Once a year you can get a Free Credit Report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You never have to pay a fee. Don’t be scammed by some companies that try to charge you for a credit report.
Don’t be Scammed
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA# has made it possible for you to get a Free Credit Report once every 12 months. There is only one website that is authorized to give a free annual credit report and that website is — annualcreditreport.com. If you see any other websites that are claiming that you can get a free credit report, there may be strings attached. Do not use any other site than annualcreditreport.com. Don’t let anyone charge you for any service. It is totally free to get your credit report.
I have done these steps while I was writing this How-to guide to make sure I give you accurate information.
Why Should you want your Credit Report?
If you are trying to buy a car, get a home, rent an apartment or even go to school, you will want to know if there is anything on your credit report that could keep you from getting a loan, a mortgage, a lease, a car or even some jobs.
Go to Annualcreditreport.com. Select your state and click Request Report. Provide all the personal information that is requested. Click the Submit button.
On the next page, you need to select which credit report you want from the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies.
I am just going to request the Experian Report today and do the other two later on in the year to make sure I don’t see any inconsistencies. "Some financial advisers say staggering your requests during a 12-month period may be a good way to keep an eye on the accuracy and completeness of the information in your reports."
Be sure to read all the information on any page you are on because they will try to sell you things and you just want your free credit report.
You will be asked some questions that only you can answer. Answer the questions and proceed to get your free report.
When you see your free credit report, you can print it out. If you did not get all 3 reports, you can do the other 2 any time you want to within the year.
For the Experian Report Only: This is the one I did.
Print the page or write down your report number and date for future access. To return to your report in the near future, log on to www.experian.com/consumer and select “View your report again” or “Dispute” and then enter your report number.
Be sure to logout so no one else can access your information.
If you run into a problem with one or all of your reports, follow the instructions that they give on the site so you can get your free credit report.
