GETTING A COPY OF YOUR FREE CREDIT REPORT

The best way to know what your credit report shows is to order your Free Credit Report and review it carefully. This also is the first step toward improving your credit score.

An amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies listed below to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.

It’s makes good sense to take advantage of this amendment and order your credit report once a year to make sure there are no errors on it. Here are reasons why you should check your credit report regularly.

How to order a free credit report

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have set up one website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.

Note: Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually.

To order, visit www.annualcreditreport.com,

or call 877-322-8228,

or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service,
P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Note:

Do not contact Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion individually.
You may only order your free credit report with the method listed above.
You may order reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order from only one or two. The law allows you to order one free copy from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.

When you order your free credit report, have ready your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth maiden name, if applicable. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to provide your previous address. To maintain the security of your file, each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you for some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly car loan payment.

Under federal law, credit reports are also free after you have been turned down for credit based on information in your report. However, you must ask the agency that produced the credit report for a copy of it within a specified period of time, usually 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting company should be on the notice.

You are also entitled to one free report a year if you're unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days.

Be aware that information on your credit report may vary from one credit reporting agency to another. This is because not all creditors report their information to every credit-reporting agency. For this reason, you may want to order a report from each of the three credit-reporting agencies.

You may also order a copy of your credit report for a fee. A consumer reporting company may charge you up to $9.50 for another copy of your report within a 12-month period. To order a copy of your report, contact:

Experian
1-888-EXPERIAN
1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com

Equifax
1-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

Trans Union Corporation
1-800-916-8800
(to order a credit report or ask a question about your credit report)
www.transunion.com

Anyone can dance a jig, but only AnnualCreditReport.com provides you with a truly free credit report. It’s the only authorized source to get your free credit report under federal law.

Getting your Free Credit Report

Important note:
Although you can get your credit report for free, you have to pay to get your FICO credit score.

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