Acquiring and understanding credit reports and scores

             There are many businesses that aim to make money by providing services to consumers to check their credit reports and confirm the information in them. These companies advertise heavily. In the US, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its amendments require that any national consumer credit reporting agency (including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and any national specialty consumer reporting agency (including Innovis, PRBC, Teletrack) provide a free copy of the credit reports for any consumer who requests it, once per year. Free annual credit reports for Experian, Equifax and TransUnion may be requested at https://www.annualcreditreport.com. Note that many imposter websites with names similar to www.annualcreditreport.com exist, and users will see promotions for extra credit-checking services that cost money. Carefully following the process and declining for-pay services will allow users to get their free annual credit reports. Also note that the free reports do not include the consumer's credit score. Rather, they provide a list of accounts so users can confirm that no erroneous information is on the reports.

Information from the GSA Federal Citizen Information Center (US government) is available for free download in .pdf form at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov. Look for the pamphlets "Building a Better Credit Report" and "Your Credit Scores."

        The government of Canada offers a free publication called Understanding Your Credit Report and Credit Score. This publication provides sample credit report and credit score documents with explanations of the notations and codes that are used. It also contains general information on how to build or improve credit history, and how to check for signs that identity theft has occurred. The publication is available online through http://www.fcac.gc.ca, the site of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Paper copies can also be ordered at no charge for residents of Canada.