anybody know where to get a free credit report with no credit card?

[hrdneglcry]

anybody know where to get a free credit report with no credit card? All the sites I have found want a credit card in order to give me my free credit report.

[Aliie]

You should be able to contact one of the big 3 to get it. I last heard you were allowed 3 per year free.

[hrdneglcry]

i went to equifax.com, and they want $12.95

[Aliie]

Did you try www.creditreport.com ? I pay $4 a month for a monitoring service from them and get a free report every 3 months.

[Icefire]

you need to get a paper report to get it free from equifax, not online

[fishyvet]

www.annualcreditreport.com or 877-322-8228. Get the reports for free from Experian, Equfax, and Trans Union once per 12 months. I was told by a financial adviser to check the report from one company every 4 months (rotating companies) to check for identity theft.

[mhurley]

Good advice fishyvet. Federal laws enacted a couple years ago entitles everyone to a free copy from all three of the bureaus and that is the correct site to get it from. Some are better than others at delivering it real-time to you on-line (one is notorious for having issues and needing you to call them instead of doing it online). Some mail it to you. But go there when you have some time (and patience) because they are all going to take you through an identity verification process.

(I work for one of the 3, but wont say which ;) )

[Freed]

mhurley, why wont the credit bureaus list their phone numbers so you can talk to a live person when you need questions answered?

[mhurley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9830475#post9830475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
mhurley, why wont the credit bureaus list their phone numbers so you can talk to a live person when you need questions answered?

Actually, that's not true (at least for mine). We have a 400+ person call center whose sole purpose is to handle inbound consumer disputes. Most of us (perhaps all, not sure) require that you actually have a fresh copy of your report to call and ask questions about...rather than just calling and saying "my report is wrong".
We are actually all required by law to maintain live agents available to people at certain hours of the day.

In all honestly, if the questions are about something being wrong, once you get your report, you can dispute it on-line and it is much faster and you can do it at your convenience, rather than calling and waiting for someone. Some of us have very robust internet sites with lots of consumer information and FAQ's on them...others, not so much.

Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
1-888-397-3742

Trans Union
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
800-916-8800

Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-800-997-2493

All that said...if you have general questions, I'm happy to answer. If they are specific to your report, I can't help.

[Aliie]

I've never really had any trouble contacting them. Give the numbers a try. Also the people that work there seem to be very nice and knowledgable as well as helpful.

Like I said before I have a service that I use to monitor my credit report and get one every 3 months. These days you really should keep up with any activity on there. Also let you know if you are making procgress or taking steps back in your credit score.

[mhurley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9830984#post9830984 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aliie
I've never really had any trouble contacting them. Give the numbers a try. Also the people that work there seem to be very nice and knowledgable as well as helpful.

Like I said before I have a service that I use to monitor my credit report and get one every 3 months. These days you really should keep up with any activity on there. Also let you know if you are making procgress or taking steps back in your credit score.

There are a number of those services that are very good and worth the money and peace of mind.

There are 2 basic types of services. Those that send you a report every few months, like you describe Aliie. Another one, that I prefer is a true monitoring service in that it "watches" your report and notifies you when something changes. So if a new credit card gets opened up, I get an instant notification that something has changed....not learning about it 3 months from now.

[Aliie]

Yes make sure you get one that is in contact with you. Anytime someone trys to pull my credit report I get a phone call. I have to either allow it or refuse it.

You also have an option to lock your credit for up to 7 years (I am not sure of the length of time). I did this earlier in the year for the Doc I work for. It requires a letter and some additional PPWK but if you have no need for credit then it's a good idea. He has had his identity stolen once. He has no need for credit so he locked it.

[Freed]

I just tried the Experian phone number you have posted. There is no way to speak to a live person. This is what I am talking about. They do not list a phone number or have options available to speak to a human being.
All options direct you to the web site to e-mail them but no options for TALKING TO A LIVE HUMAN BEING.

[mhurley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9831172#post9831172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
I just tried the Experian phone number you have posted. There is no way to speak to a live person. This is what I am talking about. They do not list a phone number or have options available to speak to a human being.

It's Saturday.

[Freed]

This is the exact same thing I have run into during the week as well. What option #s do I use?

[mhurley]

Freed,

As I said earlier, most, if not all bureaus, require that you have a copy of your report first to call and dispute/discuss anything. On that report it prints a specific phone number for you to call to speak to someone (it can vary by state/region).

[Freed]

Ah, my bad.