Your Access to Free Credit Reports
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide
consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion
– to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your
request, once every 12 months. The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy
of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting companies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection
agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.
A credit report includes information on where you live, how you pay your
bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy.
Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report
to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to
evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting
a home.
Here are the details about your rights under the FCRA and the Fair and
Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, which established the free annual
credit report program.
Q: How do I order my free report?
A: The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central
website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which
you can order your free annual report.
To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete
the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report
Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is
on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit.
Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually.
They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com,
1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer
reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from
each of the companies one at a time. The law allows you to order one free
copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies
every 12 months.
A Warning About “Imposter” Websites
Only one website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit
report you are entitled to under law – annualcreditreport.com. Other
websites that claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free
credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring” are not
part of the legally mandated free annual credit report program. In some
cases, the “free” product comes with strings attached. For
example, some sites sign you up for a supposedly “free” service
that converts to one you have to pay for after a trial period. If you
don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be unwittingly agreeing
to let the company start charging fees to your credit card.
Some “imposter” sites use terms like “free report”
in their names; others have URLs that purposely misspell annualcreditreport.com
in the hope that you will mistype the name of the official site. Some
of these “imposter” sites direct you to other sites that try
to sell you something or collect your personal information.
annualcreditreport.com and the nationwide consumer reporting companies
will not send you an email asking for your personal information. If you
get an email, see a pop-up ad, or get a phone call from someone claiming
to be from annualcreditreport.com or any of the three nationwide consumer
reporting companies, do not reply or click on any link in the message.
It’s probably a scam. Forward any such email to the FTC at spam@uce.gov.
Q: What information do I need to provide to get my free report?
A: You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and
date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to
provide your previous address. To maintain the security of your file,
each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you for some information
that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.
Each company may ask you for different information because the information
each has in your file may come from different sources.
Q: Why do I want a copy of my credit report?
A: Your credit report has information that affects whether you can get
a loan – and how much you will have to pay to borrow money. You
want a copy of your credit report to:
make sure the information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date before
you apply for a loan for a major purchase like a house or car, buy insurance,
or apply for a job.
help guard against identity theft. That’s when someone uses your
personal information – like your name, your Social Security number,
or your credit card number – to commit fraud. Identity thieves may
use your information to open a new credit card account in your name. Then,
when they don’t pay the bills, the delinquent account is reported
on your credit report. Inaccurate information like that could affect your
ability to get credit, insurance, or even a job.
Q: How long does it take to get my report after I order it?
A: If you request your report online at annualcreditreport.com, you should
be able to access it immediately. If you order your report by calling
toll-free 1-877-322-8228, your report will be processed and mailed to
you within 15 days. If you order your report by mail using the Annual
Credit Report Request Form, your request will be processed and mailed
to you within 15 days of receipt.
Whether you order your report online, by phone, or by mail, it may take
longer to receive your report if the nationwide consumer reporting company
needs more information to verify your identity.
There also may be times when the nationwide consumer reporting companies
receive a high volume of requests for credit reports. If that happens,
you may be asked to re-submit your request. Or, you may be told that your
report will be mailed to you sometime after 15 days from your request.
If either of these events occurs, the nationwide consumer reporting companies
will let you know.
Q: Are there any other situations where I might be eligible for
a free report?
A: Under federal law, you’re entitled to a free report if a company
takes adverse action against you such as denying your application for
credit, insurance, or employment and you ask for your report within 60
days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name,
address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company. You’re
also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and
plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you’re on welfare; or
if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft.
Otherwise, a consumer reporting company may charge you up to $10.50 for
another copy of your report within a 12-month period.
To buy a copy of your report, contact:
Equifax: 800-685-1111; www.equifax.com
Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742); www.experian.com
TransUnion: 800-916-8800; www.transunion.com
Under state law, consumers in Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, and Vermont already have free access to their credit reports.
Q: Should I order a report from each of the three nationwide
consumer reporting companies?
A: It’s up to you. Because nationwide consumer reporting companies
get their information from different sources, the information in your
report from one company may not reflect all, or the same, information
in your reports from the other two companies. That’s not to say
that the information in any of your reports is necessarily inaccurate;
it just may be different.
Q: Should I order my reports from all three of the nationwide
consumer reporting companies at the same time?
A: You may order one, two, or all three reports at the same time, or you
may stagger your requests. It’s your choice. Some financial advisors
say staggering your requests during a 12-month period may be a good way
to keep an eye on the accuracy and completeness of the information in
your reports.
Q: What if I find errors – either inaccuracies or incomplete
information – in my credit report?
A: Under the FCRA, both the consumer reporting company and the information
provider (that is, the person, company, or organization that provides
information about you to a consumer reporting company) are responsible
for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report. To
take full advantage of your rights under this law, contact the consumer
reporting company and the information provider.
1. Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you
think is inaccurate.
Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items in question –
usually within 30 days – unless they consider your dispute frivolous.
They also must forward all the relevant data you provide about the inaccuracy
to the organization that provided the information. After the information
provider receives notice of a dispute from the consumer reporting company,
it must investigate, review the relevant information, and report the results
back to the consumer reporting company. If the information provider finds
the disputed information is inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide
consumer reporting companies so they can correct the information in your
file.
When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company must
give you the written results and a free copy of your report if the dispute
results in a change. (This free report does not count as your annual free
report under the FACT Act.) If an item is changed or deleted, the consumer
reporting company cannot put the disputed information back in your file
unless the information provider verifies that it is accurate and complete.
The consumer reporting company also must send you written notice that
includes the name, address, and phone number of the information provider.
2. Tell the creditor or other information provider in writing that you
dispute an item. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the
provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company, it must include
a notice of your dispute. And if you are correct – that is, if the
information is found to be inaccurate – the information provider
may not report it again.
Q: What can I do if the consumer reporting company or information
provider won’t correct the information I dispute?
A: If an investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute with the consumer
reporting company, you can ask that a statement of the dispute be included
in your file and in future reports. You also can ask the consumer reporting
company to provide your statement to anyone who received a copy of your
report in the recent past. You can expect to pay a fee for this service.
If you tell the information provider that you dispute an item, a notice
of your dispute must be included any time the information provider reports
the item to a consumer reporting company.
Q: How long can a consumer reporting company report negative
information?
A: A consumer reporting company can report most accurate negative information
for seven years and bankruptcy information for 10 years. There is no time
limit on reporting information about criminal convictions; information
reported in response to your application for a job that pays more than
$75,000 a year; and information reported because you’ve applied
for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance. Information
about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for
seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is
longer.
Q: Can anyone else can get a copy of my credit report?
A: The FCRA specifies who can access your credit report. Creditors, insurers,
employers, and other businesses that use the information in your report
to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting
a home are among those that have a legal right to access your report.
Q: Can my employer get my credit report?
A: Your employer can get a copy of your credit report only if you agree.
A consumer reporting company may not provide information about you to
your employer, or to a prospective employer, without your written consent.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair
business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help
consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free
information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing,
identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel,
a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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