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Free Credit Report

18 years ago

I was wondering if any of the online "Free Credit Report" offers are legitimate and if so, which ones? I'm reluctant to give the personal info needed to get the report if this is a scam. If these aren't on the up and up how would I go about getting my report?

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Comments (5)

myfask
18 years ago
mare
The one we use is
www.annualcreditreport.com

This is also the one many of the experts recommend
The credit reports are free, if you want your scores it is a few dollars.
If you don't know or haven't check your score in the last 2 years it might be a good idea to spend the few dollars.

I know a few folks that said "I pay my bills on time so I have a good score" imagine their surprise when it was low.

knowing your score can help if you are looking for a loan you can tell the lender "based on this score what would the rate be?"
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
18 years ago
below is a link to some great info too. It also includes the link to get the reports.

Here is a link that might be useful: Federal Trade Commission-Facts for Consumers
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Comments (4)
also, those are "soft" pulls on your credit. inquiries from lenders for preapproval do nto show to other lenders, nor do they affect your score or credit at all. HARD pulls, like when you actually apply for a loan or a credit card, DO lower your score. and as to optoutprescreen.com, it looks fake, but it is the real thing. I listed myself and my wife there a couple yearsw ago and the junk mail stoped in less than 2 months.
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Comments (5)
if YOU pull your credit it does not count against you. If you apply for a credit card or a loan and THEY pull it, then it does count against you, though only slightly. your free credit reports do not give you the credit score, they list everything on your credit except the score. you have to pay about 9 bucks or so for the score. the link below is for access to your report from all 3 agencies. you can pull all 3 now, or 1 at a time over the next year. you are only allowed 1 report from each agency per year. Here is a link that might be useful: Free credit reports with no card required
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Credit Report Help! Are we scr*#*&?
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Comments (15)
When there is fraud against the account, they will immediately close the existing account and reopen it with a new account number. They will then transfer any existing balances over to the new card number. If your last statement on the old card number did not show a transfer of $60, then their computers already redirected it to the new account. That could be a problem if the card number was already being abused, but it could have been something that didn't trigger their fraud department to investigate it (was it a repeat transaction or a pattern of spending in your account, etc...). Just because you do not 'activate' the new cards doesn't mean that the account is closed. Activation allows you to use the cards at PoS terminals through the credit clearing houses. So the disconnect was that when they changed your account number, they transfered your desire *not* to have statements sent through the mail... but by you not attaching the card number to your account at Citi, you would not have any notion that their was activity on your card. Citi was generous to refund you the fees I think. I hope they are able to amend your credit reports in time. So the moral of the story is: Never assume the business relationship is over unless you have a letter in your hand stating that your account has been closed either by Citi or by yourself.
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Dang it! This is making me mad
Q
Comments (4)
ang..be sure to read the fine print. even this one asked for a cc payment but then in tiny print, saw free information... be sure you have enough paper in the printer, lol, mine was 12 pages... what i can never find on these reports is that magic number...and once again while i have a list of payments, loans, etc, no #...
...See More
moonshadow
18 years ago
I use annualcreditreport.com as well. No gimmicks there.

If you want to monitor your credit several times a year you can do it there for free.

Example: get a report from Equifax now. Free.
Get a report from TransUnion in 4 months (still free because you're entitled to 1 free report per year from each of the 3 credit bureaus.
4 months later get a report from Experian.
4 months later you are starting year #2. Repeat the cycle starting with Equifax again because by now it has been 1 year since you got your 1st report from Equifax so it's free again. ;)
dave_donhoff
18 years ago
Hi Mare,

Checking your credit on a scheduled regularity is just as important to your safety & wealth as having dental & physical checkups is to your health.

You can get your basic account reports for free directly from each of the three major bureaus (Transperian, Equifax and Experian.)

You'll want to get a full tri-merge report that includes your actual credit scores (3 total per person, one from each bureau,) and the 'reason codes' (4 per score) that detail why each score is calculated as far below the perfect 850 as it is. These are basically only available through a mortgage loan officer (usually a broker,) so having a good relationship there is a healthy/wealthy idea.

Luck!
Dave Donhoff
Strategic Equity & Mortgage Planner
mare_wbpa
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks to all of you for the excellent information and advice. I sincerely appreciate it.

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