Free Credit Report And Score

Free Credit Report and Score

Not a lot of people know yet but the US Congress has recently passed an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA. The law lets every citizen of the United States to obtain a free credit report ad score from each of the three main credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - once every 12 months.

For inquiries about how you can make your request, just visit AnnualCreditReport.com. Alternatively, you can also visit the Consumer Information section of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) website for information on where to access your free credit report and score.

What Information Do You Need?

Now, when you request for free credit report and score, you will need to provide the following information:

* Name
* Address
* Social Security Number (usually just the last four digits)
* Date of birth

The information will be used to verify your identity and to protect your free credit report and score from would-be identity thieves and con artists. Remember to request only from AnnualCreditReport.com to ensure that your copy of your credit report is free. If you make your request directly with the credit bureaus, there may be a small fee involved.

Get Free Credit Report and Score Direct from the Credit Bureaus

Aside from getting free credit report and score from the AnnualCreditReport.com website, there is also another place where you can get copies of your records without paying a fee. The credit bureaus are actually mandated by law to provide you free credit report and score in case of the following circumstances:

* You have been denied credit in the past 60 days
* You are unemployed
* You are on welfare
* You believe that your credit report contains inaccurate information due to fraud

Note that these conditions are exclusive. So if you are requesting free credit report and score directly from the credit bureaus and your reason is not enumerated above, then the bureau will charge you for it. The cost of credit reports vary from state to state. However, on average, one copy should be around $9.

Why Free Credit Report and Score?

Your credit score is crucial to your loan application. Every time you apply for one, a lender will check your score to know how likely you'll repay what you owe. Since your credit score is based on information on your credit report, any change made on your credit report, any error or mistakes or inaccuracies could affect your credit score. It is for this reason that you are advised to regularly check your free credit report and score to keep track of any adverse changes that could lower down your score.