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Your credit reports are a detail criminal record of your past function of credit — but they do not include your credit score. NerdWallet offers a free credit score and report, update weekly using TransUnion data. Checking your score does not damage your credit. hera ’ s how to use AnnualCreditReport.com.
1. Go to the correct site
first, make certain you ’ re on the right web site : AnnualCreditReport.com. Some early sites have similar-sounding names. The one you want looks like this :
2. Enter your personal information
You ‘ll need your name, Social Security number, address and birthdate. This, along with other personal data, will be matched against files for recognition.
3. Request a credit report or reports
You can ordering your reports from one, two or all three of the major credit chest of drawers : Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
4. Successfully answer security questions
For each report request, you ’ ll be asked a few questions about your finances that presumably merely you can answer — for example, the estimate amount of your mortgage payment or who holds your car loanword and when you took it out. Some consumers have reported difficulty using the locate, particularly answering security questions about accounts that are respective years erstwhile. If you can ’ triiodothyronine recall those details, you can request your reports by mail or earphone ; this procedure doesn ’ thymine require security system questions.
5. Generate your credit report online
You can save reports to your desktop or print them out therefore you ’ ll have access later. If you need to request a report or reports by chain mail, send a request form to : annual Credit Report Request Service P.O. Box 105281 Atlanta, GA 30348-5281 Your report or reports should be sent within 15 business days. You can besides get your credit reports by calling 877-322-8228. visually mar consumers can besides call this number to request audio, large-print or Braille reports.
6. Read your reports and fix errors
Read your credit reports, looking for :
- Accounts that aren ’ triiodothyronine yours or you didn ’ metric ton empower .
- Incorrect, damaging data .
- damaging information that ’ s besides previous to be included. Most negative information, early than one type of bankruptcy, should be excluded after seven years .
These errors have the potential to hurt your credit score, says Chi Chi Wu, a staff lawyer with the National Consumer Law Center. You might see other types of errors, such as outdated employment information, she says, but those aren ’ t factored into your score. If you find errors, dispute them. The credit chest of drawers will investigate and must remove information that they can ’ metric ton control.
7. Monitor your credit regularly
Monitoring your scores and reports can tip you off to problems such as an overlook requital or identity larceny. It besides lets you track advancement on building your accredit. NerdWallet offers both a dislodge citation report card compendious and a dislodge credit sexual conquest, update hebdomadally. hera ’ s how the information you ’ ll get from AnnualCreditReport.com differs from what free personal finance sites may provide : AnnualCreditReport.com provides :
- Reports ( not scores )
- Data from all three major credit agency
- An extensive history of your credit use
personal finance websites, including NerdWallet, provide :
- credit scores, sometimes credit report information
- inexhaustible access
- Data from one or two credit agency
- A recent history of your credit use
- extra information about building and protecting your citation
frequently asked questions Is AnnualCreditReport.com condom ? AnnualCreditReport.com is authorized by federal law and safe to use — equally long as you ensure you ‘re on the chastise web site. Double-check the URL when you type it, to be certain you have not made a misprint. Some other sites have similar-sounding names, so check that the URL matches and the locate looks as expected. Be aware that your credit reports are complimentary, but credit chest of drawers besides use the AnnualCreditReport.com web site to sell credit scores and promote pay services, such as credit monitoring. however, monitoring doesn ’ t keep your identity from being stolen ; it just alerts you after the fact. For best protection, use a credit freeze. “ Just get your free credit report. Don ’ metric ton get suckered by the upsell, ” says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program conductor for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group . What do I get when I request reports ? Your creditors regularly report your account information, including payments, credit applications, the percentage of available citation you ’ re using and negative marks such as collections. The three agency build that data into the credit reports that you get from AnnualCreditReport.com. A credit report is not the lapp thing as a credit score. Your citation score is derived from some of the information in your credit reports. If you used the on-line portal site to access your reports, we suggest saving them as PDFs or printing them out. once you have them, read over them for mistakes . When should I get my reports from AnnualCreditReport.com ? Get all three credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com if you ’ ve never done sol or it ’ south been at least a year since the last time. It ‘s besides judicious to check them if you ‘ve received requital modifications or early relief, such as offered during the pandemic, and need to see whether creditors are reporting those accounts correctly. And if you ’ re about to apply for a bombastic lend, such as a mortgage, you should get and check your credit reports. That gives you a find to fix score-lowering problems before applying, giving you a better blastoff at blessing. Is AnnualCreditReport.com safe ?
AnnualCreditReport.com
is authorized by federal law and condom to use — ampere retentive as you ensure you ‘re on the right locate. Double-check the URL when you type it, to be certain you have not made a misprint. Some other sites have similar-sounding names, so check that the URL matches and the locate looks as expected. Be mindful that your credit reports are free, but credit agency besides use the AnnualCreditReport.com locate to sell accredit scores and promote pay services, such as citation monitor. however, monitoring doesn ’ t keep your identity from being stolen ; it fair alerts you after the fact. For best protection, use a credit freeze. “ Just get your spare credit report. Don ’ thyroxine catch suckered by the upsell, ” says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. What do I get when I request reports ? Your creditors regularly report your account information, including payments, credit applications, the percentage of available credit you ’ re using and negative marks such as collections. The three chest of drawers build that data into the credit reports that you get from AnnualCreditReport.com. A credit report is not the lapp thing as a credit score. Your credit score is derived from some of the information in your credit reports. If you used the on-line portal to access your reports, we suggest saving them as PDFs or printing them out. once you have them, read over them for mistakes. When should I get my reports from AnnualCreditReport.com ? Get all three credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com if you ’ ve never done so or it ’ s been at least a year since the final prison term.
It ‘s besides wise to check them if you ‘ve received payment modifications or other relief, such as offered during the pandemic, and need to see whether creditors are reporting those accounts correctly. And if you ’ re about to apply for a boastfully lend, such as a mortgage, you should get and check your credit reports. That gives you a prospect to fix score-lowering problems before applying, giving you a better snapshot at approval .
