Actually Free Credit Reports

You know those jingles for “FreeCreditReport.com,” with the guy singing about how he should have checked is credit? They’re great commercials, but it’s not a free credit report. It’s a 7-day free trial for a pretty expensive credit report.

Thankfully, though, if you want to know your credit standing, there is a truly free option: AnnualCreditReport.

AnnualCreditReport (ACR) is sponsored by three of the major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. It’s designed to give you an easy way to access all three of the credit reports, from one place, without having to input your information over and over.

When you get to the site, it asks for all the information it needs to get your information. You do need to provide your social security number, but as best I can tell it’s safe with ACR.

Once it gets your info, you’re transferred to the first of the three sites. You can see your credit information (once it asks a few questions to make sure you’re you), and go through your credit report. When you’re done, you click “Back to AnnualCreditReport.com” at the top, and you go back to the page with the three bureaus.

And repeat. You can go through all three free bureaus this way, and figure out what your credit history and prognosis really is. Have an outstanding issue? You’ll find it here.

Unfortunately, getting your score doesn’t seem to be a free option with any of these (is it?), but you can get a lot of information to figure out your score.

Also worth noting: it appears you can only request these reports every 12 months. Apparently this isn’t a site to spend lots of time on, just check it out and get out.

Identity theft and bad credit is a big deal, and it’s easy not to know about. With AnnualCreditReport, all it takes is a few minutes to see where you stand with the creditors of the world.

Check out AnnualCreditReport here.

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