Everyone needs to check their credit report periodically -- ideally three times a year. In this day of identity theft, you must check to see that nothing out of the ordinary is popping up. It's federal law that once every 12 months each of the three credit bureaus of Experian, TransUnion and Equifax must show you a copy of your report upon your request. This means that you are not only entitled to a free credit report, you're actually entitled to three at once from the three major credit bureaus. As each credit report may have slightly differing information, you should order up a full set of credit reports and not rely on the credit report from any one bureau.
How to Order a Free Credit ReportExperts suggest spacing out each credit report by four months to take full advantage of this rule. This way you'll be able to get credit reports throughout the year and check to see if there's any damage due to fraud or theft on the report. It's an effective, and economical, way to counter identity theft.
Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call toll-free, 1-877-322-8228 for your free annual report. You can also call toll-free 1-877-322-8228 or write to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
Three Different Credit Reports: Is One Best?You'll notice that not all of the same information appears on all three reports. This is due to each bureau's separate collection methods. And yet, despite this, the reports from all three tend to be very similar. The three credit bureaus are beginning a new program that lets them share information, so there will be even less differences in the future. However, there may be slight discrepancies between each report.
The credit score you receive from each bureau can also vary because they each use a secret scoring method based on the FICO method of weighting aspects of your credit history and past financial behavior. And you can't buy that score, only an "educational score," one that is said to be reasonably close.
The differences between the three credit bureaus turn out to be pretty small. While some consumers will state a preference for one bureau over another, most of the time it's for reasons like corporate tone or a helpful website, not actual differences in the qualities of the credit reports. A Time to Order a Credit Report: A Major Purchase
The only time you might want to consider paying for a credit report is if you're about to make a major purchase and you've already used up your annual free reports.
For example, if you decided to buy a house, you'd be smart to check all three reports to discover what on your record might hurt you from getting the best interest rate on your mortgage. This way you can get in touch with the lenders who reported the negative message and see if they will have it removed.
The key here is to buy all three reports. It's necessary since it's possible that differences can emerge. Plus you don't know which report your mortgage lender will use. Typically if the mortgage lender uses two reports, they opt to use the lower of the two scores. If the lender use three reports, they use the middle score.
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