When people started writing into me and asking me to review sites that offer free instant credit reports for my consumer-deals blog, I was actually more than a bit surprised. I mean my impression was always that since there are so many different sites that offer these reports online, how hard could it be to find a decent one?

Well I certainly got an education when I started doing my research. Turns out that I was both right and wrong about how easy it would be. It's true that it's very easy to find any of a dozen sites that say they'll give you your free credit report and credit score instantly online, and that you won't have to pay for it.

But what I didn't realize is that not all of these sites are created equal. In fact, while some free credit report sites are totally legit and offer exactly what they say, some kind of bend the truth a little bit.

It's not that they're not offering free credit reports -- they do. But it's in the way that they deliver them, and also in the other really important factor in all this -- your credit score -- that puts some sites head and shoulders above the rest.

I'll tell you exactly which sites you should use in a second, but first I want to talk about some of the things you should look for when you're evaluating the sites on your own.

To begin with, as I mentioned above, you want to make sure that any site that you use can be counted on to deliver your credit report instantly to you online. Nobody wants to wait around for weeks while the credit report arrives in the mail.

Most sites that say they offer this kind of service actually do. As long as you're getting your report from the major credit reporting bureaus, you'll most likely be fine with this.

Now, the other thing that's very important is your credit score. If you're looking for a free credit report, I'm sure that you know what your credit score is and how important it is to getting a loan. But just in case...

The credit score is a simple way for a lender to quickly evaluate your credit worthiness. So instead of them having to go through your report line by line all they need to do is look at your score and they can make a very quick and easy determination about how much, or even if, you'll be allowed to borrow.

You want to make sure that whatever credit score you're being delivered by the site is actually the score that a lender will use to evaluate your application.

You shouldn't be getting simply an estimate of what your credit score might be. This doesn't really do you any good, as it doesn't give you a true picture of how a lender is going to see you.

Okay, now that we've gone through the basics, just about the only thing you need to know now is where to find reviews of the best free instant credit reports sites.