Consumers use the Federal Trade Commission as a sounding board for their complaints. A few years ago, many consumers saw an advertisement for a free credit report and then got stuck paying a monthly fee for a service, and the FTC received a high number of complaints. As a result, the Fair Credit Reporting Act was changed so that consumers can receive a free credit report from TransUnion, Experian, and Eqiufax each, the three national consumer reporting agencies, annually.

There are many websites that advertise free credit reports if you agree to test out their services. The only place online where you can find a truly free credit report is the American government's website, www.annualcreditreport.com. You can apply for you free credit report online, by phone, or by mail.

Although these credit reports that have been apportioned for consumers by the federal government are completely free to use, a rather large number of consumers fail to avail themselves of this service. Since it does take some time to fill out a request form and send it in, some people don't want to take the time to do it. Other people, though, simple are not aware that they can get a credit report for free.

In order to stay on top of your credit, you should get a credit report once every four months. This schedule works out well with the arrangement that has been established by the US government. Since each of the three national credit reporting agency is required by federal law to give consumers a free credit report once a year, you can request one from each agency every four months and thus maintain a watchful eye on your credit without having to pay anything.

Keep in mind, however, that these credit report agencies are not going to send you a free credit report without at least trying to get you to spend some money on other services that they offer to consumers. They will offer you such non-essential services as monthly credit monitoring and a credit score.

Knowing your credit score is not necessary if all you want to do is check on your credit history. It is good to know, however, if you are interested in applying for a loan sometime soon. If your credit score shows up low for some reason, you will be able to prepare an explanation to the loan officer that you will speak to regarding why your credit score was low and what you have done to change your financial situation.

If you are worried about identity theft or have a spouse (or ex-spouse) that is wreaking havoc with your credit history, then it might be a good move to spend a little on the credit watch that is available.

There really are free credit reports available to you right now. The centralized annualcreditreport.com will give you the information that you need at a price anyone can afford.