QandAs: Loans

Where can I get my credit report?

Answer:
Finding a credit report these days is easy and quick.

Better yet, it’s even free. Thanks to the Federal Government, the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax, are required to provide one free credit report annually to consumers. This means that you can actually get up to three free reports a year, every year. The only catch is that you can’t ask the same credit bureau for your personal report more than once a year and expect to get it free.

You can get your report in one of three ways- telephone, postal mail, or online. Online is the quickest way to go since you can see your credit report online as soon as your identification is authenticated or verified. The results are almost immediate. Requesting the information by telephone is the next fastest method. Within fifteen days from the time that you phone in your request, the credit report will be in your hands. Postal mail takes the longest for obvious reasons. Once the credit bureau receives your written request, it will take another fifteen days to process it, send it, and deliver it to you. In some cases, it might take longer to get your report, depending on the mail service.

All you need to do to get your credit report online is to access the following link: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp .

The first thing you’ll need to do is to select the state that you live in and then click request report. Fill in the requested information, which includes your social security number, your birth date, your full name, current mailing address, and your previous mailing address if at the current one for less than two years. You will also be required to fill in the characters listed near the bottom of the screen for security purposes. Follow the rest of the instructions as provided to you.

If you don’t have the Internet, you can still access the site from a computer that belongs to a friend or is located at the library. The first link also allows you to sign up for premium services by selecting the name of one of these three credit bureaus. You can sign up to get daily monitoring of your credit report or online comparisons of all three reports for a fee.

To receive your free copy by telephone, call the following toll free number: 1-877-322-8228. Simply provide the requested information to verify your identity and your report will be sent to you.

To receive you free copy by sending a written request through the mail, access the following link to download and print a request form: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf .

The form requires you to include all of the following information: your social security number, your birth date, your full name, current mailing address, previous mailing address if at the current one for less than two years, and the name of the credit bureau from which you are requesting your credit report.

Send your completed written request inside a # 10 envelope to the following address:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5281

The main reason that you should use one of these three credit bureaus to acquire a copy of your credit report is for safety purposes. So many scams exist that it is difficult to know which companies are legitimate and which aren’t. However, if you consistently use these three companies, your personal information is guaranteed to remain secure.


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