How to Get a Free Credit Report

It used to cost a fee to get your credit report pulled, but everyone is now entitled to receive a free credit report once a year. This article will show you how.

Things You'll Need

• Access to the internet

Instructions

1. There are a few different ways that you can access your free credit report. The first way is to logon to annualcreditreport.com (see Resources below). This is actually the only legitmate, authorized website that will provide you with this information; any other site should be regarded with suspicion. You can also call [phone] or mail a request to the Annual Credit Report Request Service at P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The Federal Trade Commission supplies these brochures.

2. Of course, you're still entitled to a free credit report if you've been denied a loan, job or insurance policy because of your credit score, or if you're applying for unemployment benefits or other public assistance, or if you reside in one of the seven states that offer free credit reports from each agency.

3. Beware again of scam sites that promise free credit reports but actually charge for them. There are over 100 of these at last count, and not surprisingly, many of these are actually sponsored by the three agencies in an attempt for them to collect fees for reports that would otherwise be free if ordered through the authorized site.

4. Other entities that may have information on you could be the Medical Information Bureau, First Advantage Saferent for tenant history and Chexsystems, which monitors customers who write bad checks.

Resources

• AnnualCreditReport.com