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How to Obtain Your Annual Free Credit Report

While you may think that you are on top of your financial situation, there will be times when your credit report will say otherwise. There may be a debt that you have completely forgotten about or something that is still on your report from the past. Because of that, you need to check it. You can gain an annual free credit report easily and you should take it so you know what you are missing each year.

 

You should not just search online for companies that will give you your annual free credit report. There are companies out there that will tie you into monthly fees or make you buy something to obtain it. This is not something that you need to do because, by law, you can check your own report for free.

 

There are three companies, that are all government run, which will allow you to gain an annual free credit report. These are the places to go to so that you really can stay on top of your financial situation and make sure that those black marks have finally disappeared.

 

You can go to each of the companies within the year and obtain your report free of charge. It is up to you whether you gain access at the same time from all three companies or whether you check with them at different points during the year. Spreading them out over the year could be more beneficial as it lets you keep an eye on your circumstances and you will be able to see if something new as popped up sooner than you would if you got them all at the same time.

 

Whenever you do check your report, you should make a note in your diary or next to the date for the next year. This will help you remember when you checked so you know when you can go back again for your next annual free credit report. Do not worry though as you will be told if you are checking when the full year is not up; you will be prompted to pay for it.

 

You should go straight to the websites of Equifax, Experian or TransUnion; these are all the places that you can definitely obtain your annual free credit report. If you are struggling to find them, do a search but make sure that you are definitely going to the correct site and not an impersonator site.

 

You will need to enter your personal information into the website so that you can be found. This will include details such as your Social Security number and your address. This is just to prevent any fraud on your account. You may also need to have your past addresses and any monthly payments that you have made on your accounts.

 

You should make sure that there are no errors on your report. This will include disputed payments or whether your identity has been stolen or a card has been used without your permission. There are times that companies will not update your report so you should make sure that this happens; another reason why you should consider splitting up your three annual free credit report over the year.

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