Free Annual Credit Report

With so many companies and websites claiming to provide free instant credit reports it seems like there is no shortage of opportunities to obtain yours. But the truth is that there is only one place you can go to get a truly free instant credit report without having to pay any fees or sign up for credit monitoring trials. While technically you can get your credit report instantly for free through one of these independent companies, you will still have to provide your credit card and agree to pay for some other type of credit related service which means that your instant credit report is not really free. Your alternative is to find an independent company that only requires a trial of their services that you can cancel before you are charged, but this tactic can be frustrating and if you forget or cannot get through the cancellation process in time you may end up enrolled and charged anyway. There is only one true way to get a free instant credit report without all of that hassle, and that is by visiting annualcreditreport.com, a website sponsored by the three credit reporting agencies Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, that will provide you with a free instant credit report in accordance with the federal mandate that requires each credit agency to provide consumers with a copy of their credit report for free once a year.

Free Instant Credit Report

There are three ways to get your credit report from annualcreditreport.com, either by ordering it over the phone or through the mail or by requesting it online which is the only way to get your free instant credit report as the other methods will take up to a few weeks to process. Credit reports that are requested online will be available to view instantly after you have verified your identity. While every consumer is entitled to a copy of their credit report for free, you can only get one per year unless you are turned down for credit or a loan based on information on your credit report. In cases such as this you are entitled to get a copy of your credit report that includes the information on why you were turned down for free, but you must contact the credit reporting agencies directly.

Although you are only entitled to one free credit report from each credit reporting company each year, you still have the option of requesting them all at once or spacing them out throughout the year. You can effectively get to see your credit report every four months if you space it out like that, or you can review all three at the same time. Each credit reporting company usually gives you a slightly different credit score and may even have different information, which is one reason why you should compare them at the same time. However, if you are interested in keeping tabs on any activity or previous errors you have found throughout the year, spacing them out is also a good option. Additionally, checking your credit report is a great way of protecting yourself from identity theft and other types of credit fraud.