A credit report is an important document that will be used by those you wish to obtain credit from. If you wish to apply for a vehicle loan, a personal loan, a credit card or a mortgage your credit report will be checked by the lender.
The contents of it will play a big role in whether you are granted the money you wish to receive or not. If your credit report contains items that work against you then you may be declined for the credit you want at this moment in time. If it is all right then you will be approved for the money you wish to borrow. The interest rates you will be charged are also affected by the information obtained in your credit report.
You need to know what it is your own credit report. Legally you have the right to know what is in there. There may be errors in the report that are preventing you from obtaining credit. You should be aware of what is in your credit report so if corrections need to be made you can make them.
Absolutely Free Credit Reports
It is possible to get a free credit report. All it takes is a little bit of effort on your part! There are three major credit reporting agencies that collect credit information and are required by federal law to provide American citizens with a free credit report on a yearly basis. Many citizens are not aware of this. Unfortunately there are times when obtaining your credit report is not exactly free. There are ways though to get the report without spending a dime or a dollar of your own money.
There are three ways that you can request your credit report without paying for it. We look at those three ways below.
1. The first way to do this is to go online and request it through one of the websites that provides it for free. One such website is www.AnnualCreditReport.com. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act that came into effect in 2003 made it such that the three credit agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion came together to develop a website where Americans could obtain free and simple access to their credit reports. There are some websites that claim to offer free credit reports but when you look closer there are strings attached. If you wish to get a hold of your credit report from an online source then AnnualCreditReport.com is your best bet.
2. Another means of obtaining your free credit report is to request it by telephone. You can place a call to 877-322-8228. You will need to provide some identifying information about yourself to verify who you are. Once your identity has been established then you can put in your request and the document will be sent to you through the mail.
3. Your third option is to request the report by mail. If you are not in a hurry for it then you can fill out a request form and then mail it to the address below:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
If you wish to request your report in this manner then you must go online and download the applicable form. You must have Adobe viewer on your computer to do this. If you do not presently have Adobe viewer then you can download it for free.
Please note- it is wise to request your credit report at least once a year. If you plan to make a big purchase or apply for a loan or mortgage in a few months to a year’s time then finding out what your credit score is on your credit report several months before you apply is a good idea. In this way you will be able to fix up your report and improve your credit rating (if that is necessary) to make it more likely that you will be approved for the loan that you wish to apply for.
