consumer reporting company
may charge you up to $9 for another copy of your report within a
12-month period. Use
this letter to get your free credit report if any of the above
conditions apply to you.
To buy a copy of your report, contact:
Equifax
800-685-1111
www.equifax.com
Experian
888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
www.experian.com
Trans Union
800-916-8800
www.transunion.com
Q: Should I order a report from each of the three nationwide
consumer reporting companies?
A: It’s up to you. Because nationwide consumer reporting companies
get their information from different sources, the information in
your report from one company may not reflect all, or the same,
information in your reports from the other two companies. That’s not
to say that the information in any of your reports is necessarily
inaccurate; it just may be different.
Q: Should I order my reports from all three of the nationwide
consumer reporting companies at the same time?
A: You may order one, two, or all three reports at the same time, or
you may stagger your requests. It’s your choice. Some financial
advisors say staggering your requests during a 12-month period may
be a good way to keep an eye on the accuracy and completeness of the
information in your reports.
Q: What if I find errors — either inaccuracies or incomplete
information — in my credit report?
A: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, both the consumer reporting
company and the information provider (that is, the person, company,
or organization that provides information about you to a consumer
reporting company) are responsible for correcting inaccurate or
incomplete information in your report. To take advantage of all your
rights under this law, contact the consumer reporting company and
the information provider. (You can find a detailed explanation about
How to Fix Your Credit
Report at 1st-Netcard.com)
Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information
you think is inaccurate.
Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items in question
— usually within 30 days — unless they consider your dispute
frivolous. They also must forward all the relevant data you provide
about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the
information. After the information provider receives notice of a
dispute from the consumer reporting company, it must investigate,
review the relevant information, and report the results back to the
consumer reporting company. If the information provider finds the
disputed information is inaccurate, it must notify all three
nationwide consumer reporting companies so they can correct the
information in your file.
When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company
must give you the written results and a free copy of your report if
the dispute results in a change. (This free report does not count as
your annual free report under the FACT Act.) If an item is changed
or deleted, the consumer reporting company cannot put the disputed
information back in your file unless the information provider
verifies that it is accurate and complete. The consumer reporting
company also must send you written notice that includes the name,
address, and phone number of the information provider.
Tell the creditor or other information provider in writing that you
dispute an item. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If
the provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company, it
must include a notice of your dispute. And if you are correct — that
is, if the information is found to be inaccurate — the information
provider may not report it again.
Q: What can I do if the consumer reporting company or information
provider won’t correct the information I dispute?
A: If an investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute with the
consumer reporting company, you can ask that a statement of the
dispute be included in your file and in future reports. You also can
ask the consumer reporting company to provide your statement to
anyone who received a copy of your report in the recent past. You
can expect to pay a fee for this service.
If you tell the information provider that you dispute an item, a
notice of your dispute must be included any time the information
provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company.
Q: How long can a consumer reporting company report negative
information?
A: A consumer reporting company can report most accurate negative
information for seven years and bankruptcy information for 10 years.
There is no time limit on reporting information about criminal
convictions; information reported in response to your application
for a job that pays more than $75,000 a year; and information
reported because you’ve applied for more than $150,000 worth of
credit or life insurance. Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid
judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the
statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.
Q: Who else can get a copy of my credit report?
A: The Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies who can access your
credit report. Creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses
that use the information in your report to evaluate your
applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home
are among those that have a legal right to access your report.
Q: Can my employer get my credit report?
A: Your employer can get a copy of your credit report only if you
agree. A consumer reporting company may not provide information
about you to your employer, or to a prospective employer, without
your written consent.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and
unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide
information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a
complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit
www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY:
1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity
theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal
law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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