New Law Provides Free Annual Credit Report

As of Thursday, December 1, 2004, one-third of Americans will be able to access their credit reports from all three chief agencies for free. Passed in late 2003, the Carnival & Accurate Credit Transactions Act makes a cardinal beginning consumers can utilize to obtain a free annual credit report.

Equifax, Experian, and Transunion,the three largest credit reporting agencies, have got put up a particular land site where consumers can request, view, and black and white their free report. That land land site is http://www.annualcreditreport.com and is the lone authorised site to bespeak your free report(s).

Those without internet access can name toll-free at 877-322-8228 or compose to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, gallium 30348-5281 to bespeak their report(s). This service, which gets in the West coast, will eventually cover all the states by September 2005.

Although you’ll be able to see where you stand up with your creditors, you won’t get any type of a credit score, such as as a FICO score. Your credit score is the existent number ranging from 300 to 850 that lenders utilize to judge your creditworthiness and the interest rate they’ll charge you. The Federal Soldier Trade Committee is still considering what fee would be sensible for the bureaus to charge consumers to get their credit score.

Additional commissariat of the fact Act include: creating uniform credit standards, requiring retail merchants to conceal all but the last five figures of your account number on receipts, and new “opt out” rights for consumers.

Also, banks will have got to state you if they are giving you credit at less advantageous terms based on your credit score and alert you if they report any negative information about you to the credit bureaus.

Checking your credit report annually is a wont that you should exert regularly, especially with the addition in identity theft. Unfortunately, if you dwell in New Jersey, New York, Pine Tree State or any of the other Eastern states you’ll have got to wait until September 1st of 2005 before you can check your report for free.