Are you sick and tired of the wannabe rock star belting out that jingle about not checking his girlfriend's credit report with his band buddies in the freecreditreport.com ad? I am, especially since the TV ad is, in my opinion, not exactly truthful.
Here's the reality: you get your "free" credit report only after you sign up for a 7-day free trial membership in the Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring. More to the point, you will be charged a membership fee of $14.95/month after the free trial period expires. So "free" isn't really "free" after all.
It is a good idea to monitor all the data that various reporting agencies are collecting about you. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003 and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to one free annual report from various reporting agencies in general, as well as one free report in the event of adverse actions being taken against you by an insurer, bank, etc., as I will explain in greater detail in the 2-part discussion below.
Instead of going to freecreditreport.com, head rather to the real site that is officially mandated by the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003: www.annualcreditreport.com
The website www.annualcreditreport.com is maintained by the three major US credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Under the FACTA legislation, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) every 12 calendar months. In addition to the free credit report mandated by FACTA, you could also purchase your credit scores from the three major credit reporting bureaus for a fee. If you discover any inaccuracies in your credit reports, you should dispute them as soon as possible, since banks, insurance, potential employers, landlords, etc., are relying on these credit reports to assess you as a person.
You do not have to request all three credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com at once. If you request one report from a credit reporting bureau once every four months, you would have set up a rudimentary 4-month credit monitoring system. In my case, this is how I request my annual credit reports:
Here's the reality: you get your "free" credit report only after you sign up for a 7-day free trial membership in the Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring. More to the point, you will be charged a membership fee of $14.95/month after the free trial period expires. So "free" isn't really "free" after all.
It is a good idea to monitor all the data that various reporting agencies are collecting about you. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003 and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to one free annual report from various reporting agencies in general, as well as one free report in the event of adverse actions being taken against you by an insurer, bank, etc., as I will explain in greater detail in the 2-part discussion below.
PART I: FREE ANNUAL REPORTS MANDATED BY FACTA
(A) Free Credit Reports
(A) Free Credit Reports
Instead of going to freecreditreport.com, head rather to the real site that is officially mandated by the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003: www.annualcreditreport.com
The website www.annualcreditreport.com is maintained by the three major US credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Under the FACTA legislation, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) every 12 calendar months. In addition to the free credit report mandated by FACTA, you could also purchase your credit scores from the three major credit reporting bureaus for a fee. If you discover any inaccuracies in your credit reports, you should dispute them as soon as possible, since banks, insurance, potential employers, landlords, etc., are relying on these credit reports to assess you as a person.
You do not have to request all three credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com at once. If you request one report from a credit reporting bureau once every four months, you would have set up a rudimentary 4-month credit monitoring system. In my case, this is how I request my annual credit reports:
- Jan = Equifax
- May = Experian
- Sept = TransUnion.
(B) Other Free Annual Reports that you should request
What many folks do not realize is that the 2003 FACTA legislation also mandates that you are also entitled to the following free annual reports:
- Your Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) Report - this records all your insurance claims history;
- Your Employment History Report;
- Your Tenant History Report; and
- Your ChexSystems Report (comprising data on how you handle bank accounts, checks, overdrafts, etc).
You should request your free annual reports for 1 (CLUE), 2 (Employment History) and 3 (Tenant History) from www.choicetrust.com
You should request your free annual report for 4 (ChexSystems Report) from the Consumer Debit Resource site.
PART II: FREE REPORTS IN THE EVENT OF ADVERSE ACTIONS
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to a free report of your relevant financial records if the following negative or adverse actions have been taken against you:
- your bank/financial institution denied you an account or check-writing privileges. If you find yourself in this situation, you should head immediately to www.consumerdebit.com, where you can request your free ChexSystems report.
- your insurer (1) denied insurance, (2) increased your rates, (3) limited your coverage or (4) cancelled your policy. If any of these 4 circumstances apply to you, head to www.consumerdisclosure.com for your free report. This site is maintained by ChoicePoint.
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