How to Obtain an Annual Credit Report for Free

Federal law requires the three main credit reporting agencies provide a free credit report upon request once a year. You can view your free annual credit report both online and offline. Why do this? Tracking your credit history will help you with a variety of tasks including: identity theft; knowing your credit score; knowing who looks at your file and why and financial planning. Your credit report is what is used to determine if you are a worthy risk for a loan, housing or in some careers of being an employee. Utility companies use it to know if you will need a security deposit before getting service. If your identity is stolen or misused, you could be liable for any damages or lawsuits resulting from the act. If you're married, the credit history of your spouse can affect your history. Mistakes and past delinquencies can remain on your report unless you take steps to correct the problem. Getting a free copy of your credit report annually can help you with knowledge and the ability to correct any problems.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Initial Steps

1. Go to annualcreditreport.com (see Resources) which is the site set up by the three main credit reporting agencies; TransUnion, Experian and Equifax in cooperation with the federal government.

2. Select your state of residence from the drop down menu and then click the button requesting your credit report

3. Fill in the form on the next page which helps the credit agencies find you. You can also elect to have only your last four digits of your social security number shown for security purposes; this is recommended.

4. Click on one credit agency to visit and proceed to the next page by clicking "continue."

5. Choose to continue or not. Make note that at the top of each page after this will appear the toolbar for returning to the Annual Credit Report website.

TransUnion

6. Fill out the information requested on the first page of the site. Click "Continue."

7. Accept or reject the Terms Of Use; accept the terms to continue.

8. Select the option of being reminded when it is time to reorder your credit history next year. Enter your email here and click "yes." The next page asks you to accept or reject the Terms Of Use, accept the terms to continue.

9. Use the next page to order your credit score if you choose. There is a fee for this. If you do not want this, go to the bottom of the page, click "no" and continue.

10. Click "next" on the following page. This is the order screen where it will show a total of zero for the free annual credit report.

11. Get free monitoring software on this next page. If you choose not to, click "no" and continue.

12. View and print out your free annual credit report.

13. Click on the toolbar at the top of the page to return to the Annual Credit Report site.

Equifax

14. Check the information on the first page. If this information is correct, click "next" and continue. If not, correct the information and then continue.

15. Check the information provided on the next page and respond accordingly. This is how they ensure accuracy. After this, click "continue" to go on.

16. Use the next page to obtain your credit score for a fee. If you choose not to, click "no" and continue.

17. View this next page which shows you are getting your annual credit report for free. Click "continue" to get to the credit report.

18. Use the toolbar at the top of the page to return to the Annual Credit Report site.

Experian

19. Enter the last four digits of your social security number on the first page and click "continue."

20. Accept or reject the offer for the credit score information on the next page.

21. Tick the box to accept the Terms of Use and then click "submit" to continue on this next page.

22. Follow along through the page to verify information and continue on.

23. View or print your credit report on the last page.

Offline

24. Scroll down to the bottom of the page of annualcreditreport.com to find the links for both phone and regular mail.

25. Follow along with the phone prompts to enter information

26. Download or print the form and fill it out. There is a central address to send to for all three reports.

Tips & Warnings

• This is a federal program and does not require payment of any kind to access your credit history. if you use the phone or mail to get your report, allow up to two weeks for it to arrive.
• This report can only be gained once per every 12 months.

Resources

• Free annual credit report

Who Can Help Sponsored

• How strong is your score?  Did you know checking your own credit won’t affect your score? Click here to see yours in two easy steps from Experian.