Real Estate Search Direct

Have you ordered your free annual credit report this year?  If you haven’t, don’t until you have read this.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) to provide you with a free copy of your credit report every 12 months upon request. 

There is no requirement to provide your FICO score free.  You will have to pay a fee for that service if you want it.

There is only one authorized website that allows you to request your free annual credit report with no strings attached.  That is AnnualCreditReport.com. 

While there are several other sites with similar names that offer free credit reports, they usually come with a subscription or purchase of another product.  Don’t be fooled by these websites.

Checking your credit report once a year is all fine and good, but wouldn’t it be better to check it three times a year, for free?

No, you don’t have to subscribe to a credit monitoring service or pay a fee to check your credit three times a year instead of once.

You simply order your free annual credit report from only one of the three credit report bureaus every four months. 

This method allows a more continuous watch over your credit score without subscribing  to an expensive service.

This method is especially helpful in monitoring for identity theft activity, but also to verify if any invalid information appears on your report.

If you are planning to make a major credit purchase such as a car or a home, it is a good idea to pay for a tri-merge (all three bureaus) report complete with FICO scores before you make your purchase to avoid any surprises.

If you find issues with your credit report that you want to clear up, check out 37 days to clean credit for everything you need for DIY credit repair.

Allen Davis
RealEstateSearchDirect.vom