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Free Credit Report: An Essential Tool in Personal Finance Management

Credit: you don’t want to live with it, but you can’t live without it these days. For the pessimistic, having credit means being in debt, but for the fiscally astute, it’s an essential part of functioning in today’s commercial and capitalistic world. Having credit is not necessarily a bad thing, and having good credit is ideal. Consumers can check out their credit standings by ordering their free credit report from several financial institutions.

It used to be that people in the United States would have to pay a fee to get a copy of their reports. But a law passed by the U.S. Congress several years back has lessened this financial burden on consumers somewhat. An amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), entitles citizens to get a free credit report once every twelve months. A central web site has been established at annualcreditreport.com to provide this service to citizens.

The most well-known credit bureaus who provide credit reports are TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian (collectively known as the Big Three). While Equifax and TransUnion generally do not provide free credit reports – except in special circumstances – Experian offers a scheme where consumers can order a free credit report; but this comes with some strings attached. This free offer is contingent on trial membership in the company’s Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring program. If the trial membership isn’t cancelled by the consumer within 30 days, he or she will be billed monthly for the program.

TransUnion and Equifax, while they do not have a similar freebie program, are authorized by law to provide free credit reports under certain circumstances. For instance, if you don’t have a job and are planning to be hired for one within sixty days or if you are on public welfare, you are entitled to a report free of charge. Or if you have a valid reason to believe that the information in your credit report is incorrect, you are also allowed to receive a copy of your report gratis even if you’ve already availed of your allotted free annual copy. You can use this report to help correct any wrong information and set your personal finance straight.

Just make sure that the company from which you plan to get your free credit report is a legitimate provider. Beware of web sites that promise free reports; what they’re really interested in is your personal information so they can steal your identity. Also, steer clear of unsolicited e-mail from firms offering free reports but require you to submit your credit card number, or else you might wind up becoming a credit card fraud victim. And this certainly will not help your personal finance in any way.

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News

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• Many Not-For-Profit Hospitals Have Credit Ratings Downgraded This Year, Report Finds (Medical News Today)
  Downgrades in the credit ratings of U.S. not-for-profit health care systems and hospitals exceeded upgrades by a 2-to-1 ratio this year for the first time since 2003, according to a report released on Monday by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
• Fitch Releases U.S. Term Credit Action Report July 2008 (Centre Daily Times)
  Fitch Ratings recently published its latest U.S. Term Credit Action Report July 2008.
• Fitch Releases U.S. Term Credit Action Report July 2008 (wallstreet:online AG)
  Fitch Ratings recently published its latest U.S. Term Credit Action Report July 2008. Rating
• Credit dispute shouldn't hurt score (Bankrate.com via Yahoo! Finance)
  Losing a credit report dispute shouldn't hurt your credit score, says Dr. Don Taylor.
• The Report 'Credit & Collection Practices 2008' Explores How Companies Are Balancing the Cost of Collection to Reduce ... (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
  DUBLIN, Ireland----Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Credit & Collection Practices 2008" report to their offering.