Which is more shocking? Finding out that Big-Brother-like companies are tracking each time you apply for credit, monitoring how well you handle that debt and parceling out that information to every bank and credit card to which you apply? Or discovering that you are required to pay those omniscient companies to determine what they know and whether it's correct? Thankfully, that question will soon be moot.
Every American will soon be able to get a free credit report every year -- no strings attached. This comes as a welcome relief to the millions of Americans who have had to pay to review their credit reports in the past. The free credit reports come as a result of the FTC's final ruling under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
According to the ruling, the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, are required to provide consumers, upon request, a free copy of their credit report only once every 12 months from a centralized source. This centralized source includes a Web site, a toll-free telephone number and a postal address.
So you are now entitled to one free credit report per year -- but if you live on the East coast, you will have to wait awhile. Thirteen western states begin the kick-off for requesting their free annual credit reports Dec. 1. These states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Over a nine-month period, the availability will roll out eastward, with the last of the eastern states becoming eligible on Sept. 1, 2005.
To recieve a copy of your credit report call 877-322-8228 or complete the form on the back of the Annual Credit Report Request brochure, and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281.
"We want to give the system a chance to get its feet wet," says Helen Foster, an attorney for the Division of Financial Practices of the Federal Trade Commission.
Foster says that since five of the states in the West already have free annual credit reports available, thanks to state laws, starting the rollout on that side of the country made more sense. Also, the credit reporting agencies will be dealing with a smaller portion of the population and then can build up to the parts of the nation with the largest populations.
It seems like this would be an excellent opportunity for the credit reporting agencies to send you through a complicated maze of requests to discourage you from applying for a free report, or to require you to hand over more of your personal information so they can turn around and sell it. But there's no catch. The FTC has required the agencies to make the process simple, uncluttered with advertisements and as minimally intrusive as possible. Also, the credit reporting agencies are allowed to collect only as much personal identity information as necessary to process your request.
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