Looking up a 'free' credit report

[Deja Q]

Is all that information already in India, or do they wait for an inquiry before they ask for all that information to send back to me (or anyone who asks for their "free" report?)

[Joanne98]

1. I've never tried to get mine. Anything that's says it's "free" usually isn't.

[deadmessengers]

8. I've been getting mine for free for years

I've been ordering mine a couple of times per year for the last 10 years or so, and have never had a problem. Inquiries that you make do not show up on the reports seen by others, so checking your own credit does not hurt your credit. The number of free reports you can get each year varies from state to state. By Federal law, you can get one report from each credit bureau annually, for free. I happen to live in Georgia, though, where I'm allowed (under the more stringent state law) 2 free reports per calendar year.

And no, you don't get your credit score for free, but don't let that stop you from getting your credit report. I've uncovered ALL KINDS of incorrectly-reported BS over the years, and have been able to get 90+ percent of the inaccurate information removed, simply by filling out the form that is normally enclosed with the free credit report.

You can get your free reports from each of the "big 3" credit reporting agencies by going to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp or by calling 1-877-322-8228.

(information found here, which has TONS more information on credit reporting.)

[Nickster]

2. Here's a link to the Fed Trade Commission. There was a law passed awhile back that mandated

each credit bureau to give you one free report each year.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm

[Ian David]

3. Shut-up, or you won't get your mangoes. n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

4. I did it one time....

And of course they want you to sign up for a "free trial" of a credit monitoring, but you just say "Bite Me" and you can download your report with no further hassles (you won't, however, get you credit score....that comes with "free trial").

[TheMadMonk]

5. Watch it. Those reports can have a sting in their tails.

I can't recall the exact details, but I recall a (TV/DU?) story of people who took advantage of free reports, whilst shopping around for the best loan rate. The multiple credit checks by the lenders, on top of the one by the wannabe borrower triggered some flag and suddenly they found their credit rating in the toilet.

[cui bono]

10. That shouldn't happen if you are shopping for a loan within a short time period.

They can see you are shopping rates.

[TheMadMonk]

11. How? You are shopping with the lenders, not the ratings agency.

I recall a couple more details now. The people affected were shopping for loans online: Which IIRC essentially puts you through the motions of applying for a loan. At the end the borrower elects to continue or pass. It is this which causes the problem, since to the checking agency this looks like a dodgy borrower looking for someone who will lend to them.

[cui bono]

12. When the credit agency receives requests for the same type of loan

from different lenders within the same tme period, I think I read it was about 15 days, they know you are shopping for a good rate and don't hold it against you.

[TheMadMonk]

13. Tell that to the people who had their ratings trashed.

Like I said I can't recall all the details. But from what I recall, the problem came about because people were loan shopping online, and being put through the motions of applying for the loan (so as to determine what rate applies to them and their specific circumstances. All the agency sees is the credit check request, and a binary approved/not-approved. A string of 'not-approved's is deemed to be indicative of problems and automatically downgrades the prospective borrowers rating.

Perhaps it's because of Australian privacy laws, which restrict the amount of information a rating agency may be told.

[Infinite Hope]

6. FTC does credit reports and they're done from their office. n/t

[Igel]

7. The reports are free, but a bit sketchy.

They don't include your credit score, that all-important bit of info, but they certainly alert you to problems, misuse of your identity, etc. I got mine with no problems.

But they can be hard to get. My wife tried to get hers and she can't. There's a mismatch between her real address and the address on file for her. The only way she can get the report is by sending them something (from a menu of options) showing that she lives at the non-existent address; on the face of it, it looks like she can't fix the problem because she can't prove she's her. Surely that can't be right, but it's not a big enough deal for her to mess with--she hates that kind of thing, I suspect it would be a mess.

You can get them on line, as well.

[uncle ray]

14. yeah, that can be a pain!

i had to go through with that trying to get my girlfriends report. one agency had no address or identifying information newer than 5 years old! she couldn't remember any of the addresses they had on file, and no account numbers matched up. then they treat US like we are criminals because THEY don't have ANY current information!

[karlrschneider]

9. The ONLY really free one is here:

http://www.annualcreditreport.com/


The one you see on TV (freecreditreport.com) is a private company that you will end up paying. It's a quasi-scam, that is you -can- get the information through them but it ain't free.

[AZBlue]

15. Only one is truly free and reputable:

www.annualcreditreport.com

It accesses all three reporting agencies and can be used free annually to check your report.