Activities:
1. Review the following information from
the Federal Trade Commission.
Source: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm
1. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax,
Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit
report, at your request, once every 12 months. The FCRA promotes the accuracy
and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting
companies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection
agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.
2. A credit report includes information on
where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued or
arrested, or have filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies
sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other
businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance,
employment, or renting a home.
3. Here are the details about your rights
under the FCRA and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, which
established the free annual credit report program.
4. Question: How do I order my free report?
The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order
your free annual report.
To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual
Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service,
P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it
from ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting
companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com,
1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting
companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the
companies, one at a time. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report
from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
5. A Warning About “Imposter” Websites
Only one website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law —
annualcreditreport.com. Other websites that claim to offer “free credit
reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring” are not part of the
legally mandated free annual credit report program. In some cases, the “free”
product comes with strings attached. For example, some sites sign you up for a
supposedly “free” service that converts to one you have to pay for after a trial
period. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be unwittingly agreeing
to let the company start charging fees to your credit card.
Some "imposter” sites use terms like “free report” in their names; others have URLs
that purposely misspell annualcreditreport.com in the hope that you will mistype
the name of the official site. Some of these “imposter” sites direct you to other
sites that try to sell you something or collect your personal information.
Annualcreditreport.com and the
nationwide consumer reporting companies will not send you an email asking for
your personal information. If you get an email, see a pop-up ad, or get a phone
call from someone claiming to be from annualcreditreport.com or any of the
three nationwide consumer reporting companies, do not reply or click on any
link in the message. It’s probably a scam. Forward any such email to the FTC at
spam@uce.gov.
6. Question: What information do I need to
provide to get my free report?
You need to provide your name,
address, Social Security number, and date of birth. If you have moved in the
last two years, you may have to provide your previous address. To maintain the
security of your file, each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you
for some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly
mortgage payment. Each company may ask you for different information because
the information each has in your file may come from different sources.
7. If students have access to computers
and they are at least 13 years of age, they can
order their credit reports. If students
cannot access individual reports, click on
the link to the sample credit report from Experion. (http://www.experian.com/credit_report_basics/pdf/samplecreditreport.pdf)
Review
the sample report, identifying the information it includes.
NOTE: The free credit reports from
AnnualCreditReport.Com do not include FICO or other credit scores. For more about credit scores, go to the “My FICO”
site: http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/creditscores.aspx
