Get Your Free Credit Report

It’s that time of year when I remind you to consider accessing your free credit report. The Federal Trade Commission recently released their study of the U.S. credit reporting industry and found that five percent of consumers had errors on one of their three major credit reports. Why does this matter?

According to Nancy L. Granovsky, Professor and Extension Family Economics Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service; these errors, if left uncorrected, can result in the affected consumers having to pay more for products like auto loans and insurance. Even worse, employment applications can be affected.

This is a first-of-its-kind study that provides research-based information regarding the problems that exist with credit reports. The results support the need for consumers to regularly check their credit reports for accuracy. Otherwise, loan products may end up costing more money if the wrong information about consumer finances and bill-paying history stays on the credit reports.  The wrong credit report information can lower the overall credit score and result in higher interest rates for borrowers.

It is important to request a copy of your credit report each year from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion).  Stagger the requests – get one copy from one of the agencies now, then request a copy from one of the agencies four months from now,  and the final request to the last agency four months after that. Consumers are eligible to receive one free report from EACH of the three credit reporting agencies each year. Always go to the official government-sponsored website to request the free reports, not to the credit reporting companies individually. At the official site, you can designate which report you wish to order: http://www.annualcreditreport.com.

Only one website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law — annualcreditreport.com. Other websites that claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores” or “free credit monitoring” are not part of the legally mandated free annual credit report program. In some cases, the “free” product comes with strings attached.

Dispute Errors on Credit Reports

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, both the credit reporting agency and the information provider (retailer, credit card issuer, etc.) are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information. Consumers must communicate in writing.

For more information on writing a letter that communicates the errors found in the credit report, contact the Extension office at 940/627-3341.