Money Mom says get your free credit report Posted
by money mom at 01/11/08 05:56 PM
Monday’s tip from Money Mom – get your free annual credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling 877-322-8228, or by making a request by mail.
For online advice on how to order your credit report and what to do if you find errors, see the Consumers Union guide: “Your Credit Matters” at: http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_financial_services/005347.html.
So far, about 22% of Americans have ordered their free credit reports since Congress gave us the right to get a free report from each of the big three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Get your free consumer credit report by ordering at the central site you’ll find at: www.annualcreditreport.com, or by calling 877-322-8228. If you’d rather mail in a request, use this form: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
A good credit record will put you in line for lower priced credit. Your credit record also can make the difference in whether you are selected for an apartment you want to rent and whether you qualify for some types of jobs. Reading your credit report will help you spot errors early, and start the process to fix those errors, called a credit report “dispute.”
Money Mom warns – you don’t have to buy anything to get your free credit report. Order your report at the central website or phone number above, or by mail. Stay away from sites that try to sell you something else, such as expensive credit monitoring. Watch out too for sites other than the official site, www.annualcreditreport.com. You have to give some important personal information to order your report, and you don’t want to give that information to an imposter site that might be collecting it for sale.
If you want your credit score, you will have to pay a small fee to get that. Money Mom suggests just ordering one of your credit scores when you order your credit reports. If your score looks fine and the contents of your three credit reports are similar, then you may not need to spend the money to order your credit score from the other two consumer reporting agencies. If you are planning to take out a home mortgage soon, however, take a look at all three of your credit scores.
You can order copies of your free credit reports from all three consumer reporting agencies all at once, or you can choose to stagger your request every four months so that your free reports give you a more frequent picture of what is happening with your credit.
If you need help getting your free credit report, call the FTC’s toll-free number -- 1-877-FTC-HELP.
Credit reports sometimes contain errors. In “Your Credit Matters,” http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_financial_services/005347.html Consumers Union offers tips to consumers on reviewing credit reports for inaccuracies. For example:
•Make sure that your name, address, Social Security number and all other personal information is correct.
•Make sure that there are no accounts, debts, bankruptcies or court judgments on your report that don’t belong to you.
•Make sure that payment histories and balances are correct and that any errors you have reported have been fixed.
•Check each of your consumer credit reports for errors. Keep in mind that the contents of your report may not be the same at each consumer reporting agency.
In addition, the guide offers helpful tips and information about correcting errors:
•File your dispute in writing with the consumer reporting agency that issued the credit report containing the error and keep a copy of your letter and all documentation for your records. Do not send your original documents.
•Give the consumer reporting agency details such as the name of the "furnisher" who provided the incorrect information, the reasons for your dispute, and copies of any documents or information to substantiate your claim.
•Follow up to ensure the corrections have been made.
To read the full guide, and to get other useful links, see: http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_financial_services/005347.html
comments
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Posted by Creditman at 03/14/08 10:03 AM
Beware Freecreditreport.com
It's a scam and they will not make it easy for you to cancel your membership. Moreover, when you try to log in and cancel online, the website will crash or perform very weird things. You will get charged every month and you'll spend days trying to cancel and speak with your bank or credit card company. These charges will show up every month under: CIC*Triple Advantage 877-4816825 CA
Don't fall for these corporate scams particularly from Freecreditreport.com
