Have you seen all those late night TV advertisements about obtaining your "FREE" credit report, yet when you call or go online the report is only "FREE" when you sign up for a credit monitoring service? Fear not there truly is a way to obtain a "FREE" copy of your credit report. Take a moment and let me explain how!
The federal law requires that you are entitled to ONE "FREE" credit report from each of the three major credit reporting institutions, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax every 12 months. Yet when you go to these sites they all require enrollment in some type of credit protection plan, or offer a free 30 day trial (which you ultimately forget to cancel) which then automatically converts over to their credit protection plan. Doesn't seem very "FREE" to me!
Allow me to share something you don't see on TV! annualcreditreport.com is the ONE true place where you can request a "FREE" credit report. No obligation, no 30 day FREE trial, no enrollment in a credit protection plan, this is what the federal government had in mind. This site allows you to request a report via phone, mail or online. The benefit of online is that you recieve your credit report instantly, as oppossed to 15 days later.
Your probably thinking great I can go online to annualcreditreport.com once a year and request an updated credit report and start managing my credit. I'm here to tell you once a year is NOT ENOUGH! Today managing your credit report is something you need to do on a regualar basis.
Now your saying "John I don't want to sign up for a service or pay a fee"? The answer is YOU DON"T HAVE TOO! Remember the federal law states you have the right to ONE "FREE" credit report a year from EACH of the three major credit instituitons. So do what I do, I simply rotate my request across the 3 credit companies. I go to annualcreditreport.com every 4 months and request a credit report from a different credit institution. The result 3 "FREE" credit reports a year, ONE from each credit company. This allows me to monitor my credit on a continual basis without breaking the law!
So don't hesitate start taking control of your credit before someone else does!
Note obtaining a credit report is not the same as receiving your credit score. However, upon obtaining your "FREE" credit report from 1 of these credit companies they typically will offer you a copy of your credit score for a nominal fee.
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