As many of you may know, you are entitled by law to a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once per year. It is a good idea to spread these out and request one report every 4 months. This lets you keep an eye on your credit report throughout the year and makes it more likely that you will quickly notice any inaccuracies or problems with the report.
I just retrieved my credit report from Experian and all is well. Another 4 months and I’ll check with Equifax.
To request your free credit report go to: AnnualCreditReport.com
The credit report is free, but the credit bureaus try and convince you to pay for additional services (credit score, credit monitoring, etc). So be sure to say No to any of these items if you want a truly free credit report.
Now go ahead and pull yours and make sure everything looks ok. It is a sad fact of life that your credit history is extremely important and can open or close many doors based on what information it contains.
And if you really want to spice up your love live with your significant other, how about exchanging credit reports with that special someone. Honesty in a long-term relationship is very important, and if you can’t be open about your financial standing then you really aren’t sharing everything. Plus, nobody wants to find out a week after the honeymoon that your partner is $50,000 in credit card debt 🙂
Update: Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s site regarding your free annual credit report: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/freereports/psa.html
That’s a cute idea- exchanging credit reports. It’s certainly a prudent way to build trust before making a big commitment.
BTW, the Privacy Right Clearinghouse suggests that you call to get your free credit report, rather than getting it online. This will help you avoid being lured into credit monitoring. It will also keep you safe from a potential phishing hazard: if you make a typo in entering http://www.annualcreditreport.com, you could end up entering your SSN into an imposter site.
The toll-free number for pulling your free credit report over the phone is: (877) 322-8228.
Jeff
Good point Jeff. There are tons of those sites out there trying to scam you into paying for it and getting your info. That is actually why I like posting these so I (and my friends) can just use the link to get to the one and only free site.
Doug
Damn Technology!!!
“The AnnualCreditReport.com website is only accessible through ISPs (Internet Service Providers)
located within the United States and its territories.”