In the current financial times it is of utmost importance that you stay updated with you credit score. A credit score is a number that signifies your credit worth. Lower the credit score, lower is your credit worth and higher the credit score, higher will be your credit worth. If you are curious to know your credit score than you will have to apply for a credit report. This article pertains to information on where to get a credit report from?
You are entitled to get a free credit report from the major credit bureaus of United States of America. As you might be aware, the names of the credit bureaus are as follows:
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Equifax
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Transunion
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Experian
The federal law of US allows US citizens to get a free credit report from each of the above mentioned credit bureaus. US citizens are entitled for a free credit report from all the above agencies, once a year. This means that you can get three free credit reports every year.
The initial free credit report can be grabbed at “annualcreditreport.com”, which is a government operated official website to get your free credit report. You don’t need a walkthrough on how to get a free credit report from there, as the steps are simply straight forward and if you know anything about computers and internet, you will not have any problem accessing your free credit report.
In addition to the three free credit reports that all US citizens are entitled to, there are seven states in the US who can get an additional three free credit reports. The seven states are Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Vermont, Georgia and Maine. Although it has been publicly declared since many years, there are very few people that are aware about this fact.
People in those seven states can get a total of six free credit reports each year. There are hardly any people who have any information about this fact. If you are from those seven states then the extra credit reports will be really helpful.
Now you can apply for a free credit report online or even over the phone. When you get your free credit report online, you will get instant access to your credit report. When you are applying over the telephone, you will be handed the credit report after seven to ten days. With higher Internet Penetration and awareness about World Wide Web, applying online seems to be the best option.
But then you might have some apprehensions regarding the security of your free credit report when accessing it online. But there is no need to worry, as the credit report is encrypted and only authorized person can get access o the credit report. Also the encrypted report is sent over a secure connection which doubles the security.
On the contrary when you choose to get the free credit report by mail, then there is always a chance that the report might be mishandled or tampered with while the mail is sent to you. The credit report will not include all the details like your personal Social Security Number and as such if the credit report gets in wrong hands there is nothing much a wrongdoer can do with it.
So the best answer to “where to get a credit report from?” is getting the credit report online and that too by legitimate means. It is highly advised that you keep an eye on your credit report and there is nothing to lose as the credit report is free!
