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[C1268]Credit Reports For Free

by Hartley Pinn, Har

Are you certain that your personal credit report is accurate? These and other questions must be answered before you apply for credit or take out a loan. Without that information handy, you may end up paying too much for your car loan, mortgage, credit card, and more.

Worse, you could get rejected altogether and for no good reason. Today, you can get your personal credit report at no cost and I am going to show you how to do just that.

The U.S. Free Credit Report Act has proven to be a real blessing for consumers. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is the government agency tasked with helping consumers, has established through this act that you can get copies of your personal credit report at no cost. Through the three major credit reporting bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union – you are entitled to receive a copy of you personal credit report annually from each bureau.

These three bureaus have “all the goods” on you so to speak. If you were late with a car payment and that information has been passed on to the credit bureaus, it becomes part of your personal credit report. At the same time, if someone with a name similar to yours went bankrupt, that information could erroneously be put in your report.

Unfortunately, you may not find this information out until after you apply for credit. Sure, you can correct the problem, but it could take weeks to resolve and delay you from getting a loan. That can be a real problem if you need credit now!

Consumer watchdogs are urging everyone to get copies of their personal credit reports annually. Some are suggesting that consumers space their reports out to one ever four months from the three different agencies.

For example, in January you would order one from Experian, in May from Equifax, and in September from Trans Union. Come the following January, you would order a report from Experian and start the process over again.

You really need to see all three credit reports as they are not uniform. One bureau may have one piece of information about you, while another something else. Your goals are to make certain that all the information in your personal credit report is accurate. If not, then you must take action to amend each error.

In addition to your personal credit report, it is recommended that from time to time you also get your FICO score. Your FICO score is the “grade” that creditors use to determine exactly what your loan rate will be.

Your FICO score isn't free, however only a nominal fee of approximately $5 to $7 will be charged should you choose to order it.

Are you ready to find out more about ordering your personal credit reports? If so, visit the FTC site for more information: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm. Click on the appropriate link to go to the proper site and order a copy of your personal credit report today!

To get a complementary step-by-step easy to follow credit repair video and instruction manual that will show you how to increase your credit score by 50 to 100 points in 30 days, visit: http://www.mortgage-leads-generator.com/credit.htm

The growing prevalence of identity theft and increased concern about good financial health has led many consumers to seek copies of their credit reports online. Doing so is certainly laudable; the more you know about how potential creditors and lenders see you, the more prepared you can be when it comes time to apply for a loan or credit. An added bonus is that consumers can obtain one copy of their credit report from each of the three main credit bureaus once a year through the official Web site set up for such purposes at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Unfortunately, there are still many Web sites that exist for the sole purpose of tricking consumers who are seeking copies of their free reports. A quick Google search for the term "free credit report" today turned up no fewer than twenty four million sites in the search results. There certainly are not twenty four million Web sites that are going to provide copies of credit reports for free, so what is this all about?

It's about money. Aside from the "official" site, the others are there to profit, and they can profit in one of two different ways:

Sell you something - Some of these sites actually belong to the credit bureaus; they have set them up to give you the credit report while selling something else to you in the meantime. These sites will offer the "free" report in large letters, while telling you in smaller ones that by accepting the free report you are agreeing to buy a credit monitoring service, which can cost you $10-15 per month. The credit bureau-owned sites will also tell you that you can get your report for free at the "official" site. That is usually stated in fairly small print near the bottom of the page.

Steal something from you - Unfortunately, there are still many unscrupulous crooks out there on the Internet who see the interest in credit reports as the ideal way to steal personal information from people. Their sites will offer a "free" report, and perhaps some other services for which you can pay. But when you fill out the application and provide your name, Social Security number and credit card, you get nothing in return. Instead, the operators of these sites use the personal information to borrow money and take out credit in your name, leaving you to pay the bills.

If all you want is a free credit report, the best way to avoid this problem is to obtain it from the official Web site at AnnualCreditReport.com. Alternatively, you can call 1-877-322-8228 to receive your report by mail. That way, you can avoid being victimized by the thousands of Web sites that might cause you to pay dearly for your "free" credit report.

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Both Hartley Pinn & Charles Essmeier are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Hartley Pinn has sinced written about articles on various topics from Free Credit Report Score, Online Marketing and Customer Service. . Hartley Pinn's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.

Charles Essmeier has sinced written about articles on various topics from Free Credit Report Score, Mortgage and Cars. ©Copyright 2006 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including