Government Credit Report

Thanks to United States Government regulations, the three major credit-reporting agencies in the country are obligated to provide consumers with yearly free credit reports upon request. This to help people spot reporting errors or even cases of identity theft.

The first act to make annual credit reports available for free was the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Later, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, otherwise known as the FACT Act, mandated that the reporting agencies make these reports available in a centralized manner. It is this act that gave rise to the idea of a “government credit report.”

When attempting to obtain one of these credit reports, it seems to make sense to type something like “credit report gov” into a search engine. However, the reports made available by the FACT Act don’t actually come from the government. Instead, they come from a site set up by the reporting agencies themselves: https://www.annualcreditreport.com. At this secure site, consumers can enter the information required to get their free reports from the biggest credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The site also has a fairly large FAQ that explains some of the details of credit reporting law and what to do if you suspect identity theft.

For those who don’t want to order their credit reports over the internet, it’s possible to obtain it through more traditional means. People can order their reports by writing a single physical address: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. To do this, a form must be downloaded from www.ftc.gov/credit. Calling for a report is also possible. To use this method, just dial 1-877-322-8228. No forms are needed when calling.

Online, www.annualcreditreport.com is the only site authorized by the government to provide the FACT Act-mandated free reports. There are several other websites that claim to get free reports for people, but a good reading of their fine print will reveal that to use those services, one must sign up for various other – paid – add-ons. There are also some completely fraudulent sites, otherwise known as “phishing” sites, that attempt to trick people into entering their information so they can commit the very crime many are trying to avoid – identity theft. Therefore, it is important that consumers make sure they have the right site before entering any data.

Once a credit report is ordered, how long it takes to receive it depends on the method used. If ordered online, consumers will have immediate access to their information. If ordered via the mail, it’ll take 15 days after the Annual Credit Report Request Service receives the request. If the order is called in, the report should arrive within 15 days.

Getting your free government credit report from the official source will ensure that your data is safe and you won’t incur any charges. If you haven’t checked your report in a while, now is the good time to order one and make sure everything on it is accurate.