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How to Get a Free Credit Report

By: EconomyWatch Date: 25 August 2009

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An individual is entitled to get a free credit report under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) established in 2003. All three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, are legally bound to furnish one free copy of your credit report in a year. It is completely up to an individual’s discretion to either ask for the reports together or request for them separately.

How to Get a Free Credit Report: Options

Under the FACTA, you can acquire a free credit report through the following means:

Online, through annualcreditreport.com, which is the only site certified to give free credit reports.
Through the phone, by calling 877-322-8228.
By mail, through the Federal Trade Commission.

How to Get a Free Credit Report Cautiously

A credit report is an important document containing extremely confidential credit and personal information. Hence, one must take all necessary measures while acquiring a copy of the credit report, especially when using the online resources. Bear in mind that a large number of fraudulent websites exist that use names similar to the official free credit report site. Hence, maintain caution while typing the site address in the address bar to avoid typing errors. Finally, keep in mind that acquiring your credit report from sources that are unauthorized by FACTA could be detrimental to your credit information.

How to Get a Free Credit Report: Special Cases

An individual is also entitled to get free credit reports (besides the annual mandatory copy) in certain special cases. These exceptions, as outlined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, include:

If the individual is unemployed and is planning on searching for a job within 60 days.
The individual is on welfare support.
When an individual has become a victim of identity theft and the information on his or her credit report is inaccurate.

An individual can also request for a free credit report if his or her credit application gets denied because of certain information contained in the credit report. The applicant has 60 days, starting from the day s/he was denied credit, to request for a free copy of credit report.