FEDERAL ANNUAL FREE CREDIT REPORT LAW (per FACTA)
In 2004 Congress approved a law that allows each individual a free credit report from each credit reporting agency (CRA) every 12 months.
This does NOT take the place of the laws that allow individuals to receive free reports if they are denied credit, discover there are errors in their reports or suspect identity theft.
You do NOT need to purchase any additional services unless you wish.
1. To order your report:
The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up one central website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your annual report.
To order, click on
www.annualcreditreport.com
or call 877-322-8228.
2. SCAM ALERT:
This is a consumer-driven system only.
If you get an email or see a pop-up ad claiming it’s from
www.annualcreditreport.com
or any of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies, it is a scam.
Do not click on any link in the message.
Delete it without answering it.
3. Stagger report requests:
Since
you are not required to order all 3 credit reports at the same time, unless you are a victim of id theft, consumer groups are recommending that individuals stagger free report orders and in doing so create a free regular monitoring service for themselves.
For example - Order a report from credit reporting agency #1 in January, a report from CRA #2 in April, and a report from CRA #3 in Sept. or October.
Since you must wait 12 months to request a new report from each agency, you can then order a report from agency #1 again in January.
If you ever find any problems with a report, such as an account you never opened, you automatically qualify as a potential id theft victim and should order the other two reports immediately - without charge through the id theft free report system.
If you have any questions about the new federal free credit report program, please contact ITRC at
itrc@idtheftcenter.org
(858-693-7935) or the FTC at 877-FTC-HELP (
www.ftc.gov/credit
).
Copyright Jan.
2007, Identity Theft Resource Center®, all rights reserved.
Created by ITRC
This fact sheet should not be used in lieu of legal advice. Any requests to reproduce this material, other than by individual victims or their
own use, should be directed to
ITRC
.
ITRC thanks the CRAs in providing material for this guide.