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Looking at your own credit report triggers a soft inquiry, which doesn’t affect your credit score.
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You’re usually entitled to a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus, but until the end of 2023, you can get them weekly.
You should make all your credit report requests through AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.
You can also get a free credit report if you suspect your identity has been stolen or if your credit application has been denied.
If you’ve ever had a credit card or taken out a loan, you have a credit report.
Your credit report is your financial report card. It lists what loans and credit cards you have or have had in the past, how much money you owe on each, and whether you have paid those bills on time or late.
All those factors and more make up your credit score, a three-digit number between 300 and 850 that indicates how risky of a borrower you are (in keeping with the academic theme, this would be your grade point average).
When you apply for a new loan, credit card, or request a credit limit increase, the lender will take a look at your credit report. It’s important to check your report a few times a year to ensure the information is accurate. If something looks amiss, you could be a victim of identity theft.
How to get your free credit report
While your credit score is readily available from several sources including financial institutions, lenders, and third-party credit monitoring services, you will have to do a little more work for your credit report. You’re typically limited to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Until the end of 2023, you’re allowed those credit reports weekly as a result of the pandemic.
1. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228
You can only request your credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling the verified phone number 1-877-322-8228. If another source claims to have your credit report in exchange for personal information, it’s probably a fraud. When you go to the website, double-check to make sure you’re on the right page. Scam websites will try to dress their pages up to make them look legitimate.
Note: Requesting a credit report triggers a soft inquiry. These are credit checks that don’t affect your credit score and don’t show up when a lender pulls a hard inquiry on your credit.
2. Fill out the online submission form
If you’re requesting through the website, you’ll have to fill out one submission form, regardless of whether you want one, two, or all three of your allotted credit reports. The form will ask for your name; your current address; your last address if you’ve lived at your current address for less than two years; and your Social Security number.
The next page has you select which credit bureaus you want reports from. The bureaus are given information about our credit-card histories from creditors, but they don’t all have the same information, which can lead to slight variations in the credit history recorded by each.
It’s best practice to review all three throughout the year; you can even set calendar reminders to request one every four months. However, if you’re preparing to buy a house or make another big purchase that requires a credit check, you may want to request all three reports at once to review for accuracy, since you don’t know which bureau the lender will pull from.
Before you can see your report, you’ll have to answer three or four multiple-choice questions to verify your identity. The information in these questions is taken from your credit report. They’re designed to be tricky (sometimes the correct answer is “none of the above”). You only have five minutes to answer the questions.
If you request a report from more than one credit bureau, you’ll have to complete this step for each one.
3. Review your report
The site will produce your credit report within a few seconds. If you request your report over the phone, it will be sent by mail and could take up to 15 days to arrive.
The report is separated into five sections:
Personal information: Your name, past and current addresses, year of birth, and phone numbers.Accounts: This is where you’ll find the entire history of every line of credit you have or have had in the past — the current balance, date opened, the status of the account, highest balance, minimum payment, credit limit, etc.Public records: If you have been involved in legal matters, filed for bankruptcy, or experienced a tax lien, it will be listed here.Hard inquiries: If you have applied for a new credit card or loan in the last two years, the name of the lender will appear here with the date of the inquiry and the date it is set to expire.Soft inquiries: If an employer, landlord, insurance company, or credit-card lender has ever made a soft inquiry into your credit, it will appear here. Soft inquiries don’t affect your credit score and thus aren’t disputable. Soft inquiries also don’t show up on the credit reports that lenders get when they pull a hard inquiry.
4. If something looks wrong, file a dispute
If any of the details, such as a date, balance, or payment looks incorrect — or if there’s an entirely unrecognizable account — you can file a dispute directly from the online report, or by calling the credit bureau’s helpline.
Again, all three credit bureaus will give you your report for free once a year, but all three bureaus offer paid identity-monitoring services, should you so choose. TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax’s services include unlimited credit reports, email alerts when someone applies for credit in your name, and ID theft insurance.
5. Print or save a copy for your records
Since your credit report is only available to you a few times a year, you may want to either print a copy or save a PDF version for your records. If your session expires before you do this, you’ll have to wait until the next time your credit report is available.
Additional free credit reports
There are additional situations in which you can get a free credit report.
If you get an application rejected or experience another “adverse action” notice, you are entitled to a free credit report from the bureau that the lender used to review your credit. You need to request this credit report within 60 days of the initial rejection notice. Other adverse actions include denial of insurance or employment as a result of information on your credit report.
You can also request a credit report if you suspect that you will or have been the victim of identity theft. If you place an initial fraud alert on your credit, you can receive a free credit report from each bureau in addition to the annual free reports you usually get. An initial fraud alert requires credit bureaus to take steps to confirm your identity when they get a request to open a new line of credit. These last a year, at which point you can place another alert on your credit.
Note: You only need to place an initial fraud alert with one bureau. That bureau will contact the other two.
On top of all these free reports, you can also sign up for a credit monitoring service. The services that go through credit bureaus will give you access to additional credit reports, such as myEquifax, which offers six free credit reports annually, or Experian Boost, which offers a free credit report every 30 days. Other services might not give you direct access to your credit reports but will alert you to any changes in your credit report.
There’s an abundance of free credit report resources out there for you to take advantage of. If you’re spending money to view your credit report, you’re doing something wrong.