Can You Really Get a Free Credit Report?

By law, all United States citizens are allowed to get a copy of their credit report for free every 12 months. Once this was established, though, many companies like FreeCreditReport.com started taking advantage of the unsuspecting public. When you go to those sites and subscribe to your free credit report, you are in reality subscribing to a service that monitors your credit and notifies you of changes. This is a good service, if that's what you're looking for. Most people don't realize that they're going to be signed up for a $19.99 recurring subscription to be able to access the credit report that they are told is supposed to be free.

If you're one of those people who got sucked in, then you're not alone. There is a website, though, that is the official location for your free annual credit report. The site is AnnualCreditReport.com. If you go to this site, then you are allowed free access to your credit report every 12 months. This is the website that was established in response to the law that was mentioned before, granting you access to your credit report for FREE every year. There are no hidden charges here, and you won't be surprised with any monthly fees. It's free, just like it's supposed to be.

Once you get access to your reports, be sure to print them out so you can review them for problems. There are so many companies reporting to each of the 3 credit bureaus, that it's very likely you will have a mistake or 12 in your report. Be sure to mark all mistakes, then you can begin the process of disputing them. Each credit bureau has a link on their website that allows you to submit a dispute. The process is fairly straight-forward, and easy to get through. After you submit your disputes, then you simply sit back and wait for a response. The companies have 30 - 45 days to respond to your dispute, so you won't have to wait too long to see the results.