- By law, you are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
- There is only ONE place to safely obtain these credit reports: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/. Beware of websites with similar names, since these could be spoof sites created to steal personal information (which you are required to provide when you get your credit reports). Also, do not be taken in by cute commercials with catchy songs. You know the ones I’m talking about. That is a service (of debatable value) that costs around $80 per year and, from what I hear, is very difficult to cancel. They’ve gotten in some hot water regarding advertising practices, too.
- You can obtain your credit score when you get your reports, but you will have to pay for this information. The report is free, getting the score is not. For the purposes of checking for identity theft, fraud and errors, you do not need your score. Actually, you don’t really need it for much of anything, unless you’re the type who wants to brag about your credit score. People are not impressed by that, incidentally.
- All three of the major credit reporting agencies are required to share new information with each other within 24 hours, so your credit reports should all contain the same information. Use this to your advantage: stagger your reports so (for example) you’re getting TransUnion in January, Equifax in May, and Experian in September. It’s a great way to keep tabs, rather than getting all three in January then waiting 12 months to check your reports again.
- When you read your credit reports, you’re looking for accounts you did not open, errors regarding late payments, charge-offs or collections, and balances that are wildly different than what you think they should be (if it says you owe Discover $14,000 when you’ve never owed more than $27, for example). Basically, you’re checking to make sure all the information is accurate.
Credit reports are a vast, complex subject. I’ll talk more about them this week—this could turn into a series!