The information in your free on-line credit report can have a significant influence on your life.
Whether you get a job or promotion could depend on it. How much you pay for your car and what
you're charged for insurance could depend on it. Where you live could depend on it. And unless
you're aware of what's in your free on-line credit report, you could be the victim of identity theft
and only find out after your credit has been wrecked.
Businesses seek ways to lower their risks. So employers and landlords want the personal
information found in your free on-line credit report to get reliable employees and tenants.
Banks and credit card providers check reports to find people with a good history of debt
repayment. Even insurance companies find that those people with good credit are less risky
to insure.
Criminals are also concerned with risk. Identity theft is both easy to do and hard to catch.
According to the FTC, the average victim of identity theft isn't aware of it until about a year
after the theft has taken place. At which time the victim's credit has been ruined and the
thief is on to his next victim. So finding out what's in your free on-line credit report is more
necessary than ever.
In the 40s, 50s and 60s as the use of credit was becoming more of an everyday thing,
the agencies that held credit files were becoming powerful yet secret institutions. No one
had access to a free on-line credit report. The consumer reporting agencies owned your
files and controlled who got to see them. If they didn't want you to see your own credit
report, you didn't. Which meant when there was an error in your report it would stay there
and you'd never know why you were getting turned down for credit.
In 1971, the Fair Credit Reporting Act(FCRA) was passed and the secrecy surrounding
credit reports was ended. The FCRA established that everyone had a right to see their own
credit report. Which eventually led to being able to get a free on-line credit report. And when
there are errors in the report, individuals have the right to have them corrected. This is
especially important since a survey done a few years ago by the U.S. Public Interest Research
Group found that a shocking 70% of the credit reports had at least one error.
To get your free on-line credit report and free 30 days of credit monitoring, please go to
free instant credit reports.
