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Annual free credit report

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HiLine
Blogger

Annual free credit report

Apparently you get a free report from each consumer reporting agency every 12 months, not calendar year, according to this page:

 

http://businessidtheft.org/Resources/PersonalCreditProtection/FreeAnnualCreditReport/tabid/108/Defau...

 

Can someone please verify this? 

Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Annual free credit report

Yes, it is truly free.

The free report requirement is set forth in the FCRA, and is once every 12 months.  It's a revolving window.

 

Unlike other commercial sites, annualcreditreport.com was established under approval of the FTC as the method for the big three CRAs to comply with the statutotory requirement.  Their reports tend to be more comprehensive than commercial credit reports, most likely due to ensuring they comply with the statutory mandate.

 

However, that is not to say that the site is totally non-commercial.  They also offer credit scores when you log in.

If not interested, you can simply check no, get your free report, and log off.

 

Message 2 of 9
BikerMama
Established Member

Re: Annual free credit report

Yes, I ran mine in December 2011 and was not able to run it again until December 2012.




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Message 3 of 9
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Annual free credit report

Message 4 of 9
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Annual free credit report

The FREE Credit Report's come from annualcreditreport.com. They tend to have more info on them than ones from a 3rd party. The Credit Reports from annualcreditreport.com, come directly from each of the CRA's. You can pull 1 Free Credit Report from TU, EQ and EX every 12 months.

Save your money and Don't Buy the Scores

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 5 of 9
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Annual free credit report


@webhopper wrote:

The FREE Credit Report's come from annualcreditreport.com. They tend to have more info on them than ones from a 3rd party. The Credit Reports from annualcreditreport.com, come directly from each of the CRA's. You can pull 1 Free Credit Report from TU, EQ and EX every 12 months.

Save your money and Don't Buy the Scores


Do you know if these free reports are the same ones sent to creditors when they pull from the CRA's? 

Message 6 of 9
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Annual free credit report


@HiLine wrote:

@webhopper wrote:

The FREE Credit Report's come from annualcreditreport.com. They tend to have more info on them than ones from a 3rd party. The Credit Reports from annualcreditreport.com, come directly from each of the CRA's. You can pull 1 Free Credit Report from TU, EQ and EX every 12 months.

Save your money and Don't Buy the Scores


Do you know if these free reports are the same ones sent to creditors when they pull from the CRA's? 


The information is the same...  creditors may want the report in a certain format, that is something that can be industry specific.  furthermore, the way they score your credit report can use an industry specific scoring model... such as an auto enhanced or credit card enhanced scoring model, which gives more weight to certain types of history on certain types of accounts.  Otherwise, yes, the information is the same..  formatting is not as important as the actual data itself

 

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 7 of 9
Shogun
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Annual free credit report

Actually it's more detailed then the ones that creditors can pull.  You can see the soft inquiries whereas the creditors cannot.

Starting Score: 504
July 2013 score:
EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!

June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
Message 8 of 9
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Annual free credit report


@webhopper wrote:

@HiLine wrote:

@webhopper wrote:

The FREE Credit Report's come from annualcreditreport.com. They tend to have more info on them than ones from a 3rd party. The Credit Reports from annualcreditreport.com, come directly from each of the CRA's. You can pull 1 Free Credit Report from TU, EQ and EX every 12 months.

Save your money and Don't Buy the Scores


Do you know if these free reports are the same ones sent to creditors when they pull from the CRA's? 


The information is the same...  creditors may want the report in a certain format, that is something that can be industry specific.  furthermore, the way they score your credit report can use an industry specific scoring model... such as an auto enhanced or credit card enhanced scoring model, which gives more weight to certain types of history on certain types of accounts.  Otherwise, yes, the information is the same..  formatting is not as important as the actual data itself

 


I asked that question because I know my annual free Equifax report contains more information than my Score Watch Power Report does, and was suspecting if there is yet another level of credit report that is even more detailed.

 

Thanks webhopper and Shogun for responding!  

Message 9 of 9
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