Christian Emerson asked:




In 2005 the government put into place a new law that mandates that all of its citizens be able to gain access to each one of their credit reports from all three major credit bureaus at least once a year for free. After this law was put into place the demand for credit reports has shot through the roof with all sorts of companies coming out of the woodwork in an effort to satisfy such a demand. The problem with the vast majority of these companies is that they cannot truly offer you a free credit report without you signing up for another one of their products first. This has created a ton of confusion for consumers who have heard about the new government mandate and subsequently went looking for a place to access their credit reports for free.

The good news is that there is an alternative website that can offer you access to your credit reports without the need to sign up for a free trial and without the need to submit any of your credit card information. This website is located at AnnualCreditReport.com, and it is the only website that is fully endorsed by the government to provide people with access to their credit reports once a year for free. This website will not ask for your credit card information and it will not require that you sign up for some free trial to gain access to your reports, and as long as you haven’t already exhausted your once a year entitlement then you should have no trouble going to this website to look at your credit reports for free. Don’t become another victim of one of the many credit report companies that require you to buy something just to get access to your reports as these companies are simply taking advantage of people’s lack of understanding of the government mandate.

Joyce

Harry J. Andersohn asked:




Ever since consumers started to be aware of their credit score and how it affects everything from your ability to get a loan for a house, to rent an apartment, to buy a car and even to get insurance for that car, the number of sites that are claiming to offer free instant credit reports has been on the rise. But now here’s the issue – many of these sites that say they offer free credit reports really only do that as a front to get you hooked on a list that will allow them to spam you for years with all sorts of offers that you didn’t really agree to accept.

So when you’re looking for truly free credit reports, and you don’t want to wait weeks for them to arrive in the mail, you need to find a site that is legitimate, trustworthy, and can deliver on its promise to instantly show you your report and the score that lenders are using to evaluate your credit worthiness.

Here are some things to look out for…

Is the company behind the free credit report site trustworthy? Admittedly this can be a little bit difficult to evaluate on your own. Still, you should recognize a fly-by-night operation from one that has been established for a long time and that has a long list of satisfied clients.

Look for names you know, and look to see how long they’ve been in business as well as how many customers they’ve served. The best sites will be able to point to thousands of happy customers and several years in business. This can be a good indication of a site that delivers on its promise.

What are the hidden fees? Most sites that offer free credit reports will do so as part of a bundle or package that includes some kind of credit monitoring service. This is fine, and can actually be quite helpful. But what you need to make sure is that if you don’t want this monitoring service that you’ll be able to cancel it before you’re ever charged.

Again, the simple fact that the site offering a free instant credit report also puts you in to a trial for a credit monitoring service shouldn’t automatically disqualify it. As long as you’re offered a grace period during which you can cancel and not pay, this should be fine.

Is the information accurate? Now I’m not talking here about whether or not the information on your credit report is accurate. What I mean is, is the credit report coming from a reputable agency? It does you no good to go with a service that offers an “estimate” of your credit score when it’s not coming from an actual credit reporting agency.

What you need is the information that actual lenders are going to be using when evaluating whether or not they can extend credit. For this, you should be going with a brand name service – one that will offer you a true picture of how lenders see you and your ability to borrow money.

Earl

Coen asked:


You hear from all sorts of places about getting your free credit report, but you just have to sign up for a free trial. And there’s always that catch. I saw something yesterday on the TV about a free credit report being offered and the offer expires end this month? I can’t remember who it was.

Also, that offer aside, what is the legit place to get access to your once a year, free credit report? I don’t trust half of what I read….

Michele

Momto2inFL asked:


You hear from all sorts of places about getting your free credit report, but you just have to sign up for a free trial. And there’s always that catch. I saw something yesterday on the TV about a free credit report being offered and the offer expires March 31st? I can’t remember who it was.

Also, that offer aside, what is the legit place to get access to your once a year, free credit report? I don’t trust half of what I read….

Thanks!

Eddie

trang asked:


You hear from all sorts of places about getting your free credit report, but you just have to sign up for a free trial. And there’s always that catch. I saw something yesterday on the TV about a free credit report being offered and the offer expires end this month? I can’t remember who it was.

Also, that offer aside, what is the legit place to get access to your once a year, free credit report? I don’t trust half of what I read….

Troy