How to Get a Copy of a Personal Credit Report
Your personal credit report contains information about your debts and payment history. Both past and current debts are reflected on your credit report. Lenders review your credit records before determining whether you are eligible for new loans, and at what interest rate.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2003 to allow individuals access to one free copy of their credit reports each year. Thus, you have the legal right to pull your own personal credit report and check it for errors before you apply for new credit.
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Instructions
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Order Online
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Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to order a free copy of your personal credit report. This is the only website approved by the U.S. government to provide consumers with free copies of their personal credit reports
Although other websites do offer free credit reports, annualcreditreport.com will not ask you for a credit card number or charge you for services you don't want when you request your credit records.
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Gather your financial records to correctly answer questions about your credit report information. AnnualCreditReport.com will ask you specific questions about your debts and accounts to ensure that you are the person whose information is reflected in the credit report.
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Choose a credit bureau. You may order your free personal credit report from Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. If you wish, you may order it from all three bureaus, but your orders must be placed one at a time.
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Answer personal questions about your identity and the accounts on your personal credit report. Depending on the number of accounts you have, you must answer three to five questions relating to the amount of debt remaining on your accounts, when the accounts were opened, or who the lender is for each account.
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Print your personal credit report. Each session through AnnualCreditReport.com is limited. After a certain amount of time, usually 15 minutes, the website will no longer allow you access to your credit records. It is imperative that you print out your credit report during this time to keep a copy for your records.
Order via Mail
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Download and print a free annual credit report request form from FTC.gov/credit.
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Fill out the annual credit report request form. Choose a credit bureau from which you would like to receive your annual free credit report. You may order your credit reports from all three credit bureaus at the same time, or at different times throughout the year.
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Mail the annual credit report request form to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
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Tips & Warnings
You may also order a credit report over the phone by calling 1-877-322-8228.
Once you review your credit report from a credit bureau, you may not pull a free annual credit report from that same credit bureau again for another 12 months.
