"Get your Free Instant Credit Reports Here!" Every credit monitoring agency will have you believe that these credit reports are one mouse click away. Ha! Sure you're entitled to one free credit report per year, but believe me, finding truly a "free instant credit report" is much more difficult than it seems.
Access to your no-strings attached, free instant credit report is a great help to all consumers. In the past, there was a fee required, not to mention the added hassle in order to get your credit report. The reports are the same now as before, but you, the object of the report, can now see what every bank, employer and landlord has always known.
Did you know that it is estimated that 70% of all credit reports have errors! Now, these range anywhere from typographical to pure fraud. Image being denied a car loan because of a problem on your credit that you had absolutely nothing to do with? This is one of the biggest fears in America and what easier way to combat this than to request an annual free instant credit report?
You can easily find a service online willing to provide your credit report for free. But, as you soon find out, the service is not free, but just a trial offer. Forget to "opt-out" and your free instant credit report just became $29.99 on your Visa.
IMPORTANT!
Over 50% of the web sites offering "Free Instant Credit Reports" are operated by the major credit bureaus.
There is only one site that can honestly provide a no-strings attached free instant credit report, and that is straight through the FTC. They can be found at http://www.annualcreditreport.com. I don't know of any other web sites that truly offer free instant credit reports.
The site is straight forward and easy to use. More importantly the FTC is not out to get your personal information or sell you something! Remember, the FTC will never try to get your personal information through email or a pop-up ad either.
Just a few last reminders to help protect you before you hit "submit" for your free instant credit report. You will not be penalized for requesting a copy of your credit as long as you do so just once per year. But do keep in mind that another request costs money and credit points.
Personally, I think that penalty is ridiculous, but who am I to decide? Instead of battle the issue, I subscribe to a credit monitoring site. Yes, it costs money, but this way I can monitor my credit as I need to. It's worth the money.
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Ann Born is a writer, researcher and website designer. She has managed Credit Repair sites that explain "free instant credit reports" as seen onhttp://www.officialcreditrepairtips.com. Also, she has written 100's of articles. All rights are reserved. This article may not be reproduced in any way without including the Author's Bio.
» left by Sandra E. Graham(2,204) Sandra E. Graham (134 days 17 hours ago.)
Thanks for the helpful info. I too have tried to get a free credit report and found that I had to take an hour or so worth of survey, then accept one or more offers before I would receive my "free" credit report. I opted out before I was halfway through the survey. Ridiculous!
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