If you're looking for a job, a home, or insurance, your credit report is probably going to be
checked. And if you get a free instant credit report, you can check it too. Because your credit
is so important, there are laws which protect you and govern how your credit information is
collected and used. And part of this protection assures that you have access to the information
in your free instant credit report.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act(FCRA) was written to ensure that the type of information in
your free instant credit report is maintained correctly. The history of your credit accounts
is kept in a file by a "consumer reporting agency" usually called a credit bureau. The same
people who request credit reports are the same ones who supply the information that goes
into your file. In addition, there's information from public records about tax liens, judgments
and bankruptcies.
Under the FCRA you have the right to get a complete and current copy of your credit report.
You also have the right to know the name and address of anyone who requested your credit
report in the last year or if it was an employer, in the last two years. And these requests are
listed in a section of your free instant credit report.
Anytime you're denied credit on the basis of information as in your free instant
credit report, you must be given the name and address of the company that supplied the report.
And you also have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report if requested within 60
days of the denial.
If there's an error or omission in your free instant credit report, you have the right to
notify the credit bureau and have them investigate the item. If the bureau finds that the
item is wrong, your credit report must be corrected to show this. And if you're unhappy
with the resolution of the dispute, you have the right to include a 100-word explanation
of the dispute in your report.
To get your free instant credit report and free 30 days of credit monitoring, please go to
free instant credit reports.
