How to get your credit report

In 2003, we passed a law that gives us an annual disclosure of our files at the consumer reporting agencies at no charge. In other words, now you can get a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the credit bureaus.

The official site to get your free annual credit report:

"How else can I request my free annual credit file disclosure [other than on the internet]?"

Rollout schedule

Western states: December 1, 2004
Midwest states: March 1, 2005
Southern states: June 1, 2005
Eastern states and all U.S. Territories: September 1, 2005

Otherwise, as of April 3, 2012, the maximum allowable charge for a consumer disclosure credit report is $11.50. (2011: $11.00; 2007: $10; 2006: $10; 2005: $9.50). To get your credit reports for a fee from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, see below.

Mail, phone, or web

Detroit Free Press: "Using a phone could be simpler and smarter than going through the Internet."

Bankrate: "Phone (don't click) for your free credit report"

Is that the real web site?

Bob Sullivan, MSNBC: "Many free credit reports still aren't free" ("Updated: 4:55 p.m. ET May 10, 2005")

"For example, visitors to Google’s search engine who type in 'free credit report' get a list of links for Web sites that ultimately sell services from Experian and Trans Union. AnnualCreditReport.com, the only place to get a free credit report, doesn’t make the first page of search results."

Knight Ridder: "SCAM FILE: Beware when requesting credit report"

Michigan Attorney General: "Even one mistyped letter could take you to a fraudulent web site that looks and feels like a place to order credit reports but in fact has been set up by ID thieves to harvest your information."

Illinois Attorney General: "Madigan suggested that one way to avoid the online confusion is for consumers to call the telephone hotline to obtain their reports."

Joint letter from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Consumers Union, US PIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Consumer Federation of America, 12/04: "In typing in "www.annualcreditreport.com," an individual may misspell the URL, and thereby be directed to a fraudulent website with a similar URL."

The missing link (this brilliant idea didn't last long)

Joint letter from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Consumers Union, US PIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Consumer Federation of America, 12/04: "Re: Free Annual Credit Report Site is Blocking Web Links"

Peter G. Miller, Realty Times: "Given this background, you might think that a website established to promote consumer access to federally-required free credit reports would want to generate as much traffic as possible."

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) Ranking Democratic Member

"Rep. Frank also found the websites of the three biggest nationwide consumer reporting agencies-Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union-lacked the clearly identifiable links to the centralized free report website that Congress intended."

---

"My own investigation confinued these consumer group complaints and also found that the web pages of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies lacked clearly identifiable links to the centralized free report web site that Congress intended to be created and the FTC requested in final implementing regulations. The Equifax, Experian and TransUnion web sites provide obscured references to free credit reports in the lower comers of their main web pages, below more prominent solicitations for credit scores, credit monitoring services and "3-Bureau" credit reports. Two of these web sites required consumers to go to a second page containing additional marketing before finding the link to the free report web site."

Consumers' experiences

Salt Lake Tribune: "'Why can't these people get their act together? It seems like they are doing everything they can to make this as hard as possible.'"

Bankrate: "Readers have mixed results getting free reports"

What the credit reporting agency must send you, initially

"All information in the consumer's file at the time of the request except that... "

Definition of "file": "The term 'file,' when used in connection with information on any consumer, means all of the information on that consumer recorded and retained by a consumer reporting agency regardless of how the information is stored." (http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/050131fcra.pdf#page=5)

Number of hits when searching that .pdf document (with "Whole words only" checked):

credit report:		1
consumer file:		1
credit file:		2
file:		88
consumer report:		134

There is no term defined for the document meant by "Disclosures to consumers" mentioned in § 609 [15 U.S.C. § 1681g].

Other free file disclosures

ChoicePoint C.L.U.E

MIB

ChexSystems

Innovis

Katrina victims' credit reports

Equifax, 10/10/05: "Equifax Offers Individuals Impacted by Hurricanes Access to Their Credit Files at No Charge - Equifax also offers tips on how consumers should take proactive steps to protect their credit while they rebuild their lives"

(the grand announcement following the cry of "consumer orgainzations": "Credit Reporting Agencies Reject an Important Step to Help Hurricane Survivors: Many Katrina Victims Will Face Additional Economic Difficulties as Credit Scores Drop Due to Disaster"

• TransUnion: "Personal Credit Report Pricing Details" (includes ordering options: Mail, telephone, internet)
• Equifax: "How else can I access my Equifax Credit Report™?" (noted 10/2/2006: Online)
• Experian: (noted 10/2/2006: Online) A mail-in request is a mystery. Here's one of their "Consumer Credit FAQs":

  Q: How can I get a copy of my credit report besides online?
  A: To purchase a copy of your credit report via telephone, call 1 800 311 4769. Please have your address, ZIP code and Social Security number on hand when you call. In addition, please review our fee information.

  But here is their "Mail In Form," copyright 2005.

  And, here is "Max," saying 1 888 397 3742, and $9.00(?)(is there a discount?).
  
  (10/2/2006: U.S. Treasury Department document showing address to make a request by mail.)

June 4, 2004: "FTC Issues Final Rule on Free Annual Credit Reports"
(gradual roll-out beginning in some states December 1, 2004)

6/28/01

• Experian
  • Copied from their web site:

    If you prefer to have your personal credit report delivered by U.S. mail, you may call us or write to us to order your report. Read more about how to contact us to request your report by phone or by writing to us.

    They have the presence of mind to give the addresses of the other two national credit reporting agencies, but fail to instruct the consumer about what personal identifying information to include to obtain an Experian file.
  • 10/14/2001 update: "To receive your personal credit report by mail, please mail us this letter... "
• Equifax
  • Copied from their web site:

    Consumers:

    To Order Your Personal Credit Report:

    1. You may order online via our Consumer Direct site ($8.50 [2002 update: $9.00, ed.] service fee for online speed and convenience)
       
    2. You may use our easy and convenient self-service line: 1-800-685-1111
       
    3. You may write us at:
       
       Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc.
       P.O. Box 740241
       Atlanta, GA 30374

    See if You Qualify for a Free File Disclosure (only via U.S. Mail)

  • Note that, in the above, there are no instructions regarding the identifying information to include when ordering the "Profile" by mail. For that, you would have to stumble around until you find this information on the FAQ.
• Trans Union
  • Personal Information required when ordering via Internet:

    • First and Last Name
    • Social Security Number
    • Date of Birth
    • Current Address
    • Previous Address (if you have moved within the past two years)
    • The account number and expiration date from one of the following credit cards, for payment:
      • Visa
      • MasterCard
      • American Express
      • Discover

  • Personal Information required when ordering by mail:

    • First, middle, and last name (including Jr., Sr., III)
    • Current address
    • Previous addresses in the past two years, if any
    • Social Security number
    • Date of birth
    • Current employer
    • Phone number
    • Signature
    • Applicable fee

• Innovis:

  Subject: [Fwd: credit file]
  Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2001 08:46:05 -0400
  From: Greg Fisher (gfisher@erinet.com)
  To: Jonathan Price (jprice@cbc-companies.com)
  CC: "Shannon Buggs, Houston Chronicle" (shannon.buggs@chron.com), "Innovis, Data Team" (Datateam@innovis-cbc.com), "Innovis, Product Sales" (productsales@innovis-cbc.com)

  On July 16th, Houston Chronicle reporter Shannon Buggs wrote, "So, you can't call up Innovis and order your credit file, says Eric Duhon, Innovis' chief information officer."

  If your thing called "Failsafe" is a "national database of consumers with unfavorable current or past credit histories" (as stated on your web site), then you sure seem like a credit reporting agency to me. Was Buggs' statement accurate?

  Subject: RE: [Fwd: credit file]
  Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 15:05:46 -0400
  From: Jonathan Price (jonathanprice@cbc-companies.com)
  To: Greg Fisher (gfisher@erinet.com)

  Greg,

  Innovis is a credit reporting agency and you can request a copy of your credit file.

  You may write your request to:

  Innovis
  PO Box 219297
  Houston, TX 77218-9297

• ChexSystems: Consumer Report
• Medical Information Bureau: Request Your Record
• Auto insurance, ChoicePoint C.L.U.E.: "More than 95 percent of insurers writing automobile coverage provide claims data to the C.L.U.E. Personal Auto database."