If you live in the U. S., then you are entitled each year to get a free copy of credit report. It was not always that way. In 2003, a law, called th Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, was passed. Up until then, if you wanted a copy of your report, you had to pay for it. This act saved people a lot of money since you had to pay nearly ten bucks a copy before it.
The three prominent national credit reporting agencies are the most affected by the law passed in 2003. Now Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax must fulfill each person's request for their annual free credit report. The other requirement is that they maintain a single, central source. This source has a mailing address, a toll-free number and a website for consumers.
The one small catch in all of this is that you have to actually request your report. The law does not require that the companies send out free reports to all people, just those who request them. You are able to choose from the three options below to place your request.
The centralized source has a brochure about the free credit report policy. On the back of this, there is a form that you can simply fill out and send in.
Remember that telephone number mentioned earlier at the centralized source? Well, that is your second option. Just give it a call to request for your credit report.
Do not forget that you can always visit the Web site and order your report online. Since there is only the single offcial site, be sure that you do not stumble across one that tries to charge you for your report. Some very creative and money hungry people have set up sites with similar names and try to get you to pay for your report. Do not fall for it.
Just as a reminder: you are entitled to a total of three reports. That is one from each agency. The best way to make sure that you get your free ones is to use that centralized source. Plus, you can order all three at once or one at a time and it will still cost you nothing.
While the federal act providing for the annual free credit report is well-known, there are a few other ways you may get a free report. Here are a few of them: you live in a state that requires free annual reports from each credit agency; application for unemployment or to get public assistance; or denial of a loan, job or insurance policy due to your credit.
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