The Purpose of Seeking an Annual Credit Report

You are entitled to one free annual credit report from the three major credit bureaus.  You can pick this up once every 12 months.

There are many reasons why you would seek an annual credit report. Many of these reasons pertain to your personal safety:

  • You can keep an eye on your credit report and notice any unauthorized transactions made immediately. This will help correct any problems much faster.
  • If you notice any negative marks on your credit report that do not belong there you can request to have them removed. You wouldn’t be able to do this if you didn’t even know they were there.
  • Alerts can be placed on your file if you notice fraudulent activity. This is important in the event someone had used your name or information for any reason.
  • You clear up your otherwise good name in the event you are a person who is very responsible with money. However, if you do not check your annual credit report you could experience problems you don’t know about that could damage your name for good.
  • Seeking information about your financial history can help you prevent further actions of fraud. It provides you with a greater piece of mind knowing your privacy is protected.

Obtaining your Credit Report

Annual Credit Report.com is one place you can obtain your free credit report. You may find other websites that are legitimate where you can obtain information about your financial history.

You may also be able to take advantage of paid services, such as those which allow immediate automatic alerts every time there is a change. This is one way that people keep track of their annual credit report in order to stop fraud immediately.

There are also services available for vision impaired people. Financial records are written in Braille or other helpful language for people who are concerned about their financial past.

When you use a credit monitoring services you may be able to get many questions answered while seeking information. Be careful not to pay for services you could otherwise get for free though.

Remember, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion will give you one free report a year. This is what you are entitled to as of changes in Federal laws (amendments of the Fair Credit Reporting Act).

You are entitled to this free report. Do not let any credit report monitoring website tell you any differently.