Although you may have seen the phrase “free credit report” many times on websites, but is it really free? Well, the answer is yes, and no.
Get your free credit report copy
First of all, if you want to get the official free credit report, you must go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the address of the legitimate, federally backed credit reporting service that entitles consumers to order a free credit report from the 3 credit reporting bureaus once every 12 months. You can get the free credit report without any credit card.
Get the credit score from all three credit reports
It is possible to order each report separately, from the 3 credit report bureaus throughout the year, or order all 3 at once. Ordering all 3 together is recommended as the credit bureaus are notorious for reporting different information, and it’s better to have all the credit scores as banks, lenders, and other creditors take the median score of all three.
free credit report agencies
There are many free credit report agencies in the market as well. Majority of them are backed by the 3 credit bureaus, including Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.
Experian’s credit report
All of them offer free credit reports, but do be careful, as there are a few catches. For example, Experian offers a free credit report for 30 days with a money-back guarantee, assuming you cancel within the first 30 days. But if you don’t cancel, they will charge $9.95 a month for enrollment in their credit reporting program.
Transunion and Equifax
Transunion offers the same as Experian, having the same fee, and Equifax offers the score watch for $7.95 a month, and a gold service for $12.95 a month.
Basically, all these paid credit report services are the same. You can get a credit report from all of them each month that may be updated weekly. They also offer credit tools to dispute any lates or collections.
It is wise never to pay for a credit report until you order your free copy first. You can always sign up for one of the three bureaus free credit reports, and then close your account within 30 days assuming they have a 30-day money back guarantee.
