ArticlesReader.com Menu
Newest Articles
Most Viewed Articles
ArticlesReader.com RSS
Submit Article
Login
Signup
Search the articles

Articles Main Categories
Advice
Animals
Automobiles
Business
Career
Communications
Computer Programming
Computers
Entertainment
Environment
Family
Fashion
Finance
Food
Health & Medical
Home & Garden
Humor
Internet Business
Internet Marketing
Legal
Leisure & Recreation
Marketing
Other
Politics
Reference & Education
Religion
Self Improvement
Sports
Technology & Science
Travel
Writing
Subscribe
Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Enter your name

Enter your email

Syndicate

















Related Products
Home::Credit

Free Credit Reports: Get Yours Today!

Author : Matthew C. Keegan
You may have seen the ads telling you where you can get copies of your consumer credit reports for free. Read the fine print and you will see that there is some sort of catch with these ads that will ultimately cost you money. You don’t need to pay for your reports no matter what someone else says. Let’s take a look at how you can really and truly get copies of your credit reports for free.



Thanks to an amendment made to the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2003, Congress authorized the Federal Trade Commission to mandate that copies of your credit report be made available to you for free. Previously, in order to secure your report, you would have had to pay a fee. As of September 2005, residents of all fifty states are now eligible to obtain a free copy of their credit report from Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax once per year.



So, why were the reports made available at no charge to consumers? Well, even though all three companies operate independently from the government, combined they carry so much weight in determining your credit standing – and your very livelihood – that a decision was made that everyone should have access to their personal reports on demand. Furthermore, since a significant number of these reports have been determined to contain errors, consumer advocates insisted that you shouldn’t have to pay to correct someone else’s mistakes. Enter the Fair Credit Reporting Act as amended in 2003.



There are several ways you can order your free credit reports, but there is only one web site that will give you your reports for free: www.annualcreditreport.com. Again, only this one site acts on behalf of Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union to give you your reports to you for free.



You can also call the following toll free number to order your free credit reports:

1-877-322-8228



If you wish, you can place your request in writing after downloading and filling out a form found online at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf. If you choose this method, you will need to mail the form to:



Annual Credit Report Request Service



P.O. Box 105281



Atlanta, GA 30348-5281



For more information about the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Federal Trade Commission, please visit the following site: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm



When ordering your reports you can also request your FICO score. Unlike your free credit report, you will pay a small fee – typically between $5 and $7 – to get your score. If you elect to learn your score you can use a credit card to pay for your transaction. The three national credit reporting bureaus may also attempt to sell other services to you while you are checking off the information for your free credit report. These services include alerts, but you probably won’t need them. If you select some of the other offers, you will be charged for the service, so be careful what you pick.


Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com





Copyright 2006 – For additional information regarding Matt Keegan, The Article Writer, please visit his blog for wit, quips, and freelance writing tips.





Spam emails More free articles

Related articles


  1. How Do I Establish A Good Line of Credit?
  2. A Debt Mentality
  3. Are You Worried About Credit Card Debt
  4. Say Cheese
  5. Better the Devil You Know
  6. Paying your credit card on time
  7. Did Your Credit Score Today?
  8. Free Credit Reports: Get Yours Today!
  9. Your Consumer Rights
  10. Building Good Business Credit After Bad Credit
  11. Online, Phone, U.S. Mail or In-Person: Where is Your Credit Card and Personal Identify Safest?
  12. How To Boost Your Credit Score
  13. Balance Transfers Can Help You Stop Putting Money Down The Drain!
  14. Shoppers Beware - 'Tis The Season
  15. New Law Provides Free Annual Credit Report
  16. Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Your Credit Report
  17. Tired Of Being Broke?...Learn How To Force Banks To Give You Money!
  18. Ways to Look Good without Selling Your Soul to the Credit Card Sharks
  19. Credit Report And Correction Techniques
  20. Ten Steps To Building A Good Credit History
  21. First Major Regulatory and Legislative Victory of 2005 for Creditors and Consumers
  22. When You Are Eligible For A Free Credit Report
  23. 10 Ways To Protect Your Financial Identity Being Used For Someone Else’s Shopping Spree
  24. Credit Cards, Merchant Accounts, and Your Bottomline
  25. Fun with Credit Cards
More related feeds
Get All 3 Credit Scores and Reports... for free
Get All 3 of Your Credit Scores and Reports... and get them all for free. * Experian * TransUnion * Equifax Know your credit score instantly. There is Absolutely No Charge to Get Your Credit Score. And no inquiry will appear on your ...

FREE Credit Reports
To avoid getting an unpleasant surprise when you apply for a home loan I recommend that potential homebuyers check their credit before they start looking at homes. You can now get a FREE credit report thanks to Congress passing a new ...

Stand up for your rights!
There are three national credit data collection agencies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The FCRA says they have to give you one free copy of your credit report every twelve months. So what’s in a credit report? ...

Equifax Free Online Credit Report
The easiest way to get your free credit report online from Equifax is to go to their website directly at www.equifax.com. Once you are there, they will prompt you to press a link button that will take you to an online form that will get ...

Free Debt Managment Advice on Finding Easy Credit Repair To Fix ...
But your mortgage company can. When you borrow that much money from a bank to buy a house. They are not too friendly when you don't pay as you agreed to. Deal with the credit card companies collection calls so you can get your mortgage ...

Give Yourself a Financial Checkup
Get your credit report and check your credit score regularly. The biggest reason for this is to make sure that there aren’t any mistakes on your credit report which could pop up at the worst times. For example, during a mortgage ...

Credit repair is a DIY project
Only you can start the process by looking at your credit report and spotting credit card accounts you never had, or late payments that weren’t late. Begin by ordering a free credit report from each credit bureau through ...

Free Three Bureau Credit Report
Once they decide, if it is indeed a mistake, it will be removed from your report immediately. To recap, you can get one free credit report from any of the three bureaus in charge of credit reporting. To get reports from the other two, ...

Credit Card Debt Management - Use These TEN Steps to Manage Your ...
#10. Know What Is Stored About You - Obtain a free credit report and make sure it is accurate. About 45% of all credit reports have erroneous information contained in them. Make sure your information is accurate and keep an eye on it ...

Get a copy of your FREE credit report
Gather Your Information: You can check your credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) in several ways, but each of them will require your basic information. ...

 

 

© 2007 articlesreader.com - All Rights Reserved