What Is the Fastest Way to Receive a Copy of My Credit Report?

Federal legislation passed in 2003 required the three major credit reporting bureaus to set up a system to allow every individual to get free copies of their credit report. You can order your credit report by phone or by mail, but the fastest way to get a copy is to use the online system. You'll get your report instantly.

Law

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 included a provision giving everyone the right to receive a free copy of their credit report from each of the three credit bureaus once every 12 months. Each of the three bureaus---Equifax, Experian and TransUnion---compiles credit data separately using its own systems, so all three of your credit reports may not necessarily have the same information. That's why the law gives you the right to see them all.

Website

The credit bureaus have set up a website to handle requests for the free reports: AnnualCreditReport.com. Go to the site, select your state from the drop-down menu on the home page and click "Request Report." You'll see a form to fill out with your name, birth date, Social Security number and address. After filling it out, you choose which credit bureau you want to order a report from. That bureau will then ask you some questions to verify your identity. For example, it might say you opened a car loan in a certain month, and it will ask you who lender is and the amount of your monthly payment. Once the bureau confirms your identity, it shows you your report instantly. You can view it and print it---but you can't save it on your computer.

Scores

What you won't see on your free credit report is your credit score. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act requires the bureaus only to provide free reports, which are the raw data they use to calculate your credit score. That's "your" data, and the law says you have the right to review it and, if necessary, request that errors be corrected. But the way the bureaus interpret that data is their intellectual property. If you want to see your credit score, you'll have to pay for it. When you order a free report, you'll get the opportunity to pay for the score, too. Or you can go directly to the three credit bureaus' websites (see Resources).

Warning

According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, hundreds of "impostor" websites have been identified that try to fool users into thinking they are ordering the free reports mandated by the federal law. These sites dupe visitors into providing their personal information, making them vulnerable to identity theft. There are other, more legitimate sites that have names similar to AnnualCreditReport.com that exploit this same confusion. They don't necessarily steal information; but they try to get consumers to pay for the same credit reports they could get for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.