How Can I Get My Free Credit Report

By Andy Zain

In a good economy and with good credit, buying a car or even getting a simple store credit card is usually simple. In a bad economy, it can be a nightmare. With only a few issues on your report, you may not get the credit you need or want. You need to know what these reports are in fact saying about you. If you're worrying about "how can I find my free credit report online" - don't!

Don't wait till the last minute. Planning ahead is essential. For instance, if you already have a new car picked out, you don't want to be disappointed to find out you can't get the loan.

Recent legislation forces the credit bureaus to provide each consumer from almost every state with the right to receive one free credit report annually. They want you to do this online. However, since it is mailed out, it might take more than two weeks for it to arrive.

Options exist, however. If time is of the essence, you might want to consider registering for a free trial with one of the online companies that provides free credit reports. Considering all you really need to do is to see your credit report and check for misinformation, these free trials are a great option.

If all you need is your credit report, why do they charge a monthly membership? You're really paying for all the benefits they provide in addition to the credit report.

Once you see your credit report you can cancel your membership. They don't exactly make it easy to do this, however. Companies that offer this type of membership service while advertising that you can get your free credit report make you use a credit card to sign up. Then when you want to cancel, they never seem to answer the phone or respond to email requests to do that.

So what choices do you have? If you do end up seeing a charge from them on your next credit card statement, your credit card company will help you getting your money back. Chances are you won't be able to solve the problem with the merchant since they haven't answered your emails thus far anyway. Make sure you have copies of emails, a copy of their web page where it explains their trial period, anything that talks about a guarantee, and a printout of whatever type of confirmation they sent you when you signed up. You'll need dates on everything.

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