How to Get Your Free Credit Report and Score
In today’s economy it’s important to always know what your credit score is and what your report says about your history. It’s important to keep track of it since there are thousands of people who fall victim to identity theft each year. You can get a free credit report and score online and you can get a free report without the score through a creditor who has denied you credit. There are many websites that you can go to in order to get a free credit report and score. Some of these require a credit card, others don’t. Sometimes you will need to sign up for a free trial and if you cancel in time, you won’t have to pay anything for your credit report and score; but it is suggested that everyone have a membership to a credit report and score program. This will help you keep track of your credit and can cost as little as $15 a month. When you think about how much that can save you if your credit were to be stolen, that is a lot of money!
In order to get your free annual credit report you can go to annualcreditreport.com. This website lets you individually order reports from the 3 major credit bureaus. Many people decide to look at all of them on the same day, but if you want, you can look at one every 4 months and you will be able to keep track of your credit report and score throughout the year. When you go to Free Annual Credit Report you will need to enter in all of your personal information and answer security questions that only the real person would know.
Free Credit Score at TransUnion
First, you will be asked for the state you live in; using a drop-down menu, select your state and click submit. Then you will be asked to either log-in, if you already have an account, or sign up for a new account. They will need your full name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number and your email address. You will also be asked to create a password so that you can easily access the same information next year. You will then be taken to a screen where you can choose which credit reporting agency you would like to view your credit report and score through. This can be TransUnion, Equifax or Experian. When you click to go to the credit reporting agency’s website, you will be leaving the Free Annual Credit Report website; but at the top of the screen you will be given the option to return to Free Annual Credit Report to select the next credit reporting agency.
When you go to the credit reporting agency’s website you will be asked to verify your identity. This usually includes entering the last 4 digits of your social security number, your date of birth, and your last name. You will then be given a series of questions that you will need to answer correctly in order to view your report and score. Some examples of questions you might see are “Which street have you lived on?” or “You opened a mortgage in 2004 with which company?” Sometimes these are trick questions and none of the answers are correct; when you see this happen you will want to select the “none of the above” multiple choice answer. Make sure that you read the questions they ask thoroughly so that you don’t get locked out of your own credit report.
Once you have verified that you are the right person you will be taken to your credit report and score. You will then want to view all of the information, make sure it is correct and file for any changes like errors in your report, negative information or unauthorized activity. Once you’ve viewed your free credit report and score you will have the option to either go back and start over with another credit reporting agency or you can even stay on the first site get a great deal signing up for a monthly plan so that you can monitor your credit report and keep your identity safe. It is rather simple to get your Free Annual Credit Report; but if you’ve already done that, you can always sign up for a free trial on one of the major credit reporting agencies’ websites and then make sure that you cancel your membership before the trial is over.