By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com
September 19, 2006
It was a year ago this month that the three major credit bureaus were
required to roll out a free annual credit report to all Americans.
The program is far from perfect. If you need to request more than one copy of your report over the course of the year, you must pay for the additional copies.
You are also entitled to a free copy of your report if you've been denied credit or a loan as a result of "adverse action."
Unfortunately, consumers must still pay for an even more important bit of information -- their credit scores.
Credit scores are used extensively throughout many industries and businesses to gauge a customer's credit worthiness.
Many hopeful borrowers can be turned down or approved for credit simply on basis of their credit scores, even if the lender doesn't access a credit report.
Nevertheless, the ability to access free credit reports is a quantum leap beyond the days when many consumers had no idea how to get a copy of their credit report.
How It Works
To get a copy of your free annual credit report, you can:
• Call 877-322-8228
• Visit www.annualcreditreport.com
• File a written request for your report to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
If you order yours online, be careful! The credit agencies have designed their sites to make it easy to order all kinds of extra services that will cost you dearly. You need to decline all the extras -- usually by clicking on drab and unobtrusive links instead of the big, bright ones that will sign you up for who-knows-what.
When ordering your free credit report, you can actually get up to three -- one from each of the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union.
Hint: Don't order all three reports at once, but stagger them at four-month intervals over the course of the year. This enables you to track changes to your credit, and how different bureaus record -- or don't record -- your data.
AnnualCreditReport.com is the only authorized Web site that provides free credit reports. Sites such as FreeCreditReport.com, owned by ConsumerInfo.com. a subsidiary of the Experian credit agency, are notorious for claiming to offer free reports, and then luring customers into paid services.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined ConsumerInfo.com $950,000 in August 2005 for deceptive marketing of its "free" credit reports, and mandated that the company provide clearer disclosure of what customers were really signing up for when they used the service.
For More Information
• FTC Credit Web Site The FTC's site explains how to get and use your credit report, how to identify and
dispute errors, and your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
(FCRA).
• Escape From The Plastic Prison ConsumerAffairs.com's in-depth study
on credit cards, credit scoring, and how credit can be used and
abused.
