Some consumers may feel it is an injustice that they must pay for information on their own financial history, but you do not always have to pay for it. Congress agrees with you and forces the major credit rating bureaus to give you at least one free report a year.
What are the Credit Bureaus?
The major credit reporting bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion -- are private companies, despite often carrying the label "national credit bureaus." The Fair Credit Reporting Act lets these companies collect and view your sensitive financial data. Most of this information comes from your own lenders, who pay a subscription fee to report history on your accounts. If the bureaus did not charge money to collect, update and maintain their files, they could not stay in business.
Considerations
In 2003, Congress amended The Fair Credit Reporting Act to allow consumers to access their credit profiles for free once a year from each credit reporting agency. Just make sure you only go to AnnualCreditReport.com. Other websites, even the sites of the major bureaus, can legally charge you up to $10.50 for your credit report as of 2011. Also, the FCRA does not require the agencies to divulge your credit score rating.
Alternative Bureaus
In some cases you may have to pay to report information to a credit bureau, just like a lender. Alternative credit bureaus charge customers, but only because they must spend time and resources verifying your payment data. Alternative bureaus exist to rate the creditworthiness of people who do not have a traditional score. Rent, utilities and private loans usually do not appear on a consumer credit report from Experian, Equifax or TransUnion, so it is possible to pay bills on time every month, but have no traditional credit score.
Tip
The credit bureaus must furnish an additional free credit report every time you dispute an item and the agency changes your report as result of the claim, according to the Federal Trade Commission. You can receive additional free reports if you are unemployed and plan to apply for jobs in the next 60 days, on welfare and/or have been victim of fraud or identity theft that shows up on your report.
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