Madison Park

FREE CREDIT REPORT

NC ITS FREE STARTING 9/1/05

With growing identity theft and more people swapping cash for electronic forms of payment, watching the information in your credit report has become even more important.

Employers and lenders use information in those reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus to help make decisions on jobs, housing and loans. Many people have paid about $9 to each of the three companies to get a glimpse of that financial picture.

But starting Sept. 1, it will be free.

Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in December 2003, letting Americans get a free copy of all three credit reports annually with a single request.

It's slowly been phased in nationwide, and North Carolina is among the final group of states -- including those in the Northeast -- where the service will be available in September.

Why should I check my credit report?

For several reasons: to ensure information in the reports is accurate, complete and up-to-date. And monitoring those reports helps you make sure no one has used any of your personal information to open fraudulent accounts or apply for loans.

Employers, insurance companies, landlords and lenders all use that information so making sure it's correct is vital. Reports should be checked at least once a year, said Paul McCollum, education and housing coordinator with Consumer Credit Counseling Service, a division of Family Service of the Piedmont.

What information must I provide to get a copy of my report?

You'll need to give your full name, birth date, address, and Social Security number. And based on how you order the report -- online, by phone or through the mail -- you may also be asked to give additional verification information based on the details of that report.

Those details are something only the person requesting the report should know like past addresses or amount of your monthly mortgage payment.

Should I order reports from all three companies at once or one at a time?

If you're planning to make a major purchase like buying a car or house, getting all three credit reports could be a good move. It lets you to see what information is on each report and resolve any errors that could hurt your chances of getting a loan or require you to pay more interest.

For people who are more concerned with monitoring their credit reports for any fraudulent information, staggering the reports would be better.

How long should it take?

If you order online through the secure www.annualcreditreport.com site, results can be viewed almost immediately.

Requests made by phone will be mailed out within 15 days. And requests ordered through the mail will be sent out 15 days after the form is received.

What information will be included on the credit report?

It includes your name, current and past addresses, current and past employers, credit account information and listings of companies that requested copies of your credit history in the past two years. It also includes information on whether you've been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy.

Do the free credit reports include my credit score?

No, the free credit reports don't include your credit score. That score, called a FICO score, ranges from a low of 300 to a high of 850. It's a measure of your financial risk that influences how likely you are to be approved for a loan and how much you could pay based on your credit risk.

Your payment history, amount owed, type of credit used, length of credit history and recent accounts all factor into the equation used to compute your credit score.

To get your credit score, choose that feature when requesting your credit report online through www.annualcreditreport.com or contact the credit reporting agency directly. A fee will apply.

What if I find inaccurate information on my credit report? How do I get it fixed?

Contact the credit reporting agency and the company that provided that information in writing as soon as possible. Keep records of your correspondence. The credit reporting bureau must investigate the claim within 30 days and give you a response.

If the company that gave the information to the credit reporting agency finds an error was made, it must report that to all three credit reporting agencies.

Why should I check it once a year? Does it change?

Information in your credit report can change monthly and sometimes daily based on how often the records are updated. And those records are used to compute your credit score, which can also change from month to month.

On average, records within the past year will have the greatest impact on your credit score.

Negative credit information -- being late repaying debts or not repaying them at all -- will stay on your report for at seven years.

Is there a deadline for ordering my free credit reports?

There is no deadline, but you are limited to one free report from each of the companies per year. You may order additional copies for a fee.

What about other Web sites advertising free credit reports?

The official Web site tied with giving consumers a free annual copy of their credit report is www.annualcreditreport.com.

But a number of other Web sites claiming to offer free credit reports have also cropped up. The Federal Trade Commission settled a lawsuit with one company earlier this week and sent letters to 130 other companies cautioning that their practices may be deceptive and mislead consumers.

Often those Web sites provide free credit reports but they come with strings, such as payment for credit monitoring services.

Sources: Federal Trade Commission, myFICO.com and Consumer Credit Counseling Service, a division of Family Services of the Piedmont