Question:
I’m trying to get copies of my credit report, but I’m not sure how to do it. I’ve seen advertisements all over the net but I don’t know who to believe. How can I get genuine copies of my credit report?
Answer:
Are you trying to get copies of your credit report? Confused about all the different services that claim to offer “Free Credit Reports”. Stop searching right now because there’s only 3 ways to order your personal credit report.
When you need information in regards to your credit history, there are 3 major credit bureaus that you should contact. All 3 of the credit bureaus will have a credit history file on anyone that has ever applied for a loan or credit card.
Merchants, or anyone that you have credit with will report to one of the 3 bureaus, so if you want to get a full understanding of your credit, you’ll need to order reports from each of the 3 bureaus.
Requesting your free credit report from each agency is easy to do because you have 3 options available to you.
3 Ways to Order Your Credit Report
1. ONLINE
The first way to order your credit report is online. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com, this is by far the most popular and convenient way to get copies of your credit report.
2. PHONE You can order your credit report over the phone by calling 1-877-322-8228. If you choose this option, you will need to verify over the phone that you are who you say you are and not someone else.
If you happen to be deaf or hard of hearing, you can call 1-800-821-7232
3. SNAIL MAIL You can order your credit report via snail mail. To do this, you’ll need to download and print an annual credit report request form.
Once the form is completed, mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281 Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281
After mailing your request, you’ll receive your credit report within 2-3 weeks.
When You Receive Your Report
After you’ve got all 3 copies of your credit report, there are some sections that you need to be aware of.
Section 1: The first section in your credit report that you need to check is your name and address. Make sure that these are both correct. If there are any mistakes, contact the appropriate credit bureau to fix it.
Section 2: This section details your list of current bills. As mentioned earlier, each of your creditors will report to one of the 3 major credit bureaus, so verify that all your bills are accounted for between the three.
You might find that during the review process your credit record is excellent with 2 of the 3 bureaus and poor with the other. Verify your list of bills, their payments and due dates.
If you find that you’ve missed a payment or been late, it will show up on one of the three reports depending on the creditor and which agency they report to.
The other thing to be aware of when reviewing your credit reports is to see who or what agencies have made inquiries about your credit history.
Doing this allows you to see if anyone has been making frequent inquiries on your behalf with out your knowledge which can possibly hurt your credit score.
Now that you know the 3 different ways to order your credit report and that by law you are allowed to order 1 Free Report each year from each of the 3 Credit Bureaus get out there and make it happen!
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Author: RobHasmuth
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