by Tim Stark 0 comments

The three major credit reporting agencies in the US are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) act, it is required that the major credit agencies provide a free credit report once every year under Federal law. This means that with 3 agencies, you can get a free credit report every 4 months if you spread your request from each of them over a year.

How to apply for a free credit report?
At www.AnnualCreditReport.com, you need to enter some of your personal information as well as choose the credit agencies where you you would like to order the report from. If you plan to use each one every 4 months to maximize your free credit report rights, be sure to remember which credit agencies you have selected so you do not select the same one the next time.

www.AnnualCreditReport.com is a common website for Experian, TransUnion or Equifax  to collect the information. However, the final step of order requires you to complete a separate order form. There is really no reason to request for all 3 at the same time. It is probably better to request one every 4 months so as to check for any new changes or disparity in your annual credit report. However, the experience of making the free order can be quite confusing.

After completing the order, you will be able to view the credit report online for up to 30 days and also print it out. If you need to get a credit report from the same agency again, you can also pay a fee. If you need your credit score as well, you will also need to pay a fee. The credit score report requires a fee of between $5.95 - $7.95

www.annualcreditreport.com is not accessible from IP address outside the US and so you want to make sure you are accessing the site from within the US.

Is www.annualcreditreport.com a scam?
It is important to note that www.annualcreditreport is created as a result of FACT which is the authorized source to get the free annual credit report under federal law. www.annualcreditreport.com is linked from the ftc.gov site itself and therefore is legitimate from that aspect. However, there are many other sites with different names close to annualcreditreport.com and you will need to be aware of it and make sure you are not confused by their free credit report. Most important, if you are not using the official site, you may be giving out your information to unknown websites who may use it for illegitimate purpose. Also, given that you are giving away personal information, it is unclear how the credit agencies will use it though they already have most of your information anyway.