The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles everyone to one free copy of their credit report each year from each credit reporting companies. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of these nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months. You may order the reports from the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time or you can order two of the company’s reports or you can order your report from each of the company’s one at a time at varying times. It’s your choice.
The free credit reports is requirement mandated by federal law to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months, if you ask for it. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies or credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address to use in order to request a copy of your free annual credit report.
To order your credit report you can go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
The three credit reporting agencies provide access to your free report through these means only. The process was established to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers are not to contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through www.annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
To order your free credit report 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, the consumer reporting company may ask you for some information that only you would know and they can verify such as 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.
If you request your free credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, you should be able to access the report immediately. If you order your report by calling toll-free 1-877-322-8228, your credit report will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days. If you order your credit report by mail using the Annual Credit Report Request Form, your request will be processed and mailed back within 15 days of receipt of the request.
In addition to the annual free copy of your credit report, you may also be entitled to a free credit report 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 that will be given to you will provide the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company that provided your credit report to the company that made the adverse decision. You are also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days or if you’re on welfare or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft. Otherwise, the three consumer reporting companies will charge you for a copy of your credit report.
There is only the one website that is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law, which is www.annualcreditreport.com. Any other websites that advertise offers such as “free credit reports,” “free credit scores” or “free credit monitoring” are not part of this service that is mandated by The Fair Credit Reporting Act to allow access to your credit report. In most of these case and advertisements, the “free” product comes with conditions or strings attached. For example, some sites sign you up for a supposedly “free” service that converts to one you have to pay for after a trial period. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be unintentionally authorizing the company to start charging fees to your credit card.
www.annualcreditreport.com and the nationwide consumer reporting companies do not send emails asking for your personal information and for the most part do not even market the free service. If you get an email, see an internet ad, or get a phone call from someone claiming to be from annualcreditreport.com or any of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies or market a free credit report, you may just want to hang up or ignore the advertisement since there is most likely a fee associated with their service or even worse, it’s just a scam.