Are There Really Free Credit Reports?
- Use the Annual Credit Report website to access your government-authorized free credit reports. When you visit the website, you need to enter your name, date of birth, address and Social Security number to find your record. The Annual Credit Report website will then direct you to the Experian, TransUnion and Equifax websites to get a free credit report from each bureau. The credit reports might be slightly different from one another because some lenders only report to one credit bureau.
- If you have had a credit application denied, you will receive a letter with information on how to check your credit for free. You can get a free report from each bureau, even if it has not been a year since your last free report. Follow the instructions on your credit denial notice to request your free reports. You can also get a free credit report each year if you are unemployed and looking for work or if you receive welfare.
- Checking your credit report at least every year has a few benefits. First, you can identify instances of credit-related identity theft if you discover accounts on your credit report that you do not recognize. Second, if any of your lenders have made mistakes in reporting account information, checking your credit report helps you discover these mistakes so you can dispute them and keep them from dragging your credit score down. Lastly, checking your credit report and finding that everything is accurate gives you peace of mind before you apply for new credit.
- If you would like to check your credit report more than once per year, you can stagger the timing of your free credit reports. For example, you can get your Experian report in January, your TransUnion report in May and your Equifax report in September. That way, you can check your credit report three times per year for free instead of checking all three reports at the same time each year. Staggering the reports allows you to identify problems sooner because of the more frequent monitoring.