How Do I Get My Government Credit Report?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, entitles you to a free copy of your own government credit report every year. You are assured of the privacy and accuracy of information when you deal with the authorized consumer reporting companies.
Your credit report has information like where you live, how your bills are paid, whether you have been bankrupt, sued or arrested. The consumer reporting agencies sell your credit report to companies that need the information to help them make decisions about whether to lend you money, extend you credit, rent you a property, offer you insurance or give you a job.
There are a few reasons why you would want a copy of your credit report. You might want to make sure the report contains accurate and factual information before you apply for a loan, for insurance or new employment, to make sure that there isn’t anything incorrectly in the report that could affect your approval chances.
Identity theft is a growing crime and checking the accuracy of your credit report helps to protect against it. If you have applied for, but been refused, credit, your credit report might hold information that was responsible.
There are currently just three nationwide companies that are credit reporting agencies, and they are contactable through a combined website, a toll-free phone number and a mail address. You can request one credit report from each company within any year. Remember, that you do have rights under the FCRA.
A good place to start is to visit the website – www. Annualcreditreport. Com, where you will find answers to any questions you might have and information as to how to apply for your report to be sent to you. You will have to fill in the usual information to identify yourself: name, birth date, address, SS number. You will need to give your past address if you have moved within the past two years. There may be extra questions asked in order to make sure you are entitled to get your report.
There are websites claiming to be able to get your credit report for you, but the only legal and genuine website is annualcreditreport. Com, so don’t waste you time with any other sites. The scam sites might ask you to subscribe or sign up for something, and you will usually end up paying money for nothing. Other sites direct you to another site where they try to sell you something related to credit. These sites have no access to credit reporting.
You privacy is assured under the FCRA, and you will never receive emails or letters from the authorized website when you apply for your government credit report.
For information and tips on credit report scores and my free credit report , visit Online Credit Report
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