Free Credit Report
Categories: free credit report, Experian, TransUnion, EquiFax, credit score,
Over a year ago, Congress granted every American consumer the right to an annual complimentary copy of their credit report. September 2006 is the first anniversary of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act which authorizes the free credit report. At
Annual Credit Report , credit reports can be downloaded online. Otherwise, consumers may request one by phone, at 1-877-322-8228.
To test the free annual report at AnnualCreditReport.com, AlertsForConsumers.com applied for credit reports from all three consumer reporting agencies: Experian, and TransUnion. Essentially, all reporting firms are required to provide one complimentary report each year. Reports may be ordered simultaneously or staggered throughout the year. At two of the three consumer reporting sites, (EquiFax.com and Experian) obtaining a credit report is smooth sailing.
While Equifax and Experian pose a series of questions to validate a consumer’s identity, Trans Union attempts to steer consumers in the direction of paying to obtain their credit score.
Once customers decline the offer, the Trans Union site requests a lot of information from one of five questions: Date of Birth, Employment History, Previous addresses, Installment account verification or revolving accounts numbers.
However, the validation process never ends on TransUnion’s site. For example, after answering the revolving credit account information, the site failed to provide any credit report history. Even after three credit account numbers were entered, with a date of birth and previous address information, the site neglected to grant a free report.
Free Credit Report tip: Be sure to request a copy of your free credit card report, at www.AnnualCreditReport.com only because there are several copycat sites. To get around TransUnion’s faulty or excessively detailed credit report, contact the company by mail or phone.
By Holly Bentz, contributing editor, Copyright 2006 fruitionMedia.net
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