Credit is crucial to many lives irrespective of financial and income backgrounds. In order to borrow good credit will increase likelihood of qualifying to borrow money and receive low interest. So, that’s why it is better to monitor the status of your credit in order to review and monitor the credit report constantly.
Federal law liberalizes the free access to your credit reports from 3 major credit bureaus including Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. For liberalizing and more convenient credit purposes, the government introduced the AnnualCreditReport.com website. It is mandatory to register yourself here, a report which previously had been limited once a year- permanently available weekly to help consumers manage their finances.
How to Get and Use an Annual Credit Report
Getting an annual credit report is an important part of managing your financial health. Here are the steps which every credit reporters should follow;
1. Visit the official website
First and foremost things to get in the annual credit report is to visit the official website; AnnualCreditReport.com.
This is the only and foremost website authorized by federal law to provide you with a free annual credit report. From each of the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are included under this website.
2. Request your report
Once you visit the official website, then you need to click on the “Request your free credit reports” button. You can either request a report from all three companies simultaneously or order one at a time. After clicking the button you will be redirected to a page where you can start the process of obtaining your credit reports. Even if you received an annual credit report from one company, you can still request it from another agency or company with $ 13.50 charges.
3. Fill out the necessary information
It is very important to fill in all the vital information about yourself. It includes information about your name, address, present mailing address, social security number, previous mailing address and date of birth. This information is used to verify your identity. Additional information may be required to process your request, when a consumer credit report company will contact you by mail. Above information is very crucial while identifying you for the request process, omission of any details when filling by mail.
4. Choose which reports to request
Once you do the above procedures, then you have to pass a very important step that requests reports. While choosing the report, you have the option to request a report from one, two, or all three credit bureaus simultaneously or one by one. It is recommended to request reports from all three bureaus for a comprehensive view of your credit history. Or else a better strategy is to order one report at a time from a different company every four months.
5. Verify your identity
It is a security procedure which will ask for your additional questions to confirm your identity from the website. This is a security measure to ensure that your credit report is accessed only by you. It will also help to protect your credit history from errors and help you to spot signs of identity theft. Never forget to check information up to date, accurate and complete in every interval.
6. View and save your reports
After verifying the identity, you are eligible to view your credit reports from each credit bureaus through which you are made online. You can also choose to download and save the reports for your records in future references. If you want to request a report or reports by mail send a request form to;
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Your report should be sent within 15 business days. Or else you can also get your credit report by calling 877-322-8228.
7. Review your reports
It is very important to review your reports carefully before monitoring it. Accuracy is very important while reviewing the report and checking it properly. However check for any errors, discrepancies, or signs of identity theft.
8. Fix Errors
If you feel or find any inaccuracies on your credit reports, you have the right to dispute them with the credit bureaus. Majorly you have to look;
- Accounts that aren’t yours or you did not authorize.
- In corrective or false information.
- Negative information, other than one type of bankruptcy, should be excluded after 7 years.
Apart from that, you may see other types of errors such as out of date employment information. One of the fastest ways to file a dispute is online or also by calling the credit bureau or sending a credit dispute letter by mail. These bueauru will remove unnecessary information that they can’t verify.
9. Monitor your credit
Finally, monitoring your credit report regularly can help you to stay on top of your financial health and identity security. Monitoring credit scores and reports can reduce problems like identity theft or overlooked payments. Moreover it helps us track progress on building your credit. Consider setting reminders to request your free annual credit reports each year.
AnnualCreditReport.com help while monitoring credit scores;
- Reports
- Information from all three major credit bureaus.
- An extensive history of your credit history.
NerdWallet has;
- Unlimited access
- Data from one or two credit bureaus
- History of your credit use
- Perfect credit scores and credit report information.
Remember, as per law, you are eligible to get any one or all three free credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting agencies every 12 months. It is very important to carefully read the instructions or terms and conditions before purchasing it. Keep in mind that even other websites that claim to offer free credit reports but may require you to sign up for services or subscriptions. Be careful.
