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Order Your Free Credit Report ... Before You Need Credit
If you’ve never seen your credit report, here’s
why you should.
The
Federal Trade Commission reports that teens and adults younger than
age 29 are the No. 1 target of identity thieves and make up almost
one-third of the 10 million victims annually. Face it—crooks target
you because you probably don’t check your credit report.
Why should I care about looking at my credit report?
If you’re a
victim of ID theft, you’ll probably find at least one fraudulent account
in your name. Did you really take out a loan in Alaska for $10,000?
If not, you’ll have to contact the creditor and credit bureau to get it
corrected. It’s your responsibility to correct errors—no one will
do this
for you. By the way, information on your report will affect your credit
score, which lenders use to determine your interest rate on loans and
other forms of credit. If you have a low score, you may be denied
credit, or you’ll pay a much higher interest rate. That’ll cost you
in
the long run.
Will I receive a credit score with this free report?
Unfortunately,
no. For a small fee you can request a score that will range from 300
to 850. The higher the score, the better.
How often can I request a free credit
report?
You can order one
free report per year from each of the credit report agencies—Experian,
Equifax, and TransUnion. Here’s a tip: Stagger your requests. Order
one report from Experian now, in four months get a free report from
Equifax, and four months from then get a free report from TransUnion.
Next year, start over.
Will requesting a free credit report hurt my credit score?
No— only authorized inquiries when you’re applying for credit have the
potential to lower your credit score. This means that filling out a
credit card application before every basketball game—just to get a
free T-shirt—actually will lower your credit score.
Why would I not request a free credit
report?
Good question. There’s no good
reason why you shouldn’t order your credit
report.
Go to:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
It
only takes a couple of minutes to fill out
and it’s free. Or call 877-322-8228 to
order the reports.