When was the last time you requested a credit report? You should request a copy of your credit report periodically and review it for accuracy. Most experts recommend an annual review. There are three principal credit reporting agencies and you are entitled to free credit report from them each year. What I do is every four months I request a free report from a different bureau. That way I can find any mistakes that might affect my credit score. If you do find something wrong it’s up to you to contact the bureau and clear it up.
If you have been denied credit in the past 60 days, the credit reporting agency that sent the report to your prospective creditor must provide you with a copy of the report for free. However, it will not be sent to you automatically. You must request it from them.
Below are the three credit reporting agencies:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
www.equifax.com
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013
www.experian.com
TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022
www.transunion.com
Be aware of web sites that ask you to pay a few for your credit report. You can get your free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. There you can order free reports from all three of the bureaus (or if you’d rather you can call, toll-free 877-322-8228). Be careful because there are other sites with similar sounding names, like Freecreditreport.com, that attract customers with the promise of a free report but then push fee-based services like identity theft insurance or credit monitoring at a monthly cost that can range from $9.95 to $29.95! The credit bureau sites also try to sell you these services.
You may decide to purchase these services, monitoring does alert you to unusual activity on your credit report but you can also uses your credit reports and do your own monitoring.
Keeping an eye on your finances is a good idea and requesting your free credit report is a good place to start.
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