Free Online Credit Reports & Michigan Law
TransUnion, Experian and Equifax are three credit bureaus that gather and sell information about your financial activity and credit use. The Michigan Attorney General's website recommends reviewing your credit files periodically for signs of fraudulent activity that could mean your identity was stolen or errors that could keep you from getting approved for loans. Michigan citizens are entitled to free credit reports every year by federal law.
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Entitlement
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Michigan residents are entitled to free online credit reports through the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which also covers people in the other 49 states. The Federal Trade Commission explains that TransUnion, Experian and Equifax all work cooperatively through a website called Annualcreditreport.com, which provides free online report copies once per year. You may order all of your reports at one time or spread them out with weeks or months in between. Some states allow residents to get additional free reports during the year, but the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse explains that Michigan is not among them.
Alternatives
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Free annual credit reports are not limited to online orders. The Michigan Attorney General's website explains that annualcreditreport.com also gives instructions for mail orders and lists a toll-free line for telephone orders. Orders through these alternative methods are still subject to the once-a-year limitation and require you to give personal information that proves your identity. For example, you might be asked to identify your mortgage holder or monthly house payment.
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Considerations
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The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse advises ordering free your credit reports at four-month intervals for optimal monitoring if you are watching for identity theft signs. Reviewing one report every four months lets you catch potential problems more quickly rather than getting all three at once, then waiting a year before you check them again.
Additional Reports
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Michigan residents may get additional free credit reports under certain circumstances covered by federal law. Lenders who reject credit applications must disclose the credit bureaus they used, and those bureaus must give the applicants free reports if requested to do so within 30 days. Identity theft victims also get to review their credit files at no cost, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Warning
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The Michigan Attorney General's website warns state residents against redeeming free online credit report offers through any website other than Annualcreditreport.com. The credit bureaus and other companies sometimes advertise no-report offers tied into paid credit monitoring services which tie you into a monthly fee. Unscrupulous companies also use web addresses similar to annualcreditreport.com to gather sensitive information from people who make mistakes typing the URL.
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