You Are Entitled to a Free Copy of Your Credit Reports

Under federal law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit reports once a year, from each of the three major reporting agencies.

For information on how to obtain your free credit reports, go to www.ftc.gov.

That page contains a link to the officially authorized site sponsored by the three major reporting agencies shown below.

By using the officially-sanctioned site, and linking to it from the Federal Trade Commission site, you can be sure your personal information is secure. Beware copycat sites or similar-sounding website names. For your security, be sure to link through the FTC site using the link above.

You may also request your annual credit report by phone, by calling 1-877-322-8228. There is a verification process, and your reports will be mailed within 15 days.

If you prefer to request your credit report by mail, you may download the request form, print and complete it, and then mail it to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box. 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

You are entitled to one free report each year from each of the three agencies. You can order them all at once if you like, so that you can compare the information contained on them. Most likely, it will vary slightly.

Or, you can order one every four months, and keep an ongoing watch on your credit report to see what changes have been made, or additional information added since the previous report.

Unfortunately, the free credit report does not include your credit score (also known as a FICO score), which you must purchase. When you order your free annual credit report through the web site above, you will have the option to purchase your credit score at that time, or you may contact the agencies directly to purchase your credit score.

The three major credit reporting agencies are:

Equifax
P.O. Box 10573
Atlanta, GA 30348
1-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

Experian
P.O. Box 949
Allen, TX 75013-0949
1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com

TransUnion Corporation
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064-0390
1-800-916-8800
www.transunion.com