Posts Tagged Free Offers
Free Credit Reports – The Real Deal
Marilyn Katz asked:
It seems like every time I turn on the TV, I see a baby faced rocker singing about how he had some really bad luck because he had not visited a certain credit reporting website. The tune is quite catchy. And while we may all be able to sympathize with the quirky situations, we may also want to “get our knowledge on” before signing up for this service.
Are free credit services they really free?
If a major company is spending a lot of money to promote this website, how can it be free? Well, actually you do need to give them a credit card number along with your other registration information. As a convenience to members, you also get enrolled in a service that monitors your credit. But hold on. This additional service is not free. If a member does not cancel within a short period of time, they will see monthly credit card charges for an online credit monitor.
Did you sign up for that?
The company does say they publish this information. But if we can judge by 11,000 Better Business Bureau complaints, the notice may not have been plain enough. Now, after so many complaints, the company says they are changing the way they are publishing this information.
Those of us who have been online for awhile know that most free offers come with some sort of catch. In this case, the service really was free. It was also just really easy to miss the fact that the service came with automatic enrollment in another service with a monthly charge!
US Federal Law Gives You Free Credit Reports
You can get a free credit report with no catches though. Look at this website:
www.annualcreditreport.com
It is run by the three major credit reporting services: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
This website is run by the three major agencies in order to be compliant with federal law. This law is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT).
Consumers are urged to review their credit reports periodically. Many consumers find simple errors, that are easy to correct. These errors can cost a lot of money in the long run.
Why Check Your Own Credit?
Many consumers do not even know they can get a free report. Even if they do know, a lot of people never bother to do it. They do not understand why it is that important.
You know that people with better credit scores pay less and get better terms when they do borrow money. This can also impact other areas of your life. Some employers ask for credit reports when they screen job applicants. Even insurance companies are starting to look at them too. Some insurance companies will not offer their best rates for people with recent credit issues.
Many people find simple errors when they check their credit. I, myself, have found duplicate entries. This made it look like I had borrowed a lot more money than I had. It was very simple to dispute the errors and get them resolved. You can find instructions on the website.
Since this information is so important, and since it can affect your life, there is no reason to be running blind.
Rosa
It seems like every time I turn on the TV, I see a baby faced rocker singing about how he had some really bad luck because he had not visited a certain credit reporting website. The tune is quite catchy. And while we may all be able to sympathize with the quirky situations, we may also want to “get our knowledge on” before signing up for this service.
Are free credit services they really free?
If a major company is spending a lot of money to promote this website, how can it be free? Well, actually you do need to give them a credit card number along with your other registration information. As a convenience to members, you also get enrolled in a service that monitors your credit. But hold on. This additional service is not free. If a member does not cancel within a short period of time, they will see monthly credit card charges for an online credit monitor.
Did you sign up for that?
The company does say they publish this information. But if we can judge by 11,000 Better Business Bureau complaints, the notice may not have been plain enough. Now, after so many complaints, the company says they are changing the way they are publishing this information.
Those of us who have been online for awhile know that most free offers come with some sort of catch. In this case, the service really was free. It was also just really easy to miss the fact that the service came with automatic enrollment in another service with a monthly charge!
US Federal Law Gives You Free Credit Reports
You can get a free credit report with no catches though. Look at this website:
www.annualcreditreport.com
It is run by the three major credit reporting services: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
This website is run by the three major agencies in order to be compliant with federal law. This law is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT).
Consumers are urged to review their credit reports periodically. Many consumers find simple errors, that are easy to correct. These errors can cost a lot of money in the long run.
Why Check Your Own Credit?
Many consumers do not even know they can get a free report. Even if they do know, a lot of people never bother to do it. They do not understand why it is that important.
You know that people with better credit scores pay less and get better terms when they do borrow money. This can also impact other areas of your life. Some employers ask for credit reports when they screen job applicants. Even insurance companies are starting to look at them too. Some insurance companies will not offer their best rates for people with recent credit issues.
Many people find simple errors when they check their credit. I, myself, have found duplicate entries. This made it look like I had borrowed a lot more money than I had. It was very simple to dispute the errors and get them resolved. You can find instructions on the website.
Since this information is so important, and since it can affect your life, there is no reason to be running blind.
Rosa
Free Bureau Credit Reports – No Credit Card Required
Josh D Paul asked:
There are many websites that offer free credit reports and scores. Unfortunately, these offers are often misleading, as most require a credit card number and an enrollment into a trial monitoring service before the free products are delivered.
There are two websites on the Internet that offer completely free credit reports without any strings attached. They are AnnualCreditReport.com and Quizzle.com. All that is required is a social security number to verify the user’s identity.
AnnualCreditReport.com is a government website that has been established under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It provides users with a free copy of their credit files every 12 months. These can be retrieved from any of the three main credit bureaus in the country. They are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Bureau credit scores are not included in this offer but can be purchased for an additional fee.
Quizzle.com is another website that offers free credit reports without any conditional obligations. There’s no need to enter a credit card number or even a social security number. Quizzle is able to find a person’s credit file through a series of questions asked. Users who are able to truthfully verify their identity are provided with a free copy of their Experian credit report and score. The website is able provide these free offers through various advertising revenue that is collected.
Consumers should regularly check their credit histories for reporting errors. They can do this for free through AnnualCreditReport.com and Quizzle.com. One popular course of action is to obtain a different bureau credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com every 4 months. Rotate among the three credit bureaus. That should allow the consumer to continuously spread their credit file retrieval through the year.
Amanda
There are many websites that offer free credit reports and scores. Unfortunately, these offers are often misleading, as most require a credit card number and an enrollment into a trial monitoring service before the free products are delivered.
There are two websites on the Internet that offer completely free credit reports without any strings attached. They are AnnualCreditReport.com and Quizzle.com. All that is required is a social security number to verify the user’s identity.
AnnualCreditReport.com is a government website that has been established under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It provides users with a free copy of their credit files every 12 months. These can be retrieved from any of the three main credit bureaus in the country. They are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Bureau credit scores are not included in this offer but can be purchased for an additional fee.
Quizzle.com is another website that offers free credit reports without any conditional obligations. There’s no need to enter a credit card number or even a social security number. Quizzle is able to find a person’s credit file through a series of questions asked. Users who are able to truthfully verify their identity are provided with a free copy of their Experian credit report and score. The website is able provide these free offers through various advertising revenue that is collected.
Consumers should regularly check their credit histories for reporting errors. They can do this for free through AnnualCreditReport.com and Quizzle.com. One popular course of action is to obtain a different bureau credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com every 4 months. Rotate among the three credit bureaus. That should allow the consumer to continuously spread their credit file retrieval through the year.
Amanda
Get Your Free Credit Score and Report Online
Thomas Eliot asked:
People working to pay off their debts to improve their credit score can use free online websites as an incentive. To get your scores online for free you can go to any number of sites which are willing to share this information with you in exchange for your sharing information with them.
Finding out about your score can assist you if you are thinking about taking on more debt, such as in buying a house or automobile. Knowing your score will tell you whether or not you need to work on improving your credit score by paying more each month, or if you can afford to relax and save some money.
Once each year, people can obtain a free credit report from each of the three main credit agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. If you want, each report can be ordered at the same time. The credit agencies usually charge for obtaining your credit score, but this too can be obtained free from each reporting agency depending on their incentives. It’s important to know that under certain circumstances, your credit report can also be obtained for free more than once a year, such as when you are turned down on a credit application. All three of these agencies also offer other services apart from maintaining and furnishing the reports.
Some companies offer services which alert you about changes in your credit report. They offer advice about lenders and credit card companies which can help a client obtain a favorable credit score. The free offers are most often used to attract potential clients to their other services. But be aware that the free services are only in place for a limited time, and usually they are coupled with registration to other paid services in exchange for accessing your free scores. Occasionally, some banks and credit card operations will post your free credit score updates on their websites; so keep this in mind as you shop around for a credit vendor.
By law, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three reporting agencies once each year. In order to obtain your free report, the three credit reporting agencies can be reached at the following toll-free phone numbers and web sites:
Equifax 800-997-2493 or at equifax.com
TransUnion 800-888-4213 or at transunion.com
Experian 888-397-3742 or at experian.com
It is important to keep in mind that you should probably keep your online and other credit score inquiries to a minimum since too many inquiries within a short period of time can have an adverse effect on your ability to obtain credit. Potential creditors can regard too many inquiries within a short period of time (say 30 to 60 days) as a negative, and this can result in the refusal to extend further credit. One thing that helps in this effort is to make sure that any inquires which have been made were all authorized. If there are unauthorized inquiries, write to the credit agency and to the company that made the inquiry to inform them that you did not authorize the inquiry and to remove it from your credit file.
To get your credit score online for free there are websites where you can go and you can have the results within a few minutes. Just search on the search term “free credit score” and you will find them. To obtain your free credit reports, you must go to annualcreditreport.com You can also apply for notification with some free credit score websites so that you will know each time something changes in your credit report.
Vincent
People working to pay off their debts to improve their credit score can use free online websites as an incentive. To get your scores online for free you can go to any number of sites which are willing to share this information with you in exchange for your sharing information with them.
Finding out about your score can assist you if you are thinking about taking on more debt, such as in buying a house or automobile. Knowing your score will tell you whether or not you need to work on improving your credit score by paying more each month, or if you can afford to relax and save some money.
Once each year, people can obtain a free credit report from each of the three main credit agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. If you want, each report can be ordered at the same time. The credit agencies usually charge for obtaining your credit score, but this too can be obtained free from each reporting agency depending on their incentives. It’s important to know that under certain circumstances, your credit report can also be obtained for free more than once a year, such as when you are turned down on a credit application. All three of these agencies also offer other services apart from maintaining and furnishing the reports.
Some companies offer services which alert you about changes in your credit report. They offer advice about lenders and credit card companies which can help a client obtain a favorable credit score. The free offers are most often used to attract potential clients to their other services. But be aware that the free services are only in place for a limited time, and usually they are coupled with registration to other paid services in exchange for accessing your free scores. Occasionally, some banks and credit card operations will post your free credit score updates on their websites; so keep this in mind as you shop around for a credit vendor.
By law, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three reporting agencies once each year. In order to obtain your free report, the three credit reporting agencies can be reached at the following toll-free phone numbers and web sites:
Equifax 800-997-2493 or at equifax.com
TransUnion 800-888-4213 or at transunion.com
Experian 888-397-3742 or at experian.com
It is important to keep in mind that you should probably keep your online and other credit score inquiries to a minimum since too many inquiries within a short period of time can have an adverse effect on your ability to obtain credit. Potential creditors can regard too many inquiries within a short period of time (say 30 to 60 days) as a negative, and this can result in the refusal to extend further credit. One thing that helps in this effort is to make sure that any inquires which have been made were all authorized. If there are unauthorized inquiries, write to the credit agency and to the company that made the inquiry to inform them that you did not authorize the inquiry and to remove it from your credit file.
To get your credit score online for free there are websites where you can go and you can have the results within a few minutes. Just search on the search term “free credit score” and you will find them. To obtain your free credit reports, you must go to annualcreditreport.com You can also apply for notification with some free credit score websites so that you will know each time something changes in your credit report.
Vincent
Why does everyone want to give me a free credit report?
iain010100 asked:
What’s in it for someone else to show me my credit report? Free credit report offers are in Yahoo group footers, ad banners, spam, sponsored links, and just about anywhere else. What do they get out if it?
Donna
What’s in it for someone else to show me my credit report? Free credit report offers are in Yahoo group footers, ad banners, spam, sponsored links, and just about anywhere else. What do they get out if it?
Donna
Where Can You Really Get a Copy of Your Free Credit Reports?
Posted by admin in Personal Finance on July 11, 2009
Joe Maruca asked:
The offers are everywhere! Commercials with catchy jingles, free offers, scare tactics about identity theft and poor credit, it’s hard to miss them. So what’s the real deal? Is everyone allowed to give away free copies of your credit report?
There are many websites that offer a free copy of your credit report but most of them will only do it if you sign up for other services like “credit monitoring.” The only place recommended by the Federal Trade Commission is “annualcreditreport” dot “com” which is set up by the three credit reporting agencies. You can also call them at 1-877-322-8228.
If you’ve already gotten your free credit report for the year, you can get an additional copy of your credit report if you have been denied credit (by a credit card company, loan, etc.) within 60 days. You can also purchase a copy if you need to for about $10. For More information and FAQ, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website at “ftc” dot “gov”
Why is it a good idea to check my credit? It’s a good idea to review your credit report and score on a regular bases for several very important reasons including: Identity theft, inaccuracies, unauthorized activity and to see who has been checking your credit aside from you. The information in your credit report can affect your ability to secure a loan (car loan, home loan, student loan and more) and can also determine what type of interest rate you receive from your credit card company.
So remember, you can receive a free copy of your credit report without signing up for any additional services and it’s a good idea to review the information in your credit report on a regular bases.
To learn more about good personal finance practices visit www.creditcardinfohub.com where you’ll find this and other articles including 5 Easy Steps to Financial, Credit and Debt Relief.
Sharon
The offers are everywhere! Commercials with catchy jingles, free offers, scare tactics about identity theft and poor credit, it’s hard to miss them. So what’s the real deal? Is everyone allowed to give away free copies of your credit report?
There are many websites that offer a free copy of your credit report but most of them will only do it if you sign up for other services like “credit monitoring.” The only place recommended by the Federal Trade Commission is “annualcreditreport” dot “com” which is set up by the three credit reporting agencies. You can also call them at 1-877-322-8228.
If you’ve already gotten your free credit report for the year, you can get an additional copy of your credit report if you have been denied credit (by a credit card company, loan, etc.) within 60 days. You can also purchase a copy if you need to for about $10. For More information and FAQ, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website at “ftc” dot “gov”
Why is it a good idea to check my credit? It’s a good idea to review your credit report and score on a regular bases for several very important reasons including: Identity theft, inaccuracies, unauthorized activity and to see who has been checking your credit aside from you. The information in your credit report can affect your ability to secure a loan (car loan, home loan, student loan and more) and can also determine what type of interest rate you receive from your credit card company.
So remember, you can receive a free copy of your credit report without signing up for any additional services and it’s a good idea to review the information in your credit report on a regular bases.
To learn more about good personal finance practices visit www.creditcardinfohub.com where you’ll find this and other articles including 5 Easy Steps to Financial, Credit and Debt Relief.
Sharon