When you apply for a loan or a credit card, you lender will look at your credit score when making their decision about loaning the amount of money. This report will show if you have made your payments late on past loans and it will also show if you pay your bills on time and in full.

So why would you want to look at your credit report? There are lots of reasons why you should be requesting a copy. For one, you can search it for errors that might be keeping you from that home or car loan.

If you have been a victim of identity theft, your report will show the transactions that you didn't make. By noticing this on your credit report, you can make the necessary changes and recover your credit report from identity theft.

How do you look at your credit report? Because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are allowed to request a copy of your credit report once every twelve months from each of the three reporting companies. These three reporting companies are TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.

Instead of visiting each companies personal website to obtain your annual report, one website has been set up for all three. The website is www.annualcreditreport.com. As you visit this site, you will be asked to enter your name, address, date of birth and your social security number.

You will also be asked to answer a few questions about your finances that only you will know. This helps ensure that you are the one requesting the copy, and not another person.

You can order all three reports at once, or you can request them at different times throughout the year. The way you decide to view your credit report is up to you. You can view your credit report more often than every twelve months, but you will be required to pay for it.

After entering your information, you can view your report online. You can also call or write to obtain a copy of your credit report. You can find the address and phone number on the government's website concerning this matter.

Be aware that this is the only website that will actually give you your correct credit report for free every twelve months. There are other websites and advertisements saying that they can get you this report or score for free, when really they will charge you a fee.

You should not have to enter a credit card or debit card number to access your credit report. If they are asking for this information, know that you will be charged a fee to view your report. Stay away from these scams and report them to the government to ensure that they will be eliminated from the credit reporting market.