What's the best way to get a credit report?

[TitanDiddly]

There are all sorts of pop-up ads and tv commericals and such for 'free' credit reports, but I don't want to trust any of those unless they're recommended. Can someone reccomend to me a place where I can get a no-strings-attached credit report? IIRC, every US taxpayer is entitled to one a year, I just want to know where to go for it. Thanks!

 

[ViviTheMage]

myfico.com is better then the free one, it gives you a score!

 

[kranky]

annualcreditreport.com

Accept no substitutes!

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: kranky
annualcreditreport.com

Accept no substitutes!

Yep.
You're not just entitled to one, you're entitled to one from each bureau.
That reminds me it's probably about time to pull mine again.

 

[Ns1]

depends on what you're gonna use it for

a report IMHO is shit (if you need your credit for something), in which case you're gonna have to cough up the bucks for a score. MyFico is the only company that will give you a real FICO.

I use truecredit for the reports, as well as a ballpark FAKO (among other things)

I do the truecredit thing every business day, myfico once or twice a year

 

[Parasitic]

If you applied for an American Express Clear you get a free credit report each year. No hassle of having to fill out a million forms and things.

 

[dullard]

Kranky was right, annualcreditreport.com is the way to go.

Originally posted by: Ns1
depends on what you're gonna use it for

a report IMHO is shit (if you need your credit for something), in which case you're gonna have to cough up the bucks for a score. MyFico is the only company that will give you a real FICO.

I use truecredit for the reports, as well as a ballpark FAKO (among other things)

The report is all you really need. You can't do crap with a score (good or bad). The score, afterall is just a number. With a report, you can see if there are errors, any out of date data, or any thing that requires action. With the report, you can fix things, change your behavior, etc., you know exactly what you need to do.

Plus, once you have the report, you can fairly easilly calculate your score within a couple 10s of points all by yourself. MYFICO.com gives you the weights for each of the components. Then look at your report and you can see if any of the components shouldn't get full points. Bingo, you have your credit score fairly accurately.

Only if you are right on the border between getting/being rejected for a loan will knowing the exact score matter. And in that case, you get your score for free if you are turned down for a loan. Or, if you do get the loan, the loan officer often is kind enough and will tell you the score if you ask.

 

[TitanDiddly]

We're sorry, for your protection we are unable to deliver your FACT Act Equifax Free Annual Credit Report on the internet. There are a number of reasons that we may be unable to fulfill your request online. You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert, or the identification information submitted online may not match the information on file.

To request your Free Equifax Credit Report by mail, please fill out the attached form (PDF file), along with the documents described below, and mail them to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Please include with the attached form a copy of one item in EACH of the categories below in order to enable us to verify your identification and address. The item you submit from the "Identity" category MUST contain your Social Security Number and the item you submit from the "Address" category MUST contain your current home mailing address.

Identity
Social Security card
Pay stub with Social Security Number
W2 form

Address
Driver's license
Rental or lease agreement/house deed
Pay stub with address
Utility bill (gas, electric, water, cable, residential telephone bills)

To ensure that your request is processed without delay, please enlarge photocopies of any items that contain small print (i.e. driver?s license, W2 forms, etc). To avoid additional delays, keep in mind that if photocopies you submit are not legible or contain highlighting, we may ask that you resubmit your request with more legible documents.

NOTE: If you have a Security Freeze on your file, you must include your 10 digit PIN along with the information requested above.

Your personal information is used solely for identification purposes and is not shared with anyone.

WTF?

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: Ns1
depends on what you're gonna use it for

a report IMHO is shit (if you need your credit for something), in which case you're gonna have to cough up the bucks for a score. MyFico is the only company that will give you a real FICO.

I use truecredit for the reports, as well as a ballpark FAKO (among other things)

The report is all you really need. You can't do crap with a score (good or bad). The score, afterall is just a number. With a report, you can see if there are errors or any thing that requires action. With the report, you can fix things, change your behavior, etc., you know exactly what you need to do.

Plus, once you have the report, you can fairly easilly calculate your score within a couple 10s of points. MYFICO.com gies you the weights for each of the components. Then look at your report and you can see if any of the components shouldn't get full points. Bingo, you have your credit score fairly accurately.

Only if you are right on the border between getting/being rejected for a loan will knowing the exact score matter. And in that case, you get your score for free if you are turned down for a loan.

Well, I can only speak for my personal instance. I use the scores so I can know when to apply for credit. It gives me a nice ballpark range so I can get an idea of where the creditors see me.

I use the credit reports to see exactly where my accounts are. Has the credit agency seen my most recent payment? Are my balances current? What my %'s are, inquiries, etc.

It's pretty overkill, but I'm in an odd financial situation so it's worth the 15 bucks a month to me.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: TitanDiddly

We're sorry, for your protection we are unable to deliver your FACT Act Equifax Free Annual Credit Report on the internet. There are a number of reasons that we may be unable to fulfill your request online. You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert, or the identification information submitted online may not match the information on file.

To request your Free Equifax Credit Report by mail, please fill out the attached form (PDF file), along with the documents described below, and mail them to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Please include with the attached form a copy of one item in EACH of the categories below in order to enable us to verify your identification and address. The item you submit from the "Identity" category MUST contain your Social Security Number and the item you submit from the "Address" category MUST contain your current home mailing address.

Identity
Social Security card
Pay stub with Social Security Number
W2 form

Address
Driver's license
Rental or lease agreement/house deed
Pay stub with address
Utility bill (gas, electric, water, cable, residential telephone bills)

To ensure that your request is processed without delay, please enlarge photocopies of any items that contain small print (i.e. driver?s license, W2 forms, etc). To avoid additional delays, keep in mind that if photocopies you submit are not legible or contain highlighting, we may ask that you resubmit your request with more legible documents.

NOTE: If you have a Security Freeze on your file, you must include your 10 digit PIN along with the information requested above.

Your personal information is used solely for identification purposes and is not shared with anyone.

WTF?

They provide you with 4 or 5 reasons why they can not do it via the internet. Very clear.
Which category do you fall into?

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: Common Courtesy

Originally posted by: TitanDiddly

We're sorry, for your protection we are unable to deliver your FACT Act Equifax Free Annual Credit Report on the internet. There are a number of reasons that we may be unable to fulfill your request online. You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert, or the identification information submitted online may not match the information on file.

To request your Free Equifax Credit Report by mail, please fill out the attached form (PDF file), along with the documents described below, and mail them to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

Please include with the attached form a copy of one item in EACH of the categories below in order to enable us to verify your identification and address. The item you submit from the "Identity" category MUST contain your Social Security Number and the item you submit from the "Address" category MUST contain your current home mailing address.

Identity
Social Security card
Pay stub with Social Security Number
W2 form

Address
Driver's license
Rental or lease agreement/house deed
Pay stub with address
Utility bill (gas, electric, water, cable, residential telephone bills)

To ensure that your request is processed without delay, please enlarge photocopies of any items that contain small print (i.e. driver?s license, W2 forms, etc). To avoid additional delays, keep in mind that if photocopies you submit are not legible or contain highlighting, we may ask that you resubmit your request with more legible documents.

NOTE: If you have a Security Freeze on your file, you must include your 10 digit PIN along with the information requested above.

Your personal information is used solely for identification purposes and is not shared with anyone.

WTF?

They provide you with 4 or 5 reasons why they can not do it via the internet. Very clear.
Which category do you fall into?

One thing that I discovered is that the address information (past addresses) that they use for online identification can be VERY screwed up and formatted very strangely. I have a past military address from overseas, and it comes up in such a bizarre manner that it was initially impossible to do a verification based on the addresses as there was no way to guess how it showed up on the report.