Free Credit Reports For You
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act has been amended to allow consumers to access for free on an annual basis copies of their credit reports. Take advantage of this new law today and find out what creditors are saying about you!
The mailing address is:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
The online form is available here: www.ftc.gov/credit.
If you need copies more often, you can contact the three reporting agencies and request copies directly from them. You will be charged for any reports over and beyond your one free annual report.
To purchase a copy of your report, contact:
Equifax
800-685-1111
www.equifax.com
Experian
888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
www.experian.com
Trans Union
800-916-8800
www.transunion.com
What is the best way for you to benefit from the new law? That’s easy: order copies of your reports from the companies on a four month rotating basis. Most consumers will find this method to be adequate as it will allow for you to compare reports from each agency. Naturally, if you already suspect fraud you will want to order all three reports at once and notify each agency to place a “fraud alert” in your credit file.
There are also several private companies who will get a hold of all three copies of your credit report for you as well. There are fees involved, but you may find their services to be less of a hassle than contacting the three companies separately.
In summation, the new law is a bonus for consumers. Published reports indicate that many credit reports contain errors in them; this law gives you the opportunity to correct “their” mistakes by setting the record straight and at no cost to you.