all about credit reports and how to get better credit scores

We recently wrote about the so-called "Free" credit reports that really aren't free in this article.  Well, CNNMoney.com listed them as one of America's biggest rip-offs.  Amazingly, Experian - a credit bureau that owns freecreditreport.com, said that they do realize that some people who sign up don't realize they are signing up for a credit monitoring service with a monthly fee being charged to their credit card.    No kidding. Remember, your truly FREE reports are at annualcreditreport.com.  You are entitled to three per year at no cost; that is one from each of the three credit bureaus.  They'll all try to sell you something on the way to getting your free report, even through the official government mandated website.  Just click on the NO or NO THANKS button and continue on your way. If you do decide to sign up for anything ...

Yes, every adult in the U.S. is entitled to a free credit report each year.  You actually get THREE free reports annually, one from each of the three credit reporting agencies, better known as credit bureaus.   These have been available since late 2004, thanks to the provisions in FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, which was added to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FCRA. The heavily advertised "free" reports you see on television and online are NOT your free annual reports the law provides for.  Prior to Congress passing these laws, the only way consumers could get copies of their credit reports was to pay for them.  So naturally when they became available for free, the credit bureaus developed ways to capture some of their lost credit report income.  Guess who actually is behind the singing pirates ...