You see and hear about them everyday. Websites offering a free credit report, but only to find you must sign up for a yearly subscription to their credit services. Did you know that by government mandate that all credit reporting agencies must make available a copy of your credit report to you for free each year? And you dont have to sign up for any credit watch service or even provide your email address?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has underdone many changes since its creation in 1971. On December 4, 2003 the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT Act) was ammended to the FCRA. This enabled the consumer to request a copy of their credit report in a 12 month period without charge.

You may request your credit report by mail. A form must be filled out in order to send your credit report. You can find this information in the FAQ section of the website listed below. Also if you are requesting a report for a minor under the age of 13 additional information is required.

You may also request a credit report electronically via the web. This method can be more secure if the right precautions are taken. Make sure that you are submitting your information securely. Secure websites are accessed with the https:// protocol not the http:// protocol. Also most if not all web browsers display a closed lock icon in the browser to signal that the information passed back and forth is being encrypted during transit. Make sure that this is your own computer and that it is free from viruses and has some type of firewall installed.

We have provided the contact information for the major credit agencies below. The links are to the specific point in each of their websites where they discuss the free credit report. The link to the www.annualcreditreport.com website is the website which was setup by all three credit agencies to facilitate handling of requests for free credit reports. Experian also has a link listed on their website www.freecreditreport.com but this is to a service that will start if you dont cancel within 30 days. It is not the free credit report you might be looking for and therefore we did not list it in the website links.