Your Credit Report: When F-R-E-E Does NOT Spell Free
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, each of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) is required to provide a copy of your credit report once every 12 months at absolutely no charge to you. You can easily request a copy of your report online, but you need to make sure you use the official free credit report website to do so.
Despite the catchy jingle used in their commercials, obtaining a copy of your credit report online at freecreditreport.com is not necessarily “F-R-E-E”! You are required to provide a valid credit card to obtain your “free” report. The fine print authorizes a monthly charge to your credit card if you do not call to cancel their service within X number of days. Assuming you even notice this requirement, you probably won’t remember to cancel and the monthly charges will begin.
So how do you obtain a truly free, no-strings-attached copy of your credit report?
Go to the official website at www.AnnualCreditReport.com, enter certain required personal information, and you’ll have your free credit report within minutes. That’s it. No need to give out your credit card number and hope you remember to jump through the appropriate hoops to avoid charges.
It’s that easy. Now getting that annoying “F-R-E-E that spells free…” jingle out of your head is another story!
For more information about your access to free credit reports, visit this FTC web page.