It feels like that everywhere we turn, there is yet another company offering to give us a free credit rating or report to see how we are doing. This is either accompanied by a “man on the street” saying it is a good idea to check this out, or see a scruffy guy with a guitar singing about woes with his bad rating (which got him the bad home, the bad card and bad everything else). There are the occasional emails that said the same thing. While it is always a very good idea to check your credit rating to find out if everything is healthy, using these companies will bring more headaches than usual. For example, in one commercial, they will states that using their service will automatically enroll you in some kind of plan. There are some that even put small charges on your card and other programs that you have to get in order to get these “free” credit reports. There is only one source that will get you a credit rating for free, however they do not appear on television or sing stupid songs.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the website AnnualCreditReport.com is the only one authorized by federal law to give out free credit reports. Under a federal law, a person is able to ask for a one of three credit reports once every twelve months. The FTC either allows you to get all three reports at one time, or ask for one of three report every few months. The second option is better is that you can really pinpoint when your credit rating is taking a hit and why. A bad credit rating will affect buying a home, or even asking for a loan, or getting simple things such as insurance. The FTC also mentions the credit ratings will also affect other things that doesn’t even involved purchasing thing, such as employment.
One of the other good things about the free reports is that you can see if you were a victim of identity theft, so you can make a few changes in your report (and in your personal shopping habits). Regardless of what you use the credit reports for, the main things the FTC wants you to know are the following: there is truly a free credit report and it can only be issued by one source under federal law. Don’t fall for these commercials or emails again; if you do receive an email about these credit ratings, the FTC asks you to contact them with the fraud email and they will deal with it.
