Credit Reports

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, everyone is entitled to one free credit report every year, so you should really take full advantage of this service. Not only will reviewing it help you get an idea of what your credit score may be (your detailed credit score costs money) it will also allow you to see if all your personal information is correct. This will help you greatly, because even one small mistake (whether it's your fault or not) on your credit report could seriously affect your credit score and cause your rates to skyrocket.

You are allowed a free credit report from the three major consumer reporting agencies in the U.S. (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). These sites also offer full credit reports, but you have to pay for them. Checking your credit report is called a soft inquiry, and you can check your credit as much as you want without it negatively affecting your credit score.

Note: You've probably seen commercials for a free credit report (with the catchy tune) and thought it might be a good idea to use their services. Well, they're not...sure, these kinds of companies will give you a free credit report and/or credit score initially, but they will also ask for your credit card number (try it and see). If you don't cancel within a certain time (say a couple of weeks) they'll charge you for membership (is it really free then?).

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