NJ Credit Reports

Getting your credit report so you can review and monitor is something that should be common nature by now. With the many risks of identity theft these days, it has become the norm for consumers to commonly check their credit report, which becomes quite useful when seeking to repair your credit as well.

Where Do You Get Your Free Credit Report?

Every American is entitled by law to receive a free credit report each year. While you can find several sites online offering this free credit report, the only credible site authorized by the Federal Trade Commission is annualcreditreport.com. You are entitled by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to access one copy from each of the leading three national credit reporting agencies once every 12 months:

• TransUnion
• Equifax
• Experian

All sites who claim to offer a free credit report are also required by law to include a heading to the website stating that www.AnnualCreditReport.com is the only federally authorized source for a free annual credit report.

It is important that you know that although you may find some legitimate offers for a free credit report, most sites will require that you first purchase an item, product, or service before your report is issued. Be careful for sites seeking information from you for fraudulent purposes when you see offers for free credit reports online.

How to Get Your Free Credit Report

Getting your free report online is as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Get online and visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com.
2. Follow prompts for information.
3. Receive your report instantly online and download.

You can also get your free annual report by calling 1-877-322-8228. If you wish to receive the report by mail request, simply complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf and send to:

            Annual Credit Report Request Service
            P.O. Box 105281
            Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

You can choose to receive all three of the reports at the same time, or you can order one report at a time. If you choose one at a time, you can get them at different times of the year for a more thorough monitoring.

Why Request Your Credit Report?

You should request your annual report each year in order to keep in touch with your credit status and situation. Your credit report is used in a variety of ways such as:

• Evaluation of your credit applications
• Evaluation of insurance application
• Evaluation of employment application
• Evaluation of renting application for a new home

You want to be sure that the information found on your credit report is always accurate and updated so that those viewing the report for evaluation of your applications can see up-to-date information. There could be errors, mistakes, or signs of fraud that are only noticed when you frequently review your credit report and score.

If you ever find an account on your credit report that is unfamiliar or that you haven’t opened, or if you find any errors, you can visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.pdf to view the FTC tips for disputing credit errors.

If you find discrepancies that lead you to suspect you are a victim of identity theft, you can place a fraud alert on the credit report, as well as close any compromised accounts, and file an FTC complaint and police report. You can start with the FTC identity theft site online at http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft.