You’ve probably heard the commercial with the jazzy jingle, “freeee-credit-report-dot-com”. It’s a little misleading. If you obtain your credit report through the service; yes you will get it for free, but you’ll also be signed up for a service which helps you monitor your credit. Now that may be OK with some people, but remember to read the fine print when signing up for these “free” services.
Launched on December 1, 2004, the place to actually obtain a free annual credit report – with no strings attached – is through www.annualcreditreport.com. Created by the three major credit reporting companies – Equifax,TransUnion, and Experian, AnnualCreditReport.com allows consumers the ability to obtain their free annual credit report once every 12 months. In accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act), you’re allowed to obtain one credit report from each credit reporting company within a 12 month period. You don’t have to obtain all three credit reports at once. You can spread out when you get them if you’d like.
Be sure when you login that you are visiting the legitimate AnnualCreditReport.com site. It should have the following encrypted URL – https://www.annualcreditreport.com. This ensures that you keep your Social Security number safe from identity theft. The service even ads an extra security feature which allows you to display no more than the last four digits of your Social Security number on your credit report.
Be prepared with your Social Security number and other facts about your identity which will allow authenticated approval to the service. This includes past addresses, and financial information, such as bank account numbers, or credit card numbers.
Once you’ve obtained access and logged in, your free credit report is available immediately. If you’d rather obtain your credit report by phone or mail, those options are available. You should allow two to three weeks for delivery if you choose this route.
There’s really no reason to pay for your credit report when you have a free annual credit report service such as this. Take advantage of it!