A new law went into effect April 2, 2010 which requires the credit reporting agencies to give consumers access to their credit reports every year at no cost and no strings attached. You can receive all three reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, or 877-322-8228. This source is the ONLY one authorized to provide the free credit reports that are entitled to you by law. This is not a business that advertises their services and you are not asked to provide a credit card. All you need to access all three; the Equifax credit report, the TransUnion credit report and the Experian credit report, is your personal information (name, phone, address, SS# and answer a few questions). This information is necessary to positively identify that they are giving the reports to the right person.

You have instant access to your reports if you request them from the website where you can save them to your computer and/or print them out. You may receive your reports in the mail if you call in your request.  Whether you call or go online, you are given a choice of which report(s) you would like to receive. You will need to complete a separate form for each one you want. Receiving all three reports provides you with a more detailed representation of your credit status since there may be different information contained in each. If you believe there are no errors on your reports and you would like to use the free offer to monitor for identity theft, you can simply request one report now, another one in a few months and the third a few months after that. By continuing to do this, you would be able you to keep an eye on your credit throughout the year, year after year.

While these free reports are a great resource, you should be aware that they do not include your FICO score (the number). However, these reports do contain all the details that determine your FICO score. You can take advantage of one of the free trial offers from a commercial score provider if you want your exact score. Many of these sources will give you your score when you sign up for a free trial period of their services. You can simply cancel the service after you get your score and pay nothing for it as long as you cancel within the stated time period.