credit report.com scam
credit report.com scam
There is a lot of misleading information available today, especially online, regarding getting access to your credit report. Some of this misleading information is the product of the credit reporting agencies themselves, which are for-profit entities. There are also many independent companies that will obtain your credits reports for you, for a hefty fee.
If you are an American citizen (or resident) then you can get a copy of your credit report for free. Living in the United States entitles you to a free copy of your credit report under certain circumstances as provided for in two laws that were passed by the federal government.
In 2003 congress passed the Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). In essence what this law says is that every person in the US is entitled to a free copy of their credit report every year. FACTA also required the creation of an official website to make it easier to request and obtain a free copy of your credit report. You can also phone or mail your request for a free credit report. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com to request yours.
The second relevant law is the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This law has been amended several times since it was originally passed in 1970, but still provides several opportunities to receive free credit reports. By this law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you have been denied credit, employment, insurance, or any government benefit due to credit related problems. You may also receive a free copy if you have been denied housing because of your credit score, are unemployed, are on public assistance, or if you believe your report has been the victim of fraud.
Between these two options, there is virtually no need to purchase a report. However, your credit score is not necessarily included and even if a score is provided, this may not be your FICO score, but the result of some other scoring scheme. In general, to obtain your scores, you may have to provide a small fee.
Although most businesses offering to obtain your credit report are scams meant to take advantage of people unaware of their rights, some credit monitoring services may be useful. These usually monitor your credit report and score on a monthly or quarterly basis, alerting you of changes and problems as well as recommending measure to help improve your score.
If your credit is perfect and you dont plan to apply for credit, you may have no need for such a service. However, if you would like to optimize your score in advance of applying for a major loan or are working on credit repair, these services may be useful.
About the Author:
Wendy Polisi is the founder of CreditRepairCollege and Finance the Dream. Finance the Dream is the nations leading provider of rent to own houses,offering homes in all 50 states. For more information on credit repair please visit her at CreditRepairCollege.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Now You Can Have Your Credit Report Free
