Getting to know your credit report happens to be a rather important task and it ensures financial stability as well. If you’re to consider the Fair Credit Reporting Act, then it requires each of the credit reporting companies that are based all over the nation to provide you with free copies of your credit report. This mainly includes Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from where you can request a free credit report each once every 12 months at least.
Essentially the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) proves beneficial in many ways. It’s responsible for promoting the accuracy as well as privacy of information in the files of all the credit reporting companies spread across the nation. The enforcement of the FCRA with respect to the credit reporting companies essentially is protected by none other than the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC which is the nation’s consumer protection agency.
What’s included in a credit report?
A credit report essentially includes various necessary information like where are you residing, how do you pay your bills, whether or not you’ve been sued or filed for bankruptcy and likewise. You see, what basically happens is the fact that the credit reporting companies spread across the nation sell the information to the creditors, employers, insurers as well as other businesses. They generally require it for the purpose of evaluation of your applications be it for credit, employment, insurance or even renting a home.
How would you order your free report?
You can easily order your free report from the credit reporting companies by visiting their central website or even calling up the toll free number that has been provided. You could even mail to the address provided for the purpose of getting your free credit report.
You’ve also got the option of ordering from all 3 of the credit reporting bureaus and that too at the same time. You could also order the report from each of the companies and that too one at a time.
In case you look for your credit report on the website, then you’d be able to get hold of it immediately. Calling the toll free number makes the report available to you say within the next 15 days. As for mailing using the Annual Credit Report Request Form, then your request should be processed and mailed to you within 15 days of having received the mail. So know where you stand financially before taking any further steps.