Consumer 101: Get Your Free Credit Report From "Annual Credit Report.com"
You've probably seen those commercials featuring a friendly looking jackass and his factually inaccurate songs about what can happen to you if you don't check your credit report. It's true, checking your credit report is a good idea, but you can avoid subscription-hawking pay sites and, instead, go to AnnualCreditReport.com.
AnnualCreditReport.com is the website set up by the credit bureaus in order to comply with a federal law that entitles you to one free credit report each year -- hence the name "annual credit report."
Don't been fooled by other sites. They want to sell you a trial subscription to some credit monitoring service that you probably don't need.
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But the other sites have annoyingly catchy tunes.
@mbouchard: I know. the new one where he is on the bike is really annoying. F to the R to the GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
Keep in mind, you can only get one report from each bureau once free per year. Some people choose to get a different one every 4 months to space it out. And these free reports do not come with credit scores. If you want a report and a FICO score, I recommend myfico.com which is directly from the company who developed the FICO scoring system. You can make a secure one-time purchase there without having to sign up for any recurring subscriptions.
yep...my husband did the freecreditreport.com, which them requires you to sign up for a subscription and annoys you and then makes it a pain to cancel. But, it is canceled.
Annual-Credit, report. dot. com.,
hey we tried to warn you,
but you're just a moron.
Annual-Credit, Report. Dot. Com.,
It's a free way to check your credit,
so pass the word along!
But he's a cute jackass!
@Rivercat: Yeah, but did you see the car he's driving? Look's like he's still living in mom's basement.
@heavylee-again: The additional benefit of using the myfico site is that it doesn't ping your credit report with an inquiry.
freecreditreport.com the awesome scam, now advertises on Facebook!
If only Canadian's had access to annualcreditreport.com
I am stuck paying through Equifax or Transunion :(
The latest one seems to be something about "When. You. Are. A. Rock Star. You can party. Hard." Or something. Not sure exactly, as I generally mute the TV, then flip off the silent commercial.
It's still amazing to me: That guy from the commercials has gone through SO MUCH, but he and his friends still have the courage to create their art. His songs about regret and longing speak a universal truth to all of us.
@lalaland13: They make it seem like they are hosting a large party, when they are actually the help.
Any love for us Canadians? Is there something like that exists for us?
@RenRen: Oh, if only he didn't marry that chick. He'd have bought a house @ 7.5x income and be experiencing the joys of debt!
Snoop, can you write a song about how the magic FICO number is the key to more than you want, should have or can be entrusted with?
@shockwaver: No! No love for the Canuks... er... Kanucks... er... Canucks... Can... oh, forget it, I don't know how to spell canuc. See?
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: oh great. thanks for ruining my day. you S to the U to the C to the K! ;)
That reminds me, time to check my credit report again.
Take a look at the Alexa rankings for freecreditreport.com vs. annualcreditreport.com. Clearly, the jackass' marketing is working.
@shockwaver: i'll trade you my free access to credit reports for your free access to healthcare, but only if you throw in government-mandated perscription drug prices.
deal?
"friendly-looking jackass"... LOL. When you're right, you're really, very right.
@Veeber: You can score extra free reports anytime you are denied or "reclassified" for some sort of item which requires a credit check. My motorcycle insurance was "reclassified after review" (ie -pay more sucka) but it did say it was because of my credit report which I then got for free.
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Suddenly I am very glad I only get TV via rabbit ears and I barely watch it these days.
I work for a credit union and I ALWAYS recommend annualcreditreport.com. Too many people get suckered into freecreditreport.com which, ironically, never turns out free unless you cancel.
@Archipelago: Oh OK. They have a point then. I do have to go through a credit check before the party supply store will sell me stuff.
Why does Bad Credit Guy still have friends? He always ruins it. They have to work with him at the restaurant, since apparently if your friend has bad credit, so do you. They have to ride in his stupid car. God knows what they do with his bike.
I think they should all gang up and beat him. There's a commercial.
Good point. No deal.
A to the N to the N to the U to the...
awwww forget it.
@RenRen:
It's "Canuck". That was my High School's athletic team name. Don't ask me why since I lived in the middle of New Jersey and the school mascot was a woodsman. Not many canucks around there.
http://canadian-creditreport.com/free.htm
I used the Equifax form in the past, when it was fairly easy to find on their website. You get a free report after ID verification via Canada Post but no score.
ban me too....i have an inexplicable crush on the friendly-looking jackass. I'm hoping my love will show him how to use an appropriate credit report service.
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Damn you, sir.
Leaves room to whack head against hard objects in hopes of either getting that damn commercial out of his head, or falling unconscious.
D to the A to the thud ...
@algal924: Could be worse, some high school in New York's the Huguenots. The wackiest mascot we have in CT is the Little Noises (which is actually geographically relevant), although I think Killingly didn't get the memo that calling their teams "Redmen" or "Redgals" might not fly. Eh, no one lives up there anyways.
I have the same crush on that dude. I love those commercials
Man, to me he looks unwashed and like his apartment smells of stale BO.
If you want to get the free reports, do NOT try to get them from the Internet. They make it very hard and time consuming.
Go to the link below, print it, fill it out and MAIL it in. You'll get your 3 credit reports in the mail for free.
They MAY send you a letter with some "qualifying questions" to verify your identity, and THEN you get your reports for free.
You don't get your FICO scores for free but you can always buy them. The best place to get them is
because not only do you get your scores, you get the "reason codes" for why your scores are the way they are.
Don't be fooled with any other credit score from Experian , Transunion or Equifax. Those in-house scores mean nothing. If it ain't a FICO score, it's meaningless. Those other scores are often used as "teasers" to sign up for credit monitoring services, "get your credit score for free" but if you read the small print, it says "not a FICO score."
Thank you. God I hate that one the most. Like you'd never marry someone because they had bad credit. Please. If that were true there'd be a whole lot less married people in the world.
@Marshfield:
I actually had a finance guy at the Nissan dealership try to tell me that I had a score 40 points lower than what I have. I knew my FICO score and called him out on it. Amazingly, within about 2 minutes the loan rate being offered dropped 4 points.
It makes me sad that there are people out there who don't do the research before they walk into the dealer, or other places for that matter.
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->:
The following commercials are for scams. Do not visit the websites they are talking about.
The previous commercials are for scams. Do not visit the websites they are talking about.
Well Iâm shopping for a new car, which oneâs me? A cool convertible or an SUV. Too bad I didnât know my credit was whack, so now I'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact.
F-R-E-E, that spells âfreeâ,
credit report dot com baby.
Saw their ads on my TV.
Thought about goinâ but was too lazy.
Now instead of lookinâ fly, Iâm looking fat,
my legs are sticking to the vinyl
and my posseâs getting laughed at.
F-R-E-E, that spells âfreeâ, credit report dot com babyâ¦
What I don't get is the commercial where he has some junker car and he blames not checking his credit report. It wouldn't have mattered if he had checked his credit report he would have qualified for the same car, he just would have known in advance!
I've been seeing the same message on their website for a year... when are they going to fix the "condition."
A condition exists that prevents us from being able to accept your request at this time.
Please visit this website again at a later time, or to request delivery of your free annual credit report via U.S. mail, call (877) 322-8228.
Thank you.
Well, I knew better than to fall for the FreeCreditReport.com scam, but Equifax still managed to screw me out of my free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. I did get the Trans Union and Experian reports almost immediately - they at least honored the concept. But Equifax - always the sleaziest of the bunch - insisted that I enter my "password" first. Password? What password?
It finally dawned on me that I had subscribed to their Credit Monitoring crap EIGHT years previous and I am certain that I did have a password then, but I have no idea what that was now. Worse, that was back when Comcast was using Excite.com as their high-speed cable provider and my email was an Excite address. Excite is long since defunct and Equifax offered no way to change my email with which to get a new password UNLESS I replied the the email that they apparently kept sending to the old unusable Excite.com address.
Not exactly in the spirit of the intent of the free annual report, is it?
Jim
I have done this for years and the companies always refuse to send me my report right off the bat saying it is within the law to do so, which it is, but how annoying is it to send a copy of a utility bill, copy of my license, and all of my information, again, just to get this that should be readily available to me at anytime.
I can never see my free reports. Ever.
You mean I won't be selling food to tourists in tee shirts if I don't check my credit at their site? Whaaa?!