Where do you find soft pulls?

[iv]

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@Anonymous wrote:

And also, as I said earlier, you may be lucky enough to live in a state that permits extra free reports.  Last I heard they were Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont.

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Yup.  And others have discounted fees for reports.

This is a copy of the current EQ version of the chart:

State	First Copy	Per Additional Copy (within one calendar year)
California	$8.00*	$8.00
Colorado	Free	$8.00
Connecticut	$5.00*	$7.50 for each additional report within 12 months
Georgia	Free (2 free per calendar year)	$11.50
Maine	Free	$5.00 for each additional report within 12 months
Maryland	Free	$5.00
Massachusetts	Free	$8.00
Minnesota	$3.00*	$11.50 for each additional report within 12 months
Montana	$8.50*	$8.50
New Jersey	Free	$8.00
Puerto Rico	Free	$11.50
US Virgin Islands	$1.00*	$1.00
Vermont	Free	$7.50 for each additional report within 12 months
All other states	$11.50	$11.50
Unemployed	Free**	1 within 12 months, fee as per state thereafter
Welfare	Free**	1 within 12 months, fee as per state thereafter

*If you have been denied credit, insurance, change in credit limit, or other credit-based benefit within the last 60 days, you are entitled by law to one free copy of your credit file per calendar year. If you have recently placed an initial 90 day fraud alert on the file, you are entitled to one free credit file. If you have recently placed an extended seven-year alert, you are entitled to two free credit files within 12 months.

**You are entitled to one free credit file during any 12-month- period regardless of your state of residence if:

• Unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days
• Receiving public welfare assistance
• You believe you may be a victim of fraud

(These are all in addition to the annualcreditreport.com copies.)

[iv]

Oh, and the direct links to each CRA's pages for getting and/or buying these:

Equifax

Experian

TransUnion

[Anonymous]

Hey iv!  Great stuff.

BTW, do you happen to know whether all CRAs (apart from the Big Three) give extra free copies of their reports to people in the lucky 7 states?  I am thinking here of CRAs like ChexSystems and Early Warning Services, but also LexisNexis, etc.

The only reason that the EQ, TU, and EX give free reports to those states is because state law forces them to.  And if it forces those three, wouldn't it likely be binding on all CRAs?  Curious to hear from someone who knows the answer for sure.

I live in GA and open a fair number of bank accounts, so being able to check my CS and EWS three times a year would be nice.

[iv]

I can only speak personally for NJ, but yes! (with an $8 cap on costs for reports beyond the ACR and state free ones)

ftp://www.njleg.state.nj.us/19961997/PL97/172_.pdf

"Consumer reporting agency" means any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages, in whole or in part, in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties, and which uses any means or facility for the purpose of preparing or furnishing consumer reports.

[...]

a consumer reporting agency may impose a reasonable charge on a consumer for:
(1) making a disclosure to the consumer pursuant to section 7 of this act if the request is the second or subsequent request in a 12-month period of time and is not made pursuant to subsection b. of this section; the charge for this disclosure shall not exceed $8 and shall be indicated to the consumer before making the disclosure;

Looks like the same thing does apply to GA - and you get the 2x state-mandated copies. Nice. (Although no state cap on fees for reports beyond those)

http://consumer.georgia.gov/pdf/FBPA_2009_short_unannotated.pdf

"Consumer reporting agency" or "agency" means any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties.

[...] 

Each consumer reporting agency which compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nation-wide basis shall furnish to any consumer who has provided appropriate verification of his or her identity two complete consumer reports per calendar year, upon request and without charge;

[Anonymous]

Woo-hoo!  Thanks.