Monitoring your Credit Report for Free

Surely you have heard by now how important it is to have a healthy credit report, but it bears repeating. When you apply for new credit, potential lenders check your credit reports to determine whether or not you are “creditworthy”. In addition, your credit is pulled by prospective employers, realtors, and others to gauge how responsibly you have handled your finances.

Clearly, it is important to keep your credit report as clean as possible, error-free, and accurate. But how can you be certain that a mistake has not found its way on to your report, and that your accounts remain up-to-date? By monitoring your credit for changes.

There are credit monitoring services available to you for a fee, but you also can successfully monitor your credit reports for free by taking advantage of certain opportunities. The following tips are all ways to help you successfully monitor your credit free-of-charge (or at least cheaply!).

Obtain your free credit reports once per year. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report every year from each of three main consumer credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You must request these reports from a central specified service either at www.annualcreditreport.com, or by calling 877-322-8228.

Space out your free credit reports for year-round monitoring. You are not required to obtain your free credit report from every agency at the same time, so consider spacing them out. This way, you can have a look at a credit report every few months. While your credit report might be different at each agency, viewing one at a time still should give you a good idea about your credit profile.

You additionally are entitled to a free credit report under federal law if:

• You are within the first six months of searching for employment.

• You have applied for credit and have been turned down. In this case, you must request a copy from the appropriate credit bureau in writing within 30 days of your denial.

• You have found an error on a credit report and have disputed it.

• You are receiving welfare benefits.

• You believe you have been a victim of fraud.

Take advantage of state law. In addition to your once-per-year free copies as dictated by federal law, some states’ laws entitle their citizens to additional free copies. State law in Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont all allow citizens to obtain one additional free copy from each credit bureau (for a total of two free reports from each agency per year). Georgia citizens have the right to obtain two additional free copies from each bureau (for a total of three free reports from each agency per year).

Make the most of free reports. Learn how to read your credit report, and consider seeing a reputable credit counselor for free advice on how to better understand your report and score.

Get your credit score while you get your free credit report(s). While your credit score is not included on your actual report, and therefore will require a fee for viewing, purchasing a copy of your score when you obtain your free report likely will be cheaper that it would be otherwise.

Look for deals that will give you your credit score for free. If knowing your exact credit score is important to you, then you might want to consider signing up for some credit monitoring program that will include it at no additional cost to you.

Safeguard against potential errors before they blemish your report(s). Double check your bills each month to make sure that you have paid them all. Also check your account statements carefully to be sure that your payments have gone through as expected.

Use a credit score estimator. You can estimate your credit score online to get a rough idea of the number without having to pay for it.

If your report is included with the documents necessary for a loan application, then check it out. Some loans for which you apply, such as a mortgage, require copies of your credit report as part of your application. You might as well scope them out! (Obviously, do not just apply for some type of credit just for the chance to see your credit report. Applying for too many things at once can harm your credit.)