Identity Theft- It Could Happen to You- Free Credit Report

The U.S. economy is on the brink of a depression. All of us are finding it harder and harder to get by, with wages stagnant and the prices of goods continually on the rise, especially fuel. The mortgage meltdown is still going on and this is not making matters any easier for the U.S. consumer. With banks tightening their requirements for home loans as well, it’s getting hard to get ahead. Whether you know it or not, there are many things which can influence your credit score and they can change it in a moment’s notice. It’s hard enough to keep your credit score high; you need to take steps to protect yourself.

Right now, it is a great time to buy a home. While the market is not so kind to sellers at the moment, buyers have a lot of latitude for wheeling and dealing. A lot of people begin looking for a house before even finding out what the standing of their credit rating is and are denied home loans without knowing why. Right now, it may not seem important to you to know what your credit score is or see your credit report, but you can get a lot of benefit from knowing how your credit standing is. Before looking into home loans, one of the vest best things you can do is to find out how to obtain free credit reports.

Once you have done this and have the opportunity to look through your free credit report, you will know exactly what is on your report. By federal law, you are entitled to free credit reports once a year. Even if you are not seeking out a home loan at the moment, it is helpful to look at your report; in many cases, there is inaccurate information on credit reports. It may be easy to fix these errors in some cases, more complicated in others, but knowing what is on your report is the first step to ensuring that your credit is in good shape.

An amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act mandates that consumers can get a free credit report annually from all three of the credit reporting agencies - TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. The FTC warns consumers that there are plenty of scams to watch out for who prey on people seeking to obtain free credit reports. Most of these “opportunities” are in fact scams and can result in you giving your personal information to unscrupulous operators or paying a fee for something which you ca get for free by law.

These sites might ask you to buy something or join something in order to obtain free credit reports. Don’t fall for it. There is a place where you can obtain free annual credit report cards, this is http://www.annualcreditreport.com. The government suggests this site as a place to obtain free credit reports. If you had to pay for your credit report or feel that you were otherwise defrauded, file a complaint with the FTC. You might not see that money again, but you can help to prevent them from scamming other consumers.

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