View a Credit Report

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 28 August 2009

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As mandated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), every citizen and legal resident of the US is entitled to receive a copy of their credit report once a year from every consumer credit reporting agency (CRA).

 

The goal of the FCRA is to keep people informed about:

  • Identity theft and fraud

  • How personal decisions or debts could affect their purchasing power

When To View a Credit Report

You can view a credit report by either paying the CRA or availing your right to one free credit report from all the key CRA, namely,

  • Equifax

  • Experian

  • TransUnion

 

You can also view a credit card without any cost if you:

  • Are unemployed and seeking job over the next 60 days

  • Believe there are inaccuracies in your credit report due to fraud

  • Are receiving public assistance

  • Were denied credit on the basis of information in a credit report. In this case, you are entitled to a free copy of that credit report.

  • Are a resident of a state that entitles you to obtain your free credit report more than once a year.

Ways to View a Credit Report

There are various ways to view a credit report:

  • You can receive your copy of one credit report per year from the official website, AnnualCreditReport.com. This website provides reports from the three major CRAs. You need to simply sign into the website and can instantly receive a digital copy of it to view.

  • You can visit the website of any CRA and request for a copy of your credit report for a fee.

  • You can register for a monitoring service offered by any of the key CRAs or credit monitoring company. Again, this monitoring service is available for a fee.

  • Enroll in a program that offers instant access to your credit reports from all the three CRAs.

 

To secure your credit data, you cannot access your credit report over the net without signing into the relevant website. You can view the credit report only after the website verifies your identity through a series of security questions.

 

 

 


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