Do I Get a Free Credit Report?

Nominal Cost for Most Credit Reports

In 2005, a Federal law was put into effect providing consumers with one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies.

You can get a free copy of your credit report if you meet any one of the following criteria:

• You’ve been denied credit, insurance, or employment in the past 60 days due, in part, to the information in your credit report
• You’re on welfare
• Your credit report is inaccurate because of fraud.

The big three credit reporting agencies DO NOT routinely share information with each other, though their sources of information are the same. One credit report may or may not contain exactly the same information as another. Therefore, you’ll need to review all three to be sure each is accurate.

BEWARE OF FREE CREDIT REPORT OFFERS

Do not use free credit report offers from companies other than the three national bureaus. If you order your credit report from other companies that offer to get you your credit report for free, in most cases, you will automatically be signed up for a free 30-day trial membership in a credit report information service. You must cancel within the thirty-days or your credit card will be assessed the annual membership fee that can be as high as $100 or more.

Moreover, be aware that the free offers from these firms are not direct requests for a report from one of the three national agencies. Once these firms get your permission to request a report for you, they will then add your name and other information to their files which they may sell later to other companies for solicitation purposes.