Getting A Free Credit Report
Thanks for the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to get a free copy of your credit report every twelve months. It is just good financial housekeeping to get a copy of your report every year and then sit down and go over it carefully to make sure there aren’t any errors. Your credit score and report now carries a lot of power in the modern world, and not just for getting credit. It can make the difference between getting a job and not getting a job.
To get your free credit report you must go to AnnualCreditReport.com and request it. After you’ve signed up for your report you’ll be brought to each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
As you go through each site, there’s a helpful banner at the top showing you how to get back to AnnualCreditReport.com so you can continue on to the next credit reporting agency after you’ve finished with the first credit reporting agency.
It is a good idea to get your report while you’re at home, where you have access to all your files. The security check to access to your financial information is pretty thorough — expect at least three personal information questions before you can view the financial snapshot that makes up your report.
The reporting agencies will ask you things like this:
- Approximately what you pay each month for your mortgage. Don’t worry if you rent, they’ll just ask a different question.
- Your past addresses. You may need to give exact street numbers, and if its been five years since you lived there, it may be hard to remember whether it was 516 or 561 Smith Road.
- The account numbers for your credit card (or cards). You may need to provide as many as three different confirmations like this.
I recently went through the process of getting my free credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com and it does indeed work. Just be sure you’ve got a bit of time on hand, and a new printer cartridge. Printing out your reports takes quite a bit of time — mine were well over 200 pages total. Remember to set those printer ink levels to medium low to save money.
Your session at AnnualCreditReport.com may time out while you’re printing your financial life history out. Don’t panic — you can easily log right back in and get your report from the next credit reporting agency. The agencies also give a nice option of creating a free account so you can go back and access your free credit report up to 30 days after your initial request. So even if your printer does fail, you’ll still have a month to go back and get your information.
