Free Annual Credit Report: Know all about it

A credit report is one of the most precious financial document that you can have.  It shows your credit level as well as the list of debts to pay.  Under the new federal law, you are entitled to a regular free credit score report within 12 months.  You can also obtain a free copy of it if you have been denied a job, insurance, or credit within the past two months. 

Before you submit an application to get a free annual credit report, make sure that you are fully aware of all the facts.  The new law states that the three major credit reporting companies should have an online site where you can request for a credit score report, which is http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com.  This is the only website that is legitimately affiliated with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).  If there are other websites that will promise to give you a free copy, they are definitely fraudulent or fake.  There are a lot of scams all over the internet and you must be careful not to fall prey to any one of them.  Do not ever send your confidential information to the wrong hands.

If you want to request a credit score report by other means aside from the internet, you can call a toll-free number 877-322-8228, or write at P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.  If you choose to use the postal address, it is best to print a completed request form online.  This is because you cannot get your report until you answer the questions on the said form.  You can also get this information form through the Federal Trade Commission.

Your credit score report is not accessible to anyone except for your insurance company, creditors, or employer.  However, you still need to submit a written approval to the bureau before they send your record to your employer.

Once you already got your report, here are some basic things that you should check:

	Go through it slowly, carefully analyzing the credit score interpretation of the bureau. Have a paper and pen ready to annotate any error item that you might find
	Closed accounts should not be listed as open. And for the accounts that you have closed, it should reflect “closed by consumer.” If not, it will be assumed that the accounts were closed by creditors, which is not good.
	Make sure accounts that are listed as “joint” are true, and that marital information is also correct.
	Accounts should not be listed twice, even if it appears in different sections.
	Do not assume that you have the correct personal details. Who knows, maybe you are viewing information from the credit score report of another person with just simple errors as: wrong employer, bad zip code, erroneous address, missing Jr. /Sr., or first name misspelled.
	Ensure that the report is in compliance with the settlements made in court. Remember that outdated information refers to an item that is normally considered to be older than 7 years (except bankruptcy which usually stays for 10 years).
	Sometimes there could also be missing entries that are very beneficial to show a good history. Also check if the balances, credit limits, and profiles listed are all correct.

If there are incorrect histories such as a pre-marital debt of your current spouse, an entry that you don’t recognize, or a late payment that is not supposed to be there, these items should be brought to the attention of the bureau and corrected right away.