Equifax apparently makes it more difficult to obtain a second free report per year for the reasons specified in FCRA as well. I just ordered Experian's over the phone easily, and Transunion I obtained easily as well, but Equifax requires you to submit a request by mail, along with photocopies of IDs, utility bills, etc etc. And they do not allow a free trial or $1 report like the other 2. Seems to be the least consumer friendly of the CRA's.
edit: I take back that last particular gripe about EQ, I was able to download my Equifax fcra-mandated free 2nd annual report when I tried again. I must have answered one of their security questions wrong the first time around.
Although now I have a new gripe, I have a student loan that is 50% paid off (1800 from an original 3500), and Equifax lists it as an installment loan that is 1800/3500 and 61% utilized, which hurts my debt to credit ratio... what? ... I hope lenders are looking only at utilization of revolving accounts, bec this makes no sense, student loans are the second largest debt category in the US, how could they be reporting them as installment loans... someone with 40,000 high balance who just got out of school and has no credit cards could be at 99% debt to credit ratio...
