U.S. Govt. Stipulates Free Annual Credit Reports 404
alue writes "Under the terms of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, passed last year, and amid growing concerns over privacy and disclosure of sensitive financial data, the three leading credit reporting agencies must provide consumers with a free summary once a year of all credit information on file for that person. Consumers in 13 Western states will be able to grab free online copies of their credit reports starting Wednesday."
Will you be able to fix errors for free? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is once a year really enough to make a differen (Score:4, Informative)
Should I order all my credit file disclosures at one time or space them out over 12 months?
You are entitled to receive one free credit file disclosure every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies through the Central Source. It is entirely your choice whether you order all three credit file disclosures at the same time or order one now and others later. The advantage of ordering all three at the same time is that you can compare them. (However, you will not be eligible for another free credit file disclosure from the Central Source for 12 months.) On the other hand, the advantage of ordering one now and others later (for example, one credit file disclosure every four months) is that you can keep track of any changes or new information that may appear on your credit file disclosure. Remember, you are entitled to receive one free credit file disclosure through the Central Source every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - so if you order from only one company today you can still order from the other two companies at a later date.
Wonderful! (Score:5, Informative)
Here's their general contact info:
Equifax (800) 685-1111
P.O. Box 740243, Atlanta, GA 30374
Experian (888) 397-3742
P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013-3742
Trans Union (800) 916-8800
P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022
Also, if you want to opt-out those pre-approved credit solicitations, you can call (888) 567 8688 or contact the above parties by mail (make sure you reference your name, address, and SSN).
Equifax Inc.
Options
P.O. Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123
Experian
Consumer Opt-Out
901 West Bond
Lincoln, NE 68521
Trans Union LLC
Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS 39288-7328
That being said, you should have been checking your credit once a year or so to make sure there's no mistakes. If you're buying a house in the next year, check now for any mistakes. They can take a looong time to fix.
In some places you can do this now! (Score:4, Informative)
What does that mean? (Score:1, Informative)
AnnualCreditReport.com is the only web source authorized by all three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies from which free annual credit file disclosures can be requested.
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However.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Will you be able to fix errors for free? (Score:5, Informative)
Looks like a phishing attempt to me, too... (Score:4, Informative)
The registar is shielded by Domains-by-proxy. There's no reason to do that for a REAL credit check site. Also, there's no SSL certificate.
Re:Will you be able to fix errors for free? (Score:3, Informative)
two of the big three have an online option to dispute. You send them the corrections and they look into it and respond back.
I had on one of them something from some agency that I had no idea what it was ($160), they also had an alias/address of some random guy in California (where I never lived). So I clicked the is not me radio button and wrote in explanation "This company never called me, I don't know who they are and received no contact from them in any form".
I got a reply in 2 weeks that said it was deleted, and received a new report in the mail to verify it.
Re:US Govt. and a good idea in the same story? (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think there is any EU-wide law on this. In the UK however, you can get your credit reports for a statutory £2 fee and have been able to for some years.
How much did it used to cost in the US?
Score Is Important, Too (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Score goes down when you request a report. (Score:2, Informative)
I don't think this is quite true. I think that your credit rating is only affected by potential creditors looking at your credit report at your request. The reason it goes down is because most potential creditors will be concerned if you are looking to take on substantial debt in addition to the loan that they are offering you.
When a credit card company checks your report to "pre-approve" you or when you request one yourself that is categorized differently and should not affect your credit rating.
Re:Is once a year really enough to make a differen (Score:5, Informative)
I recently went through some hassles trying to clear a delinquent account off my credit report. The thing is, this delinquent account was only reported by two of the three agencies. In fact, each of the agencies listed a different current address for me (former military, so I moved a fair amount), as well as slightly different account information.
If you find a discrepancy on your credit report, the first thing you need to get is evidence - preferably in the form of a letter or statement from the company making the negative report. Put that together with a letter giving an explanation of the situation. It's not a bad idea to put your last two addresses in addition to your current address, in notes at the bottom of the letter. Send copies of this to all three agencies (details can be found at their individual websites).
After a week or two processing time, the credit agencies will send you a written reply telling you the results of your challenge. Included with this will be an *updated copy* of your credit report detailing the changes that have been made.
One other thing to keep in mind when working with your credit: feel free to challenge something even if you know it's a legitimate negative item. If you tell the credit companies "No, I didn't bounce that check three years ago.", they have to attempt to contact the bank that claims you did. If that bank does not respond within a set time period (I believe it's 30 days, but I would have to double check), the negative item is wiped off your record.
Finally... bad credit items stay on your report for *SEVEN YEARS*. All you college students keep this in mind. Additionally, a good number of companies are doing credit checks as part of their interview process nowadays. It's also required if you're going to get a security clearance from the US Government.
Transplant
Disclaimer: I am not a credit counselor, nor do I work for any financial institutions. So, double check what I've just said before you take it as fact.
Re:Now my question is.. (Score:5, Informative)
I just went through the process (Score:5, Informative)
0) The idea is that you give the annualcreditreport.com's site your details, and then go back and forth between there and the three reporting agencies' websites. This worked pretty well. They have an interesting security feature where the site only works if you type the URL directly or the referrer is one of the 3 credit agencies.
1) Experian's site was broken --- it reported an error, but I bet the annualcreditreport.com now thinks I've used up my 1 free report with them anyway.
2) They don't give you your FICO score (the number summarizing your creditworthiness), but offer to sell it to you for 5 or 6 bucks, instead.
3) The sites do basically the same things, but the contrasts in processing and reporting styles between Equifax and TransUnion (Experian he broken, remember) are interesting:
* Equifax asked me a trick security question to verify my identity: "You may have a mortgage from January 2001 -- Which of the following is the monthly payment?" The answer for me was 'None of the above' as I don't have a mortgage from then. But it scared the shit out of me when I saw the question! Talk about identity theft!
* Transunion makes you establish a login name / password / reminder question + email contact, and tries to sneak in a spam newsletter. Equifax doesn't do this.
* Both sites try hard to get you to buy your FICO score.
* Transunion's report presents its information better than Equifax's.
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Grab free online copies of OTHERS' credit repor (Score:5, Informative)
When I requested my credit reports before I got married they asked some questions that even I had problems answering. An example of a few I remember are: You currently have a student loan issued by which of the following banks? Bank A. Bank B. Bank C. None of the Above. Or another was What was the address you lived at when you received credit card XXXX?
These are good questions and I'm sure they've gove through a lot of work try and figure out how to ensure your credit report only goes to the appropriate person. While there are reasons to be leary of the credit reporting industry this is NOT one of them.
Re:Now my question is.. (Score:4, Informative)
Only living in certian states entitled you receive a free report anually or semi-anually. If you lived outside one of those states, you either had to pay for it, go to a "free" credit reporting site that would give you one free in order to hook you on their credit monitoring service, or request a free report under one of the following conditions:
- Been denied credit
- Had a collection agency state that their credit rating may be affected by a collection,
- Unemployeed and intend to be employeed within 60 days of making the request (1 time/year)
- recipient of public welfare assistance (1 time/year)
- Beleive the file contains inaccurate information (1 time/year) but if there is inaccurate information, you can request a 2nd one to confirm it has been removed
The maximum the big 3 can charge for a credit report directly is $8. This likely will get you a fairly raw report but is still fairly easy to understand. Services that charge more are just profiting from you in exchange for making them a little easier to read.
You are right that it's bad to apply for credit in order to get the free report as it does count against you. However, you are incorrect that you should apply for credit all at once as there is a cap on the number of hits.
Applying for mortgages and car loans only count as 1 hit within a 30- or 60-day time frame, so it's good advice to apply at several different places to compare rates and terms. However, each seperate other applicaiton of credit, say for credit cards or store financing offers, count as sperate hits. Doing too many will add up and I don't beleive there is a limit on the number of those hits.
Mostly unnessecary (Score:5, Informative)
If the govt really wanted to do something meaningful, they would stop employers from pulling credit reports for employee candidates. It's truly unfair for anonymous HR wankers to evaluate the worth of a candidate based on credit scores, scores that can be ruined by illness, theft, unemployment, or a former spouse. Many talented, hard-working IT professionals have been unemployed for long stretches.
All of this personal information floating around contributes to identity theft as well.
Re:Grab free online copies of OTHERS' credit repor (Score:5, Informative)
Start with your SSN, home address, phone number, etc. After authenticating all of that information you will get probably five questions like the following:
In October 2001, a request to open a loan was made by Toyota Financial Services, how much is this payment each month for this loan
A. 200.27 - 224.56
B. 235.57 - 260.01
C. 265.33 - 290.17
D. 315.29 - 327.89
E. I do not have an account with this institution
Now when I go through it, I have to pull my bills to answer all the questions . This is one of the things that the bureaus have been good at in terms of enforcing security by putting these questions to the person requesting their credit file.
Already got mine -- and a tip for those East of AZ (Score:2, Informative)
Hint: your state is self reporting. I mean, just because my last address on file is Texas doesn't mean I'm NOT from California, does it? (*Cough*)
Re:Now my question is.. (Score:2, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:2, Informative)
Credit advice (Score:4, Informative)
Why Asking for Credit Reports Can Be Bad (Score:3, Informative)
The Big Three do not distinguish between you asking for your credit report and anyone else asking for it (please note, I do not mean this in a privacy sense, only in an actuarial sense). They keep track of how many times a credit report on you is requested. As you may know, some of these are legitimate and some are less so -- but it's not really up to the Big Three (Experian, Equifax, Trans Union) to decide what's a legit request and what's not -- they just process the requests. Reports are requested for virtually every major financial transaction you engage in, including rent, mortgage, credit cards, department store cards, opening a bank account, etc. Ultimately, the theory goes, it's your credit, so it's your responsibility to maintain it.
Credit ratings are based on actuarial tables (just like insurance policy rates). There's a whole industry based on creating formulas and algorithms designed to determine within a certain statistical variation how likely you are to be a good credit risk (ie, pay back the loan with interest) or a bad credit risk (ie, default on the loan). Some of the determining factors for these are income, age, residence, length of current job, whether you rent or own a home, etc. In short, they're trying to figure out how stable you are.
If you apply for a lot of credit cards, though, that's a very, very major red flag -- short of bankruptcy, it's probably the biggest red flag they have. That implies that (a) you're trying to live way beyond your means through credit, (b) you're trying to pay off almost-defaulted credit cards with other credit card loans, or (c) everyone keeps turning you down for loans. Any or all of those are Very Bad Things for a legitimate credit agency, and as chum is to sharks for credit scam artists.
All of which says that you requesting a credit report on yourself several times a year can start to push you into higher risk categories, since they don't really distinguish between you asking and someone else. In addition, there may well be an actuarial calculation that says that people who request their report constantly are bad credit risks, because they have some need to do so (as opposed to being mildly paranoid and/or financially sound).
I would hope that any legislation calls upon the actuaries to change their rating tables so that personal credit requests are eliminated from consideration, but AFAIK that's not Congress's bailiwick. Since the tables are all determined by private industry consortiums, I don't think Congress can actually mandate a change in them -- but I could be wrong about that.
credit scores used everywhere (Score:4, Informative)
There is a scary practice called "universal default". One bad glitch in one credit account can be used to restrict credit in many other accounts, even though you didnt abuse those accounts.
I doomed now that I turned in my library books late last week !!!
Re:did anyone who voted this informative check it? (Score:5, Informative)
Equifax contact information [equifax.com]
Experian has the same info [experian.com] that I had to google for, it was not in the main "Contact Us" area.
You make a valid point, however.
Re:presumably because (Score:5, Informative)
Opt Out
888-567-8688
I did this about a year ago and it stopped the offers cold. It's a single-point where you can tell all four credit reporting agencies to stop giving your data to direct marketers.
But don't take my word for it, put the phone number in Google and read all about it.
Re:Why Asking for Credit Reports Can Be Bad (Score:4, Informative)
Bzzt. Wrong. The credit agencies distinguish between a credit report pulled from the consumer versus a creditor. Futhermore, creditors that pull your report for 'promotional' reasons such as determining eligibility for 'pre-approved' credit cards don't count either.
Let me quote from Experian site: http://www.experian.com/credit_score_basics/credi
'Certain types of inquiries (requests for your credit report). The score does not count "consumer disclosure inquiry" requests you have made for your credit report in order to check it. It also does not count "promotional inquiry" requests made by lenders in order to make a "pre-approved" credit offer - or "account review inquiry" requests made by lenders to review your account with them. Finally, inquiries for employment purposes are not counted.'
Improvement? (Score:2, Informative)
Consider this: if there is incorrect information in your credit report, it is up to you to find that out, and persue action in order to get it corrected. The burden of proof is squarely on your shoulders- you are in effect guilty until you prove yourself to be innocent. In addition, I (a blood-sucking lawyer, I'm ashamed to admit) have found with several of my clients that only the legitimate threat of legal action moves these monolithic companies to get things changed, even when a preponderance of evidence shows that the information in the report is incorrect.
Ultimately, I believe that the system is broken, and nothing short of a wholesale reworking of the laws surrounding debt collection, and debt collection agencies will fix this problem. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was a good start, but there needs to be more done in order to protect Joe and Jane Consumer.
Re:Will you be able to fix errors for free? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Will you be able to fix errors for free? (Score:3, Informative)
(from lowest to highest)
1. Email
2. Fax / Mail.
3. Phone.
4. In person.
8 times out of 10, someone's not going to ignore a simple request if you are standing there waving sheets of paper at them.
Dispute. (Score:1, Informative)
I bought a car, had it two days before it blew up and got it checked out. They filled up holes in the engine with clay. I sent it back and filled out some paperwork cancelling all that jazz. That was 5 years ago and it's on my credit, that and a CC that had my name on it due to the fact I was a contracter and needed my name on the company card to use it. They go out of business and stick that on my report too.
My advice is to wait the 7 years for it to go bye bye if you can and don't want to pay for it. If you dispute it your credit rating is effectively 0 until the dispute is settled, and that could take over a year. My credit score is 770 and I can't even get a gas card now that I'm waiting for this. And they even mailed all the paperwork to an address I haven't lived at for 4 years. If I didn't dispute it I would have good enough credit for almost anything even with $14000 dollars of debt, 90% of which is fraudulent. Only 16 months to go.
Transunion puts you through to that site (Score:3, Informative)
This is why Slashdot can't link directly to them but certain companies like Transunion can. If you type in the name of the domain yourself then link scams don't work so a signed SSL isn't an issue.
Also, once I hit the sign up area it went to a secure connection without any warnings. I don't bother with a sign cert for my web-mail and am warned when I access it through SSL.
So you're pretty much wrong about everything and the moderators didn't bother to verify your claims before they wasted their mod points on you.
Re:Now my question is.. (Score:2, Informative)
When we applied for a home loan three years ago, our Fair Isaac score (? - might have been a generic score) was reduced about 10 or 20 points for "excessive credit report requests" or some such. Probably related to background checks from all the different employers I have contracted for. Out broker said our score was high enough that it didn't matter, and we refinanced anyway a shot time later.
Offtopic: Since nearly everyone on
actually you can get it from experian online, free (Score:3, Informative)
in addition to requesting your report over the phone as mandated by law, if you live in one of the required free report states (not the new credit act western states, but CO, GA, MD, MA, NJ, VT), you can view yours instantly online:
http:/www.experian.com/freestate link [experian.com]