Ariel Pryor asked:




You are entitled free credit reports annually. Your free credit reports are available to you by law, let’s look at how to get them the easy way. There is no catch, no sign up offer, no upsell you must purchase, you have a right as a citizen to know what your credit report is, and the reporting bureaus are obligated to provide you your report for free, annually.

Why You Should Know Your Credit Score

Your credit score is used in nearly every facet of your life these days, often without your even being aware that it was a factor. Everyone for example has rented an apartment or a home at one time or another, and it is often the case that as a prospective tenant, a landlord will pull your credit to determine your worthiness. Consumer stores use your credit in order to determine your risk, insurance companies adjust their rates based on your credit score, and of course, it is used as a determining factor for the approval of loans and credit cards.

Your credit report rating is an assessment of your financial health, and lenders, banks, companies and other institutions use them to assess your trustworthiness at a glance. A clean credit report, therefore has a variety of advantages. Most credit reports are riddled with errors or inaccuracies and it is your duty as a good consumer to address these and make sure you are being summed up in an accurate fashion.

Beware Online ‘Free’ Credit Report Offers

Obtaining your credit report isn’t very difficult. One word of caution, beware of online services or companies that attempt to attract you with a free offer to obtain your credit score for you. These are the offers that are too good to be true, and the lure of a free report is used to up sell you or introduce you to other offers that you don’t necessarily need or want.

Getting Your Reports Is Easy

Your scores are kept by the three major reporting bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The easiest way to obtain your free reports, mandated by law, is to use:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Which is a free site setup by the three bureaus so that you have a centralized location to get all three easily and without hassle. It’s won’t take you more than a few minutes and you can get your scores from each of the bureaus fast. Expect a slight variance between the three reports, they typically do not match, and be sure to clean up any inaccuracies that you find that could be falsely distorting your credit score. The process of disputing and cleaning up your credit score isn’t too difficult either, if you don’t mind doing it yourself.

Michele

Carrie Reeder asked:


Ready to apply for a mortgage loan? Thinking about getting a new credit card? Before you do, you may want to review a copy of your credit report to ensure that all your information is accurate. And, fortunately, there are quite a few ways to obtain a free copy of your credit report. Here’s how:

Make a phone call

There are three major credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They are legally required to provide you with a copy of your credit report–for free!–once a year. And obtaining your report can be as simple as making a phone call! Just do an Internet search to find the phone numbers of the three credit reporting bureaus, and call each one individually. In most cases you’ll give your information to an automated voice mail service, and in no time at all your reports will be delivered to your mailbox.

Write a letter

Don’t trust the automated voice mail system? Need your request in writing for paperwork reasons? When you search online for the three credit bureaus’ information, look for a snail mail address. In most cases, you can simply send a letter that includes all your basic information–name, address, social security number, phone number and previous addresses. Ask for a copy of your credit report. Although this process takes a little longer than a phone call–because you have to wait for the postal service–you should still have your credit reports in a relatively short amount of time.

Go online!

The quickest and easiest way to get your free credit report is to go online. You can either access your reports directly through the credit reporting bureau, or you can find a website that consolidates these reports into one. Either way, you’ll get your information instantly–no waiting! You can print out your report so that you can review it at your leisure.

No matter which method you choose for obtaining your credit report, remember: it should be free once a year. However, you may have to pay a small fee if you want your credit score, too.



Lynn