October 27, 2010
September 22, 2010
August 3, 2010
How Much Does a Free Credit Report Cost?
Scott Swinford asked:
If you saw an ad in the newspaper for a FREE CAR to the next 20 people who arrived at a particular car lot, would you go? I would! In fact, most people would probably be out the door before they read the fine print that said you must purchase a key for $28,000 to get the car for free. I can just imagine the riot at the dealership when the salespersons pointed that out to the mob in the sales lot.
Now apply that to your credit report.
With the sheer number of identity theft victims (many who are not aware of it yet) and the chance for mistakes in your credit file (Wall Street Journal estimates that 79% of all credit files have errors), it is in the consumer’s best interest to check their credit report on a regular basis and correct errors if and when they appear. I believe that this should be done every 6 months minimum and certainly before making a major purchase such as a car or a home.
The free credit resource that I recommend to my family, friends and clients is annualcreditreport (full contact information is below). This site is monitored by the FTC and created by the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies to allow everyone to have access to their credit report. You are given access to your report after answering a series of questions to verify your identity. They do not give you your scores for free, but you are allowed to purchase them from the site if you wish.
I tell my clients that they can purchase the scores if they wish, but the numbers that they are given may or may not (usually not) correspond to the scores that a mortgage lender would see. They are also different that what a car dealer would see and different than what your insurance agent would see. Add in the fact that some of the companies are using the new Vantage system while others are not and this whole ordeal can leave you very confused.
Back to my original question: how much does a free credit report cost? While the report may be given to you at no cost, it is usually under the condition that you sign up for some type of credit monitoring service. Although I will not plug any particular companies, I pay about $15 a month to have my reports “monitored”. I get an email when there is an inquiry on my report, if there are significant changes to it such as large balance changes or anything negative, and I get one once a month telling me that there were no changes. On top of that, I can run a new credit report on myself EVERY DAY if I wish and it will not hurt my scores like an inquiry from a credit card company, car dealer or mortgage lender might. If you decide to try one of the monitoring companies, they will usually let you cancel within the first 30 days without charge if you are not satisfied. Check their terms and conditions to be sure.
The downfall of annualcreditreport.com is that you are only able to pull one report from each of the three bureaus (Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax) every 12 months (in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act). For someone who just wants to check their report infrequently, they could get one report every 4 months and be safer than if they had done nothing. For some, it is worth a small financial outlay every month to have the protection that the other companies offer. It’s really up to the individual.
That’s all on Free Credit Reports. I will be releasing future articles on what to look for on your report, how to dispute issues that you may find and how to improve your scores, among other topics.
Here is how to get your free credit report:
Online: annualcreditreport.com
Phone: 1-877-322-8228
Mail: Print, complete and send the request form (found online at annualcreditreport.com) to
Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Ernest
If you saw an ad in the newspaper for a FREE CAR to the next 20 people who arrived at a particular car lot, would you go? I would! In fact, most people would probably be out the door before they read the fine print that said you must purchase a key for $28,000 to get the car for free. I can just imagine the riot at the dealership when the salespersons pointed that out to the mob in the sales lot.
Now apply that to your credit report.
With the sheer number of identity theft victims (many who are not aware of it yet) and the chance for mistakes in your credit file (Wall Street Journal estimates that 79% of all credit files have errors), it is in the consumer’s best interest to check their credit report on a regular basis and correct errors if and when they appear. I believe that this should be done every 6 months minimum and certainly before making a major purchase such as a car or a home.
The free credit resource that I recommend to my family, friends and clients is annualcreditreport (full contact information is below). This site is monitored by the FTC and created by the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies to allow everyone to have access to their credit report. You are given access to your report after answering a series of questions to verify your identity. They do not give you your scores for free, but you are allowed to purchase them from the site if you wish.
I tell my clients that they can purchase the scores if they wish, but the numbers that they are given may or may not (usually not) correspond to the scores that a mortgage lender would see. They are also different that what a car dealer would see and different than what your insurance agent would see. Add in the fact that some of the companies are using the new Vantage system while others are not and this whole ordeal can leave you very confused.
Back to my original question: how much does a free credit report cost? While the report may be given to you at no cost, it is usually under the condition that you sign up for some type of credit monitoring service. Although I will not plug any particular companies, I pay about $15 a month to have my reports “monitored”. I get an email when there is an inquiry on my report, if there are significant changes to it such as large balance changes or anything negative, and I get one once a month telling me that there were no changes. On top of that, I can run a new credit report on myself EVERY DAY if I wish and it will not hurt my scores like an inquiry from a credit card company, car dealer or mortgage lender might. If you decide to try one of the monitoring companies, they will usually let you cancel within the first 30 days without charge if you are not satisfied. Check their terms and conditions to be sure.
The downfall of annualcreditreport.com is that you are only able to pull one report from each of the three bureaus (Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax) every 12 months (in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act). For someone who just wants to check their report infrequently, they could get one report every 4 months and be safer than if they had done nothing. For some, it is worth a small financial outlay every month to have the protection that the other companies offer. It’s really up to the individual.
That’s all on Free Credit Reports. I will be releasing future articles on what to look for on your report, how to dispute issues that you may find and how to improve your scores, among other topics.
Here is how to get your free credit report:
Online: annualcreditreport.com
Phone: 1-877-322-8228
Mail: Print, complete and send the request form (found online at annualcreditreport.com) to
Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Ernest
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July 11, 2010
Legitimate Free Credit Report Companies
Ima Johnson asked:
Finding a company that is legitimately offering an annual credit report can be sometimes overwhelming. With the number of companies and websites offering a free credit report statement, how will one know whether they’re legitimate, and how can one distinguish a scam website?
You have to be careful about choosing a company offering credit report statements. Just for the benefit of the doubt, there are various “phishing companies” out there that “claim” they do offer an annual credit report, yet, what they only do is gather your information and mislead you by asking your personal details.
These Companies Are The Ones That You Should Beware Of:
Companies and websites “claiming” that they offer an annual free credit report will just use your personal information and sell them to third party websites. Furthermore, what would they do with it? Of course, they will sell. Once that someone has got hold of your personal information, you would be soon become a victim of identity theft.
This is where the big problem comes in. Most often, these companies would suddenly stop operating when the time comes that they have reached numerous amounts of personal contact information and sell it to third parties to use it for identity theft. This is something that the government has been trying to avoid – but, as of today, no matter how strict the government agencies are, there are still some smart guys that trick various people and be their nth identity theft victim.
Please do not be easily tricked, and it is your responsibility to choose wisely. Finding a legitimate company offering free credit report statements can be easily done by simply doing your researching and by taking your time. Patience is an important characteristic at this point in time – do not be easily bored, and do not simply give in to some flowering words that these scam sites may be offering to you.
It is best if you verify the name of the company first from your local government, and check to see if that company really exists. If you have seen some fraud reports regarding the company, immediately remove them from your list, and proceed with your search until you have found a genuine website.
Remember, do not be tricked and fooled – you have to think twice, and make a wise decision before you even decide to give your personal details to other companies. Make sure that you fully trust that company offering annual financial reports.
Ramon
Finding a company that is legitimately offering an annual credit report can be sometimes overwhelming. With the number of companies and websites offering a free credit report statement, how will one know whether they’re legitimate, and how can one distinguish a scam website?
You have to be careful about choosing a company offering credit report statements. Just for the benefit of the doubt, there are various “phishing companies” out there that “claim” they do offer an annual credit report, yet, what they only do is gather your information and mislead you by asking your personal details.
These Companies Are The Ones That You Should Beware Of:
Companies and websites “claiming” that they offer an annual free credit report will just use your personal information and sell them to third party websites. Furthermore, what would they do with it? Of course, they will sell. Once that someone has got hold of your personal information, you would be soon become a victim of identity theft.
This is where the big problem comes in. Most often, these companies would suddenly stop operating when the time comes that they have reached numerous amounts of personal contact information and sell it to third parties to use it for identity theft. This is something that the government has been trying to avoid – but, as of today, no matter how strict the government agencies are, there are still some smart guys that trick various people and be their nth identity theft victim.
Please do not be easily tricked, and it is your responsibility to choose wisely. Finding a legitimate company offering free credit report statements can be easily done by simply doing your researching and by taking your time. Patience is an important characteristic at this point in time – do not be easily bored, and do not simply give in to some flowering words that these scam sites may be offering to you.
It is best if you verify the name of the company first from your local government, and check to see if that company really exists. If you have seen some fraud reports regarding the company, immediately remove them from your list, and proceed with your search until you have found a genuine website.
Remember, do not be tricked and fooled – you have to think twice, and make a wise decision before you even decide to give your personal details to other companies. Make sure that you fully trust that company offering annual financial reports.
Ramon
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July 9, 2010
July 1, 2010
Online Credit Report
Beth Pardue asked:
Online credit reports are an easy way to learn what potential lenders will see about us, before we apply for a loan or credit. All too often, our early mismanagement of credit, like during our irresponsible youth, winds up hurting us for years. We get negative information on a credit report that could ruin our chances of getting additional credit long after we have begun managing credit more wisely.
So, if you’re considering making a major financial move it’s a good idea to check your credit report to know where you stand. That way you can be aware of problems before they derail your plans. And once you are aware of these problems, you can take steps to rebuild damaged credit and clean up that record.
If you’ve made mistakes in paying previous loans, bouncing checks, making late payments or other problems, you may still be able to reduce the amount of damage they will do to your credit with explanations or some basic repair. The first step is getting copies of your credit reports. Luckily, obtaining an online credit reports is easy. There are many companies on the Internet that will provide you with a copy of your credit report free of charge. Visit to learn more about getting your free copy of your credit report.
You can also get a copy of your credit report by requesting a copy directly from each of the three major national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Checking your credit through the credit bureaus directly can cost you as much as $9 per report, although it differs from state to state. You can request that the report be mailed to you or obtain it online. But with so many options available for a free credit report – why pay for the same information that you can get without having to spend a dime?
But regardless of how you obtain a copy of your credit report, the most important thing is that you get a copy for yourself, review it and make sure that it is the best it can be. Then begin working to resolve any activity that can be repaired. The sooner you get a copy of your credit report, the sooner you can begin improving your credit.
————————-
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the authors bio paragraph at the bottom of this article is included, the article is published “as is” (unedited) and all URL’s are made active hyperlinks with no syntax changes.
————————-
Arthur
Online credit reports are an easy way to learn what potential lenders will see about us, before we apply for a loan or credit. All too often, our early mismanagement of credit, like during our irresponsible youth, winds up hurting us for years. We get negative information on a credit report that could ruin our chances of getting additional credit long after we have begun managing credit more wisely.
So, if you’re considering making a major financial move it’s a good idea to check your credit report to know where you stand. That way you can be aware of problems before they derail your plans. And once you are aware of these problems, you can take steps to rebuild damaged credit and clean up that record.
If you’ve made mistakes in paying previous loans, bouncing checks, making late payments or other problems, you may still be able to reduce the amount of damage they will do to your credit with explanations or some basic repair. The first step is getting copies of your credit reports. Luckily, obtaining an online credit reports is easy. There are many companies on the Internet that will provide you with a copy of your credit report free of charge. Visit to learn more about getting your free copy of your credit report.
You can also get a copy of your credit report by requesting a copy directly from each of the three major national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Checking your credit through the credit bureaus directly can cost you as much as $9 per report, although it differs from state to state. You can request that the report be mailed to you or obtain it online. But with so many options available for a free credit report – why pay for the same information that you can get without having to spend a dime?
But regardless of how you obtain a copy of your credit report, the most important thing is that you get a copy for yourself, review it and make sure that it is the best it can be. Then begin working to resolve any activity that can be repaired. The sooner you get a copy of your credit report, the sooner you can begin improving your credit.
————————-
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the authors bio paragraph at the bottom of this article is included, the article is published “as is” (unedited) and all URL’s are made active hyperlinks with no syntax changes.
————————-
Arthur
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April 24, 2010
Credit Report No Credit Card – Where To Get One
Justin Fox asked:
Credit Report No Credit Card – You want your Credit Report now but have No Credit Card! frustrating! what to do, well you be happy to find out there are a few places where you can get your report without the need for a Credit Card, but you need to know a few things first.
The first place you should visit is annualcreditreport.com they require no Credit Card details so you can just put in your personal details and get your report. It’s also for free as the government now makes it law that you and every US citizen is entitled to get one free credit report per year, but you should know that this while being useful is not where you should leave it, you need all three credit report from the 3 main credit report bureaus, as each report will be different – so how will you know that the lenders will use to make up there decision of providing credit to you or not? You need to get all three and then look at the middle score – getting you credit score will enable you to know what the lenders use to make their decision.
So you might want to shop around to see what the best place is to get all your 3 Reports and Credit Score, be warned that while some websites will advertise that you can get a Credit Report No Credit Card they will try and sell you other services, this is not a bad thing as these services you might find very useful, here is a few of the services:
Get your Credit Score Identity Theft Protection Credit Monitoring Services Credit Score Change Alerts All your Credit Score and Reports from the Three Main Credit Bureaus Credit Score Competitor Comparison Now, to get some of these services you will need to use a Credit Card so Credit Report No Credit Card will not be applicable for you, but i strongly suggest you use these services as you then have a full picture of where you financial site and can start going about fixing any negative information. Be wary of the Scammers out there who promise to remove all negative information off your Credit Report to Fix you Credit Score, anyone who can guarantee this is wrong – don’t give you money over to then, what they do is contact the credit report bureaus and get them to investigate some bad credit information – by law they have to remove the info while it’s being investigated – but as soon as the investigation is finished it will land back on your credit report – by then they will have made a run and you won’t be able to get in contact with them to get your money back. Credit Report No Credit Card, there is such a thing but just be aware of what’s involved and the other services that are out there.
Get your Free Credit Report today and other useful information at [http://www.credit-reporter.net]
Micheal
Credit Report No Credit Card – You want your Credit Report now but have No Credit Card! frustrating! what to do, well you be happy to find out there are a few places where you can get your report without the need for a Credit Card, but you need to know a few things first.
The first place you should visit is annualcreditreport.com they require no Credit Card details so you can just put in your personal details and get your report. It’s also for free as the government now makes it law that you and every US citizen is entitled to get one free credit report per year, but you should know that this while being useful is not where you should leave it, you need all three credit report from the 3 main credit report bureaus, as each report will be different – so how will you know that the lenders will use to make up there decision of providing credit to you or not? You need to get all three and then look at the middle score – getting you credit score will enable you to know what the lenders use to make their decision.
So you might want to shop around to see what the best place is to get all your 3 Reports and Credit Score, be warned that while some websites will advertise that you can get a Credit Report No Credit Card they will try and sell you other services, this is not a bad thing as these services you might find very useful, here is a few of the services:
Get your Credit Score Identity Theft Protection Credit Monitoring Services Credit Score Change Alerts All your Credit Score and Reports from the Three Main Credit Bureaus Credit Score Competitor Comparison Now, to get some of these services you will need to use a Credit Card so Credit Report No Credit Card will not be applicable for you, but i strongly suggest you use these services as you then have a full picture of where you financial site and can start going about fixing any negative information. Be wary of the Scammers out there who promise to remove all negative information off your Credit Report to Fix you Credit Score, anyone who can guarantee this is wrong – don’t give you money over to then, what they do is contact the credit report bureaus and get them to investigate some bad credit information – by law they have to remove the info while it’s being investigated – but as soon as the investigation is finished it will land back on your credit report – by then they will have made a run and you won’t be able to get in contact with them to get your money back. Credit Report No Credit Card, there is such a thing but just be aware of what’s involved and the other services that are out there.
Get your Free Credit Report today and other useful information at [http://www.credit-reporter.net]
Micheal
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