How To Get A Free Credit Report

How to get a free credit report is becoming an extremely hot topic.  As more people want to find out about their credit history and make sure that there are no inaccurate items being reported on their credit report people do what they can to watch their credit reports.  The only problem is that all of the three major credit bureaus charge a fee to order individual credit reports or 3 in 1 credit reports.

A tried and true way to get your hands on a free copy of your credit report is to apply for credit.  In most cases when you apply for credit you want to be approved but this time you really want to get denied.  Or if you don’t want to apply for credit but you know that you have been denied credit in the last thirty days try to find that denial letter.

As long as you have been denied credit within a 30 day time frame you are guaranteed one free copy of your credit report from the credit reporting agency that denied you.  The reason you are guaranteed a free copy is because you, as the consumer, have the right to know exactly why you don’t qualify for credit.

Most denial letters will give one or two reasons why you did not qualify but there are no details.  Knowing that you are being denied credit because of “recent deliquesces” will not tell you what those delinquencies are or how recent they have to be to affect your credit.

Once you have a denial letter, or in some cases a code, you must then write or call the credit reporting agency.  If you do not have a code when you call you must make your request in writing by mailing a copy of the denial letter.  Whether you call or mail in your written request you will receive a complete copy of your credit report in one month.

Another way to get a copy of your credit report for free is by contacting your bank or credit card company.  These days many offer one credit report if you sign up for any of their additional services on a trial basis.  This means that as long as you cancel before the trial is complete you will not be charged anything but you will still be able to keep your credit report.

Even better many financial institutions (banks and credit card companies/lenders) will give you access to a free credit report and credit monitoring service simply to encourage you to take an active roll in monitoring your credit.

Telling their customers how to get a free credit report saves them from possibly losing money because of fraudulent account activity and also helps educate their customers on how to take care of their credit so that can possibly qualify for additional credit and financing.

Enter your search terms Submit search form