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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Order Your Completely Free Yearly Credit Report Online

Nov 1, 2010 Asa Ghaffar

Order Your Free Yearly Credit Report - Image by Free Yearly Credit Report

If you're about to apply for a new credit card, mortgage or car loan, you're no doubt wondering what information credit reference agencies hold about you. Rather than paying a company a fee for this information, you can get your free yearly credit report online or sent to you via post.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act gives each American citizen the right to all 3 credit reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion once every 12 months. You're also entitled to a completely free credit report in other circumstances, such as personal identity theft.

How to Get Your Free Yearly Credit Report Online

The only FTC authorized provider of truly free credit reports is AnnualCreditReport.com. You can either visit their website, call (877) 322-8228 or request it by post. Their address is Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Although you're entitled to a totally free credit report, you aren't "yet" entitled to see your credit score. This may change in the future, but there are currently only two ways to get this information. You can either pay for this information or you can take advantage of a 7-day trial offer and then cancel it.

Making the Most of Your Official Free Credit Report

While most of us prefer to request a copy of all 3 credit reports at the same time, others prefer to request one from each agency every 4 months. Although it's certainly not a perfect strategy, it does allow you to keep an eye on your financial affairs without costing you any money.

Be aware that the information that each credit reference agency holds is completely unique. Don't work on the false assumption that correcting the information with one agency will correct all three because it won't. If there are errors on your report, you'll need to correct them individually.

Using Your Official Free Credit Report to Correct Errors

You may have always believed that the information credit reference agencies hold is completely accurate, but this isn't the case. Before applying for credit, the onus is on you to correct any mistakes. You can either do this yourself or through a credit repair attorney.

Scrutinize your free yearly credit report online for information that is erroneous. You needn't worry about old addresses or obsolete employment data, but do look closely for credit applications that you've never made or debts that appear to have been incorrectly settled. You are entitled to correct any errors by notifying the credit reference agency that holds bad data. Always include a copy of any relevant supporting information.