Americans can get a free credit report every week from each of the three nationwide bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, a pandemic measure made permanent in September 2023. The FTC says AnnualCreditReport.com is the only site authorized to fill orders for these reports.
How to Order Your Free Credit Report Safely
Federal law has long guaranteed one free credit report every twelve months from each of the three nationwide bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Weekly free access began as a temporary pandemic measure in April 2020 and the bureaus made it permanent in September 2023. The Federal Trade Commission notes that only one site, AnnualCreditReport.com, is authorised to fill orders for the free reports the law entitles you to. Phone and postal options exist if online identity verification fails. You should not need to supply a credit card to obtain a report through the official channel.
A report is not a score. The reports available through this route contain the underlying account and payment history data and do not include a credit score, which lenders and free services supply separately. What the data shows is what actually matters, because landlords, insurers and employers may rely on it. Pull all three, since each bureau collects information differently and an error frequently appears on one report and not the others. Read for accounts you do not recognise, incorrect balances or payment statuses, duplicate collections, unfamiliar inquiries and personal information errors.
If you find a mistake, the FTC advises disputing it with both the credit bureau reporting the information and the creditor that furnished it, and each bureau must be contacted separately. Unrecognised accounts can indicate identity theft, in which case IdentityTheft.gov provides a recovery plan and a credit freeze is worth considering. Keeping dated copies of each report makes it far easier to document what changed after a dispute.
References:
– Federal Trade Commission, Free Credit Reports, consumer.ftc.gov
– Federal Trade Commission, Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports
– AnnualCreditReport.com, official service
– Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint portal, consumerfinance.gov/complaint
Source: Federal Trade Commission
