How you can order your free credit report to check for errors, restore good credit

You can get your free credit reports from the 3 major credit bureaus -- TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax -- once each year.

You can order your reports and view them online, and you will even have the option to print it off on your home computer printer to review it offline.

Although you won't get your FICO credit score for free (you'll have to pay a few dollars for it), having your free credit report will allow you to check over your reported history file, searching for errors and ommissions.

Information you'll need to provide to get your free credit report:

Your full legal name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to provide your previous address. For security purposes each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you for some information that only you would know.

I've known where they will ask for your monthly mortgage payment, perhaps they will ask you a question that nobody else would be able to answer.

In any case, each company might ask you for different information, because the information they have about you in your file may come from different sources.

Why you need to check a copy of your credit report? Your credit report has information that affects whether you can get a loan – and the interest you will be charged to borrow money. Two important reasons to check your credit are to:

• Ensure information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date before you apply for a loan for a major purchase like a house or car, buy insurance, or even apply for a new job.
• Guard against identity theft, and prevent someone from from stealing your personal information – like your name, your Social Security number, or your credit card number – to commit fraud. Identity thieves steal this information to open new credit card accounts in their victims' name. Then, when they don’t pay the bills, the delinquent account is appears on the victims' credit report.

Inaccurate information could potentially rob you of your ability to get that new job you've been wanting, or to buy a new auto or a new home. So there's important reasons to stay on top of your credit report and ensure that the information found there is accurate and up-to-date.

To get your free credit reports, log onto www.annualcreditreport.com and follow the simple instructions to find out what's hiding in your credit reports today.

Read more about how to improve your credit score.

Step-by-step credit repair examples to help you repair your credit history -- you get proven ways to fix your credit score quick.

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