Credit Reports

[Pale Rider]

How to get free credit reports.

Federal law allows you to get a free credit report if


if a company takes an adverse action against you such as denying your application for credit, insurance or employment.
you are unemplyed and plan on looking for a job in the next 60 days
you are on welfare
if you a victim of fraud such as id theft.


Contact the 3 credit reporting agencies to obtain your report.

Experian
Trans Union
Equifax
CSC

Annual credt report

You can aslo receive a free report annually from the following website:

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

Be aware that if you choose this method to get your free report, the dispute period for inaccurate information is 45 days rather than the normal 30 days. My suggestion is that you use this as a last resort to get your reports.

3 in 1 Reports

Despite many people claiming these reports as useless, I have found them quite useful in the credit repair process. While you should always get your reports directly from the major credit reporting agencies for accuracy and disputing, the 3 in 1 reports can be great for checking changes in the report and scores.



http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm

[Neil5623]

I notice that you list both Equifax and CSC. Been my experience that the two are somehow intertwined. Mailing a request for a report to Equifax in Atlanta gets it forwarded to CSC in Dallas. They will turn around and ask you for more information. I learned to send the request straight to CSC, and it gets processed without the extra step.

[Pale Rider]

Then again, they have to respond to your dispute based on the date they receive it. Sending it to Equifax can get you a couple days, and possibly make them miss the deadline.

And, yes the report actually comes from Equifax even though they make you go through CSC. I only listed both in case someone not in their coverage area reads this.