Catchy Commercials, But Not Free

Over the past two weeks, A+ employees have attended four different college fairs at local high schools. I was fortunate enough to attend two of them. At the fairs, we decided to have a trivia contest to test the knowledge of the high school students in attendance. We asked students to enter by filling out a slip of paper asking for name, email, and an answer to one question with four options to choose from:

“What site allows you to download a free copy of your credit report from the three major bureaus yearly?”

a. Myfico.gov
b. Freecreditreport.com
c. Irs.gov
d. Annualcreditreport.com

We would like to say we were surprised with the response, but, with those catchy commercials, it was no surprise that 63% of students chose freecreditreport.com. In total, 83% of students got the answer wrong.

But is this just for high school students? Are they the only ones who don’t know where to get a free copy of their credit report? What about you? Do you know the answer?

The only government sponsored site where people can get a free copy of their credit report annually from each of the three major reporting bureaus is www.annualcreditreport.com.

Lenders use information from at least one, if not more, of the three when making their decisions. The three bureaus are TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.

The first option, myfico.gov, is the site where you can PAY to receive your credit score, which is different from your credit report. Your credit report details your credit accounts with information such as outstanding balances, payment history, contact information, and more. Your credit score is calculated by each bureau using a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO). Because each bureau reports different information on your credit report, scores from each bureau can vary. This FICO score is used by most lenders when they determine how much of a credit risk you are.

The second option, Freecreditreport.com is, in fact, not free and definitely not part of the government sponsored program. The site is owned by one of the bureaus, Experian. When you go to the front page, there is a disclaimer down on the left:

“Important information:

When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial
membership in Triple Advantage. If you don’t cancel your membership within the
7-day trial period, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue
your membership.

Consumerinfo.com, Inc. and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the
annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right
to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of
the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual
report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.”

The third option, irs.gov, is the home page for the Internal Revenue Service, or the people that oversee taxes. Although taxes are important, irs.gov does not provide your free credit report.

You may be wondering, “Yeah, this is all great, but does it really matter? Why do I need to check my credit report each year?”

Well, what if I told you that the majority of credit reports have at least one error? And what if I told you that about a quarter of them have an error that is serious enough to prevent the person from getting credit at all?

These errors aren’t just misspellings or wrong addresses; they are credit accounts you never opened, missed payments you did in fact make on time, and more.

By checking your credit report on an annual basis, you can catch these errors and get them resolved. You can make sure no one has opened a credit account using your information illegally.

In short, it’s important to get and check your credit report once a year. This simple action can save you a lot of time and money later.