How to Get Your Credit Report for Free (All 3 Bureaus)

Whether you're applying for a loan, mortgage or are just getting ahead of the financial game it is always smart to look at your credit report.  I have much critique of our government but this is one specific area that I really appreciate.

You can obtain, review and download your full credit report from all three bureaus (Transunion, Experian and Equifax) once a year for free here.

When I say free. I mean completely FREE. No catches, no bait and switch and nothing hidden. You will need information on yourself (social security number) and they will ask some identifying questions such as: “which of these street names is associated with you.” It is all pretty basic information and questions you can answer for yourself.

Here are some of the benefits/information about pulling your credit report once a year:

• A Federal Trade Commission (Study) found that one in four people found errors in their reports that could have an effect on their credit score¹.
  • That means twenty-five percent of people found some type of error. That is quite a lot!
• Being proactive saves the stress of being reactive
  • Going through the process of any loan can be tiresome. I recently applied to refinance my home through a comparison site and receive a total of 15 calls within an hour. I received twenty calls that first day! Anyhow, that car you are hoping to buy, finance and drive home today may be completely halted because there is a substantial mistake on your credit report.
    • I speak on this because a co-worker of mine applied for a car loan and receive an interest rate many percentage points higher than he thought. He was then informed by the car salesman that his credit score was in the low 600s. My coworker was completely shocked by this. Upon pulling his credit report he saw a delinquent mortgage and here's the kicker. The mortgage was for a different person, in a different state with whom he had no relation. The first three digits of their social security numbers were the same. What a mistake! All in all being proactive can save lots of heartache for you.
• If you do indeed find an inaccuracy you can (and should) dispute it
  • The process is quite easy on the link above. It will give you a link next to each item and hit dispute to start the process. The creditor/lender has thirty days to respond. If they do not it is most likely the item in question will fall off leaving you with (perhaps) a higher credit score.

Happy report reading!

[wbcr_snippet]: PHP snippets error (not passed the snippet ID)

¹https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2013/02/ftc-study-five-percent-consumers-had-errors-their-credit-reports