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 when you’re online, read the fine print.  If you have questions, email or call the company for clarification and ask where on their site that information is so you have a copy in writing. 

When you give a credit card number for any automatic billing, ask about the cancellation procedure.  We have had many clients with recurring automatic billing that they have attempted to cancel and are still being charged for. 

When you do contact the company to cancel a recurring charge, get written confirmation that the automatic billing will be stopped and be sure the date of the cancellation is clearly stated.  And then keep the paper!  

Read your account statements and monitor your credit report regularly to be sure that you are not losing money or paying extra for something you really don’t want, need or have previously cancelled.

Contact us for information on getting your Credit Check Up to learn how to build better credit scores.

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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 and freecreditreport.com??  Yep, Experian, one of the major credit bureaus.  They even offer opportunities for you to spend money when obtaining your FREE reports!

Their are only two legitimate websites to get your free, annual reports that you are entitled to by law:  www.annualcreditreport.com and www.ftc.gov.

NOTE: The Federal Trade Commission will direct consumers to annualcreditreport.com.

When you log onto the site to get your report, you will be asked to enter personal identification information, including your Social Security number.  Make sure your computer’s security systems are updated and look up at the website address line.  It should have an https://, not just http://.  The “S” means it is a secure site.  Knowing that you initiated the contact yourself and double checking for a secure site greatly reduces the likelihood of being on a phony site.

WHAT TO DO
Your free reports are FREE.  The credit bureaus will ‘offer’ lots of different items for purchase.  These include monitoring services and scores.  And these advertised items are right up front, before you can even get to your credit report.  Just say NO.  Sometimes the button says “NO THANKS”; whatever it says, click it to save yourself some money and get to your free annual report.

NOTE: The credit scores offered by the credit bureaus are usually NOT actual FICO scores, the ones that most financial companies use.  These ‘consumer education’ scores are not an apples-to-apples comparison with what your lender sees – save your money, don’t buy them.  You can get your actual FICO scores here.   They are $16 each and include a full report; contact us for discount codes.

Remember, any time you have to give credit card information for something “FREE”, it isn’t free!  With determination and a small amount of time, you can check your own credit reports at no cost. 

We recommend checking one of your three free ones every four months; this gives you regular, periodic monitoring throughout the year.  Simply mark your calendar or planner to log on and get  your credit report.    When reviewing your credit report, look for unknown accounts, unusual or incorrect balances on your existing accounts, inquiries for new credit that you don’t recognize, extra social security numbers or names that don’t belong to you.  Click here for tips on what to do when you find errors on your reports.

We offer a Credit Analysis for only $100 that includes a review of your current credit report and provides you with strategies to positively impact and build your credit scores.  Contact us today to order yours.

Thanks, David, for a great question that led to this article!

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We’ve said it before and yet we get questions about it. 

People still think it’s the place to go for the no-cost credit reports they are entitled to by law. 

Just because Experian pays big bucks to advertise their singing pirates all over the television doesn’t mean you’ll get the free credit report that your consumer rights allow you to get once a year.

NOTE: When you have to “enroll” in anything, and give your credit card for payment, it’s NOT free.
(If it was really free, how could they afford all those advertising fees?)

Well, here it is.  Yes, the Federal Trade Commission, the regulatory agency that oversees the credit bureaus and consumer credit issues, has released a jingle to let people know where they can get their REAL, no-cost credit report. Just click the arrow in the middle of the video screen to watch it.

Yes folks, you want to go to ANNUALcreditreport.com to get all three of your free reports each year.  Remember, you get one from each of the three credit bureaus.  You can check them every four months for year-round monitoring and it won’t count against your scores when you get your own reports.

Checking your credit report and correcting any errors is an important part of building better credit scores.  It’s easy to do, it doesn’t cost anything except your time and it can make the difference in an auto loan at 5% or one at 21%.  That’s money in your pocket. 

Let’s stop giving our money to the credit bureaus for something that we are legally entitled to for free.  Learn the facts, get credit wise and get on your way to improving your financial future.  Click here to be notified when new articles are posted to our site.  And feel free to share this article with your friends.

NOTE: There are many imposter websites as well as companies that advertise “free” credit reports.  Most of these are for-profit operations that require you to sign up for one of their services, usually with a 30-day trial period, to get your “free” report.  These are NOT your actual free reports allowed by law.

The FCRA gives every consumer the right to a copy of their credit file from EACH of the three credit bureaus annually.  That is actually THREE FREE reports per year.  You can obtain one free report every four months to effectively monitor your credit throughtout the year.

OTHER FREE REPORTS
If you apply for a loan, credit card or insurance and are turned down, you are entitled to a free credit report from the credit bureau that provided the information to the company that denied your application.  The company is required by law to send you a letter with the details on why you were denied along with the instructions on how to obtain the free report.  You have 60 days after you receive the notification to request your free report.

If you are unemployed and plan to look for a job in the next 60 days, you can state that in a letter to the credit bureaus and get a free credit report from each of them.

If you are on public assistance or welfare, you can also send a letter requesting your free report.

If you believe there is fraudulent information or activity associated with your credit report, you can place a fraud alert with all three credit bureaus and get a free report from each to assess the accuracy of your file. 

You can help your credit scores grow by checking your credit reports regularly and correcting any errors. 
Increase your Financial Fitness with a Credit Check Up and get strategies to help each part of your score.

Credit Report Monitoring is an important part of Personal Financial Fitness and it’s easy to do.  To get a copy of your credit report from one, two or all three of the credit bureaus, go to annualcreditreport.com.   This is the place to get the actual free reports that consumers are entitled to by law.  There is no charge and nothing to sign up for.   Our article on November 26, 2008 has more information on credit monitoring.

If you want to know your current FICO scores, you can obtain all three of them, along with all three credit reports with the FICO Credit Complete for about $48.  Click here and look for FICO Credit Complete on the upper right side. 

With both of these options your reports will be available to you for 30 days when you set up log-in information.  And checking your credit reports in either of these two ways does NOT count against your credit score as a Hard Inquiry.

When reviewing your credit report, look for unknown accounts, unusual or incorrect balances on your existing accounts, inquiries that you don’t recognize, extra social security numbers or names that don’t belong to you.  Contact all three credit bureaus to correct the errors, even if you only review one report.  By law, they must investigate the items you dispute and reply within 45 days.  Mark your planner for four months later to schedule your next credit report monitoring.

For your Professional Credit Analysis and Review, contact us today.

The OFFICIAL, SECURE place to do this online is at www.annualcreditreport.com.
This site is the government authorized place to get one, two or all three of your free credit reports. 

As consumer credit scores become more important in the current economic climate, it is imperative that you make sure your credit report is accurate and your score is the best it can be.  Because more people are learning about their credit and what they can do to make it better, there are many companies that want a piece of the action.

The credit bureaus each have their own websites with many opportunities for you to spend lots of money to get information about your own credit report.  Many of these are heavily advertised in the media, particularly television and online.  When they get you to their site for your “free” credit report, you have to sign up for some type of additional service such as credit monitoring, identity theft protection or a score watch program.  THIS IS NOT YOUR FREE CREDIT REPORT THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO BY LAW!

At the official site, www.annualcreditreport.com, you will have the option to spend some money as they WILL try to sell you additional items, especially your credit score. 

NOTE: you do NOT need to purchase anything to get your free credit report. 

Be aware that there are some unscrupulous companies that are posing as a place to get your credit reports but they are really just phishing for your personal information for identity theft and other fraudulent purposes. 

Protect yourself, save some money and go to the official, secure site to get your free credit reports.  You can visit our Credit Report page for more information.

 We offer a comprehensive Credit Analysis starting at only $100 that gives you information to understand your credit report along with detailed strategies to improve and grow your credit scores.  Contact us now to take control of your credit instead of having it control you.

DO NOT Regularly Carry These Items:
Social Security Card
Passport
Birth Certificate
Personal Identification Numbers (PIN)
Checkbook
ALL of your Credit Cards – just carry one or two frequently used cards. 

1. File a report with the police in the jurisdiction where the loss happened.  Keep a copy of the police report. 

2. Cancel the credit cards that were in your wallet by calling the issuer(s) immediately. Many companies have 24-hour toll-free numbers to deal with emergencies; the number is on the back of the credit card that you have copied and safely stored or on the monthly statement.5. Contact all other companies whose cards were in your wallet, such as the library, fitness clubs, grocery stores, etc.

8. Change your home and car locks if your keys were there, too and change your security codes as well.

9. Call the fraud departments of the credit bureaus to place an initial (90 day) Fraud Alert on your account. Contact all three directly.

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Request the free credit report provided by the Fraud Alert; this will give you a baseline to which to compare future credit reports in the event of identity theft.

10. If your wallet was stolen and you suspect identity theft, contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal clearinghouse for complaints by victims of identity theft.  They provide information to help consumers resolve the financial and other problems that can result from identity theft.Call the FTC at 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338) or go to the FTC online , click on ID Theft listed under the Quick Finder section. 
File an online complaint form with the FTC and keep a printed copy for your records.  After 90 days, contact the credit bureaus to extend the Initial Fraud Alert, if needed.  This is recommended if your wallet and its contents are not found or recovered. For the next year, continue to monitor your credit reports to assure that no fraudulent activity has occurred.  You can do this at no cost through the Fraud Alert provisions and/or with your free, annual credit reports.      

Be aware that the credit bureau replies, usually a complete or abbreviated version of your credit report, WILL NOT BE FORWARDED.  If you move within a month or so of writing to the credit bureaus, you may want to notify them via mail or online that you have a different address.  Otherwise, you may not receive the updated information about your credit file.  OR someone else who now lives at your old address has access to your personal and financial information.

BOTTOM LINE: Keep track of the dates you contact the credit bureaus to be sure that they do their job in a timely manner as required by law and to insure that your information is safe.