Fillable Printable Annual Credit Report Guide

Annual Credit Report Guide

The Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau advises

consumers to check their credit

reports at least once a year.

CheCk your Credit report

at least onCe a year

Dispute mistakes you nd

Your credit report will include information about how

to dispute a mistake. If your dispute is about a credit

account, you should send a dispute letter to both the

credit reporting company and creditor that was the

source of the information.

Your dispute should clearly explain what you think

is wrong and why. State the facts, explain why you

are disputing the information, and request that it be

corrected.

In your dispute letter to the creditor, you may want to

enclose a copy of the relevant portion of your credit

report. Highlight the items in question. Also, include

copies of documents that support your position. Never

send your original documents. Keep copies of your

dispute letters and enclosures.

The credit reporting company and the creditor should

investigate the dispute or x any mistake. If the disputed

information is wrong or cannot be veried, the creditor

Consumers can receive free copies of their credit

reports every 12 months from AnnualCreditReport.

com. This is the only authorized source under federal law

that provides free credit reports from the three major

national credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian

and TransUnion. Other websites that promise free credit

reports may require you to sign up for “free trials” that

eventually charge you or purchase other products or

services you may not need.

Check your credit report to:

§ Look for and x mistakes that could hurt your ability

to get credit.

§ Be sure your information is correct and up-to-date.

§ Guard against identity theft.

Mistakes in your credit reports, or fraud caused by

identity theft, can make borrowing more expensive

or prevent you from getting credit.

Common mistakes in credit

reports include:

§ Loans and credit accounts you’ve never opened.

§ Misspelled name, wrong Social Security number,

wrong address, or phone number.

§ Accounts wrongly listed as late, incorrect balances,

incorrect credit limits, closed accounts listed as open,

incorrect delinquency dates, or accounts listed more

than once.

TIP: If you suspect that the error on your report

is a result of identity theft, you will need to le

a dispute to correct it. For information about

identity theft and steps to take if you have been

victimized, You can also visit the Federal Trade

Commission’s Fighting Back Against Identity

Theft website: http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft/

Servicemembers

If you are a member of the military on active duty, you

may place an “active-duty alert” on your credit report to

reduce the risk of identity theft while you are deployed.

This alert lets a business know that you are probably

out of the country, so the business is required to take

reasonable steps to verify your identity before issuing

credit in your name. More information about active-duty

alerts can be found on Ask CFPB at consumernance.

gov/askcfpb.

If you have complaints or concerns about a credit

monitoring service, contact the Federal Trade

Commission, 877-FTC-HELP.

1 consumernance.gov/askcfpb/31/what-do-i-do-if-i-think-i-have-

been-a-victim-of-identity-theft.html

must delete or change it and provide a correction to the

credit reporting companies that received the disputed

information. If an investigation doesn’t resolve your

dispute led with a consumer report company, you can

ask that a statement of the dispute be included in your

credit le and in future credit reports.

You don’t need to pay for

credit monitoring

Many companies that promise free credit reports want

to sign you up for credit monitoring services or other

products. You can take these free or lower cost steps to

protect yourself.

Monitor your credit yourself

Under the law, you are entitled to a free credit report

every 12 months from each of the nationwide credit

reporting companies. You can get these reports all

at once, or spread them out. For example, you could

visit AnnualCreditReport.com in January to get your

Experian report, in April to check your Equifax report,

and again in August to get your TransUnion report. By

rotating your requests this way, you can keep a periodic

eye on your credit records for free.

Put the freeze on identity thieves

You do not need to pay a credit monitoring service

to stop thieves from opening accounts with your

information. Contact Equifax, Experian and TransUnion

and ask that they put a freeze on your credit reports. A

freeze prevents prospective creditors from accessing

your credit le unless you lift the freeze for that creditor

or for a specied period of time. Typically, creditors

won’t offer you credit if they can’t access your credit

reporting le, so a freeze prevents you or others from

opening accounts in your name. Freezes are generally

free for victims of identity theft.

Request a fraud alert

If you believe that you have been or are about to become

the victim of identity theft or fraud, you can place a fraud

alert on your credit report.

A fraud alert requires lenders

to take steps to verify your identity before opening a new

account in your name, or issuing an additional credit card

or increasing the credit limit on an existing account. You

can also provide a telephone number so lenders can call

you to verify your identity (a fraud alert does not prevent a

lender from opening credit in your name).

Website

consumernance.gov

General inquiries

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

1700 G Street NW

Washington DC 20552

Submit a complaint by phone

855-411-CFPB (2372)

TTY/TDD 855-729-CFPB (2372)