There is a lot of misleading information available today, especially online, regarding getting access to your credit report. Some of this misleading information is the product of the credit reporting agencies themselves, which are for-profit entities. There are also many independent companies that will obtain your credits reports for you, for a hefty fee.
There are two federal laws that provide for free credit reports for American citizens and residents. That means if you are living in the United States then you can access your credit report for free.
The first of these laws is the Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACTA) Act of 2003. This law mandates that the every U.S. person is allowed one free copy of their credit report from each of the three leading credit reporting agencies once every twelve months. This law also mandated the creation of the AnnualCreditReport.com website that serves as the only official website where your free credit reports can be obtained. You may also receive these free credit reports via phone or mail request.
The second relevant law is the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This law has been amended several times since it was originally passed in 1970, but still provides several opportunities to receive free credit reports. By this law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you have been denied credit, employment, insurance, or any government benefit due to credit related problems. You may also receive a free copy if you have been denied housing because of your credit score, are unemployed, are on public assistance, or if you believe your report has been the victim of fraud.
Between these two options, there is virtually no need to purchase a report. However, your credit score is not necessarily included and even if a score is provided, this may not be your FICO score, but the result of some other scoring scheme. In general, to obtain your scores, you may have to provide a small fee.
So many people do not understand the FACTA or FRCA laws. There are many businesses that are willing to scam those people, take their money, and do very little fore them. If you are careful, however, you can find a very helpful credit monitoring agency that will not only tell you of problems but will also advise you on ways to improve your score.
If your credit is perfect and you dont plan to apply for credit, you may have no need for such a service. However, if you would like to optimize your score in advance of applying for a major loan or are working on credit repair, these services may be useful.
Wendy Polisi is the founder of CreditRepairCollege and Finance the Dream. Finance the Dream is the nations leading provider of rent to own houses,offering homes in all 50 states. For more information on credit repair please visit her at CreditRepairCollege.