New credit report rules kick in Friday, Ads must include free option

[cal04]

Ads must include free option; here’s how to pull yours
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36118854/ns/business-personal_finance/

NEW YORK - Now that it will be easier to find your free credit report, you may be curious about who else can see it and how it can be used.

Starting Friday, a new Federal Trade Commission rule will require Web sites advertising free reports to direct consumers to the government-approved www.annualcreditreport.com. TV and radio ads must do the same starting Sept. 1.

The problem is that these ads typically don't disclose that the advertised free reports are part of a package of services that can cost as much as $14.95 a month. Consumers may not realize they can get free reports with no strings attached.

[Greyhound]

1. Has FTC imposed any accountability on the reporting agencies? n/t

[virgogal]

2. Thanks for that most helpful info.

[BlooInBloo]

3. As long as I can still get my freecreditreport.com commercials!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dFbNw3bpKE

Now insteada looking fly and rollin phat
my legs are stickin to the vinyl and my posse's gettin laughed at!

:rofl:

[county worker]

4. You can get one free report a year but if you are monitoring you score that doesn't work too well.

I'm doing things to try to improve my score and I can look at my report anytime I want but I pay a monthly fee. I understand more about the score than I ever did watching it go up or down depending on things that went on during the month.

[unblock]

5. great! do this for a few months, then cancel.

once you've got the idea, rejoin once every 3 months but just for one month at a time. once a year just get your actually free report.

you pay only 3 months but get quarterly monitoring for the entire year, which is enough once you have a good idea how the scoring formula works. only do back-to-back monthly monitoring while you're trying to clear up some incorrect information.

[county worker]

6. Thanks, good advice!