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#432543 07/03/08 02:49 PM
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One of the main goals for many people here is financial stability. Remember, always phrase goals positively! So it's not "getting out of debt". It is "being financially stable".

Here is the official US government site for getting your FREE credit report once every year -

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

I highly recommend putting this on your calendar and doing it yearly, and printing it out. Having a solid starting set of knowledge for your plans and goals is key.

I am doing mine right now! Somehow I last did mine in 2006. Time for an update!!


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Lisa is it safe to put our Social Security number out there???


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You can also go to freecreditreport.com (site is sponsored by the 3 major credit reporting agencies). There are all kinds of levels of protection you have to go through to get your report.

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Skyhaven - you have to provide it to the credit agencies to verify who you are. This is a secure site run by those credit agencies.

Lynn - I'm almost positive annualcreditreport is the one sponsored by the agencies. If you go to experian.com it explicitly says that annualcreditreport is the place to go for the federally mandated free report.

FreeCreditReport.com is NOT that site. It says right on it:

"When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period*, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership."

So FreeCreditReport is a PAID service.

Last edited by Lisa Low Carb Ed; 07/03/08 04:51 PM.

Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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In fact FreeCreditReport says right on its front page:

"ConsumerInfo.com and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com."

So definitely go to AnnualCreditReport.com. That is the proper place to go!


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Here are the step by step instructions on how to use AnnualCreditReport.com!!

Start here -

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

This is for Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion

select your state.

You'll need to know your personal information including SS #. Make sure it is https:// at the top.

select all 3 agencies and go to next

You will now be launched OFF SITE one at a time. Pay attention to having to "return" here after each step!

TransUnion is first.

I already had an account here so it had me log in to it.

They'll try to have you tag on additional services - ignore those and continue

they try to get you to sign up for their newsletter - say no thanks

they want you to order a credit "score" - say no. It's $7.95 here (as of July 2008)

They summarize the order - i.e. FREE. Hit next.

Now they give you a one LONG page credit report. In the top left is Printer Friendly Version. Click that.

Print this out. You can get it for free online for one month after this moment. Check it for inaccuracies, then file it somewhere safe. Mine was 8 pages long.

When you are sure you are done with this report, click on RETURN TO ANNUALCREDITREPORT.COM in the top menu bar. You get a warning that you're leaving TransUnion.

--------------

Now AnnualCreditReport says you are moving along to Experian. Hit NEXT to go there. You get another warning page that you are leaving AnnualCreditReport, hit NEXT.

You're asked to verify the last four digits of your SSN. Do that.

Experian offers your credit score for only $5.95 (as of July 2008). No thanks. It verifies your free total, hit SUBMIT.

You now have an "identity verification" where you have to remember random details about your past smile This is always fun.

You now have an account summary page. It tells you right here if you have any negative issues and how many accounts you have. There is also a "print your report" in the top right - use that. The report tells you, for any negative items (i.e. past due amounts) when they are scheduled to cycle off your report. Also, very nice, for any closed accounts it tells you when the closed account will cycle off the report.

Mine was 10 pages.

Once you have printed the report and checked it for any problems, close down this window.

Again, when you are sure you are done with this report, click on RETURN TO ANNUALCREDITREPORT.COM in the top menu bar. You get a warning that you're leaving Experian.

----------------

On to Equifax. You're asked to verify your information, and hit continue.

You get a few security test questions - multiple choice - about loans you've had. Answer them and hit continue.

You're told you can get your FICO score for only $7.95. What a deal! Not. Say NO THANKS.

You get 3 more offers asking you to pay money. Actually the top one is free and says you can re-access your data for 30 days. This is good say YES to that one but not the other for-pay options. You'll create an account so that you have access to that data.

Now you get a summary page with a link to view and print your report. Go to the 'full report' option, then the Print Report in the top right corner.

Note that I could NOT get this page to show in FireFox - I only got errors (as of July 2008). I am reporting this in. I had to open up the page in IE, logging in with my new username/password, to see the report.

This report was 20 pages long.

That's it! You're done!


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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Its nice that the government has a site too.

The freecreditreport.com site is sponsored by Experian (this information is in the ABOUT US sectino). They do NOT charge you for your one free report a year. They will charge you for their other services (additional credit reports, FICO scoring, credit monitoring, etc.).

You get the same information from both sites.


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Just a note to let you know how important it is to keep your credit rating good.

I've never declared bankrupcy and have had a few late payments last fall which have caused my rating to dip below the 600 mark.

I just lost out on a great career position because of my poor credit rating. I was the top candidate, I was only a credit report away from getting an offer...... The only reason I didn't get the position was because my rating was poor.

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With the way the economy's going, this is likely to become more and more of a problem for those looking for work.

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Carennedy - I've never heard of that! Why would a job look at your credit rating?


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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it's true, this is becoming very common.

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Why would they though? If you are a skilled applicant with all the technical knowledge they need, can they really "discriminate" against you based on the fact that you perhaps just came out of a failed marriage? Wouldn't that be like hiring you or not hiring you based on the type of house you live in?


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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it's not fair but they are doing it. Studies have shown that someone who is a poor credit risk *might* have other bad work habits as well. The correlation is there. It's just a part of modern work culture we have to accept. frown

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Wow, yet another reason I am very happy to be working from home smile That seems extremely invasive to me, that they could know about your personal life like that.


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
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This is the warning that you get at freecreditreport.com ... Note the last sentence in the paragraph ...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT INFORMATION

When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM. If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period**, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership.
ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a daily basis for my full-time job, I refer my clients to annualcreditreport.com because our Marketing Research team continually reviews sources for our clients to use and that is the only site that's absolutely free.. At the annualcreditreport site, it clearly states "Sponsored by Experian, Equifax, and Transunion."

Here is the "About Us" from the website:

AnnualCreditReport.com is a centralized service for consumers to request free annual credit reports. It was created by the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

AnnualCreditReport.com provides consumers with the secure means to request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act).

AnnualCreditReport.com offers consumers a fast and convenient way to request, view and print their credit reports in a secure Internet environment. We also provide options to request reports by telephone and by mail.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only service authorized by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for this purpose. The three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies have always encouraged consumers to regularly review their credit reports.

Please note that, as a security precaution,

* Consumers should never provide their personal information to any other company or person for requesting free annual credit reports under the FACT Act.
* AnnualCreditReport.com will not approach consumers via email, telemarketing or direct mail solicitations.



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