Getting and Reading Your Credit Report
(You can get it free!)
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Can I get a free copy of my own credit report?
Yes! There are many ways to get a free copy of your credit report.
All credit bureaus are required to give out one free credit report per year. You can order your free annual credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling 877-322-8228, or by completing the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. When you order, you need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. To verify your identity, you may need to provide some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.
Note: The Credit Bureaus are not required to give out your credit score for free.
If you want to order your score in addition to your free report it's about $5.95 per bureau. The free reports are good for 30 days only, so make sure you print your reports if you get them online. The other thing is that if you do any credit disputes after pulling your free report, the credit bureaus have 45 days instead of 30 days to pull your credit reports. Nothing is ever really free, is it? This could mean the difference, in all seriousness, in getting a deletion because of the extra time they have to "investigate". If you want to avoid all this hassle, for only $34.95 you can get your credit report, score PLUS free credit report monitoring/analysis tools by ordering your credit reports here.
Beware! There are some web sites out there who are posing as the free annual credit report site who are engaged in fraudulent activities.
What if I've already gotten my free report for the year?
There are exceptions to this one-per-consumer-per-year rule.
- If you are turned down for credit, employment, or insurance within the last 60 days. Mail a copy of the written proof of your turn down to the credit bureaus, requesting your free report.
- If you were charged higher rates and fees or deposits based on a credit report issued by a credit bureau, you have the right to get a free copy from that bureau
- If you certify in writing that either you are unemployed and plan to seek employment in the next 60 days
- If you are on welfare
- If you write to say you were a victim of fraud
- If you are too impatient to wait for this, you can always order your credit report online:
Help! What are all those codes on my credit report?
A separate key or explanation should be included with the
report you receive. Sit down and spend some time with it. If you gave it an honest try and it
still seems like Sanskrit, you might ask a trusted friend to go over
it with you. Or someone in your personnel office at work, or the
dean of students office at your school, or behind the railing at
your bank, might be willing to help you. (It's not their job to do
this, so remember that you're asking a favor. You may be charged a
fee.) You can also get help by reading our info on Decoding Credit Reports. (Return to Index)
What are "inquiries" on my credit report?
Whenever you or anyone else asks for a copy of your credit report,
the request is supposed to be noted as part of your credit history.
If you apply for lots of credit cards in a short time, this will
produce a flurry of "inquiry" notes on your credit report. Lenders
often turn this around and assume that a flurry of inquiries means
you've recently applied for lots of credit, so they turn you down on
that basis even though the inference is not strictly valid.
If a lender cites "excessive inquiries" as a reason for turning you
down, this is what has happened. The lender has guidelines for how
many inquiries in what period of time is too many. Unfortunately,
you have no legal right to challenge this policy or even to know
what the specific criteria may be.
Don't give your name or address to a merchant until you're actually
ready to apply for credit there. Some merchants illegally run
credit checks on you as soon as they have your name and address,
even though you have not applied for credit, to give them an idea of
what to sell you and how. (I'm told many car dealers do this.)
I don't know what legal recourse, if any, you have against
unauthorized inquiries.
If lender A sees inquiries from B, C, and D but no new accounts, A
may assume that B, C, and D turned you down for credit. Figuring
"better safe than sorry," A may then turn you down just because it
assumes B, C, and D turned you down. Again, this is a judgment call
on the part of A, and you have no legal right to challenge it. If
you have not applied for any credit recently but have been, say,
looking at cars at several dealerships, you might want to let the
lender know this in case it's taking unauthorized inquiries into
account.
Also, see our information on how to remove inquiries from your credit report. (Return to Index)
Can you provide any information on profit and loss charge offs? I would like to know how charge offs affect my credit report. Are they debts I need to deal with? And how do they look to companies that are checking my credit history.
Profit and loss charge offs are used most often by credit card companies. They write the debt off on their books as uncollectable rather than spending time and lawyer's fees to collect them. Charge offs are considered a serious black mark on your credit report. Only bankruptcy and foreclosure are worse. For more information on profit and loss chargeoffs, read this.
Who makes sure that agencies and creditors follow the laws?
The Federal Trade Commission, (FTC #202-326-2222) is responsible for
enforcing federal credit laws. (Return to Index)
The other important governmental body is YOU! The credit bureaus are FOR PROFIT companies and they don't do a good job (in this author's opinion) of following the few laws which exist. Don't be afraid to fight back! They are counting on public fear and inaction. Here is a good list of agencies to call or write.
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