By now, you may have heard at least one advertisement that’s for a free annual credit report.
There are only a few minor technical problems with these come-ons. Little things, such as requiring you to subscribe to their service, which ends up not being free at all– even if the credit report they use as an enticement is provided at no additional cost.
Unfortunately, most people have only a limited understanding of how the credit rating system works. As long as somebody approves the loan, nobody is interested in the grisly details of how the system operates. This is how the door opens to the annual credit report scam.
The Facts about your Free Annual Credit Report
The first thing to know about an annual free credit report is that the credit rating agencies are required to provide one to you at no cost. You have to request it from them. This is a simple process done online, by mail, or by telephone. Contact the three major rating agencies and request yours.
No middleman or secret password is required to obtain access to a Credit Report.
Even if you have already taken advantage of your once-a-year freebie, you can still get more free credit reports, provided one of your credit requests have been turned down. Again, they have to provide you with a free copy, no questions asked. This permits you to review the reasons why you were turned down, and provide you with an opportunity to correct any false information that may have wormed its way into your file. It happens.
Watch Out For The Free Credit Report Scams
Most free credit report scams are built upon the premise that you sign on to their credit monitoring services and get the first month of protection free. At the same time, they grant you a copy of your own credit report as if they were doing you some kind of favor. As long as you cancel their services before that free month is up, there is no further charge. Here is where it gets kind of tricky.
Since these operations do not make any money if everyone cancels after 30 days, they often bury misleading caveats deep
inside the legalese of their Terms of Service. One of the favorites is to require that you notify them several days in advance of your actual expiration date. If you try to cancel on the last day, you have already been charged for the next month of service.
Always read every inch of print on a contract, which grants other people the power to withdraw money from one of your accounts.
But go ahead definitely get your free annual credit report – except now you know precisely the pitfalls to look out for.
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