Starting Dec 1, You can get a free annual credit report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion!
Under the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, you'll be able to order a free annual credit report by going to a central Web site, www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling 877-322-8228, or by sending in a written request to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Ga. 30348-5281. Reports can be requested from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion at one time or spread out over 12 months.
Seven states -- Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont -- mandate that residents have access to at least one free report per bureau each year already (I bet you didn't know that!).
Coinciding with the new program, Experian is introducing a "Triple Alert" credit-monitoring service that will track your files at all three credit agencies. If you sign up for this program - which'll cost about $5/month - they'll emali or SMS message you when there are any changes that could be identity theft or fraud.
To get a free copy of your credit report, you're required to provide your name, date of birth, Social Security number and current address as well as your previous address if you've moved in the past two years. You'll then be asked to select which of the credit-reporting company's reports you'd like to receive.
When this was signed into law by President George W. Bush in December of 2003, here's what the White House fact sheet on FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, stated:
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 will accomplish the following key Administration priorities to help ensure that all Americans, of every income level and background, are able to build good credit and confront the problem of identify theft:
- Ensuring that lenders make decisions on loans based on full and fair credit histories, and not on discriminatory stereotypes. In 1996, uniform national standards were established to set clear rules on what credit agencies were entitled to include in individual credit reports, and now more than a million Americans have credit as a result. This legislation makes those national standards permanent.
- Improving the quality of credit information, and protecting consumers against identity theft.
- Giving every consumer the right to their credit report free of charge every year. Consumers will be able to review a free report every year for unauthorized activity, including activity that might be the result of identity theft.
- Helping prevent identity theft before it occurs by requiring merchants to leave all but the last five digits of a credit card number off store receipts. This law will make sure that slips of paper that most people throw away do not contain their credit card number, a key to their financial identities.
- Creating a national system of fraud detection to make identity thieves more likely to be caught. Previously, victims would have to make phone calls to all of their credit card companies and three major credit rating agencies to alert them to the crime. Now consumers will only need to make one call to receive advice, set off a nationwide fraud alert, and protect their credit standing.
- Establishing a nationwide system of fraud alerts for consumers to place on their credit files. Credit reporting agencies that receive such alerts from customers will now be obliged to follow procedures to ensure that any future requests are by the true consumer, not an identity thief posing as the consumer. The law also will enable active duty military personnel to place special alerts on their files when they are deployed overseas.
- Requiring regulators to devise a list of red flag indicators of identity theft, drawn from the patterns and practices of identity thieves. Regulators will be required to evaluate the use of these red flag indicators in their compliance examinations of financial institutions, and impose fines where disregard of red flags has resulted in losses to customers.
- Requiring lenders and credit agencies to take action before a victim even knows a crime has occurred. With oversight by bank regulators, the credit agencies will draw up a set of guidelines to identify patterns common to identity theft, and develop methods to stop identity theft before it can cause major damage.
This is a great law and a great day for anyone who is trying to manage their personal finances. Free credit reports, thanks to the government. Amazing. Check it out for yourself at www.annualcreditreport.com.
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