FYI: How to Obtain Free Credit Reports

I understand next week in SDV you'll be talking how to manage your finances. The Virginia Credit Union offers free financial advice to members. Here's what they have to say about obtaining your free annual credit reports:

Free Annual Credit Reports

An amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide credit reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.

Three ways to request your free credit report

The three companies— Equifax, Experian and TransUnion— have set up one central service through which you can order your free annual report. You should not order free credit reports directly from the credit reporting agencies.

• Online at www.annualcreditreport.com (Cookies must be enabled on your browser). You will be able to access it immediately.
• Call toll-free (877) 322-8228. Your report will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days.
• Complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form (pdf) and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Your request will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days of receipt.

When you order, you will be asked to provide your name, address, social security number and date of birth. To verify your identity, you may also need to provide some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.

Report ordering tips

• When you order your reports, request that no more than the last four digits of your Social Security Number appear on copies of your credit report.
  
• While you may decide to do so, you are NOT required to purchase or subscribe to any other services from a credit reporting company in order to get a free credit report.
  
• Consider marking your calendar to request a report from a different company every few months, as a preventative measure against ID theft, rather than ordering all three at one time.
  
• Beware of e-mails, Internet ads and telemarketing calls that promise to obtain your "free annual credit report" on your behalf. In particular, e-mail messages or Internet ads claiming to be from www.annualcreditreport.com are likely to be scams.