How to Get Your Free Credit Reports and Fix Errors

Your right to free reports

The three national credit reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, started offering free weekly reports during the pandemic. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), that program became permanent in 2023. You can now check your report at each company once a week for free.

There is only one place to go: AnnualCreditReport.com. The FTC warns that other websites may charge you or may be fraudulent sites designed to steal your personal information. If a site asks for a credit card for a "free" report, you are probably in the wrong place.

What a credit report is, and what it is not

A credit report is a record of your credit history. It lists your credit accounts, such as credit cards, loans and mortgages, along with your payment history, balances, credit limits and any collection accounts, bankruptcies or public records. It also lists who has requested your report recently.

A credit report is not a credit score. A score is a number calculated from the information in a report. Different lenders use different scoring models, which is why you may see different scores in different places. The report is the underlying record, and it is the one that needs to be accurate. Our guide to what makes up your credit score explains the scoring side.

How often to check, and which reports

Because each bureau may hold slightly different information, it is worth looking at all three. A lender might report to only one or two of them, so an error can appear on one report and not the others.

A practical routine is to check all three reports at least once a year, and to look more often before a major application such as a mortgage or car loan, or after anything that makes you worried about identity theft. Because the reports are free every week, you can rotate through them or check as often as you like.

What to look for

Go through each report line by line rather than skimming the score or the headline summary. These are the areas where mistakes and fraud most often show up.

• Personal information: wrong names, addresses or employers.
• Accounts you do not recognize, which can signal identity theft.
• Accounts reported as late when you paid on time, or balances that are higher than they should be.
• Closed accounts reported as open, or the same debt listed more than once.
• Collection accounts or judgments that are not yours, or that have the wrong dates.
• Inquiries from companies you never applied with.

How to dispute an error, step by step

The CFPB sets out a clear process for disputing errors. Mistakes are more likely to be fixed when your dispute is specific, in writing and backed by documents.

1. Contact the credit reporting company. You can dispute online, by mail or by phone with Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. Put your dispute in writing, explain what is wrong and why, and include copies, not originals, of supporting documents.
2. Include your name, address and phone number, any confirmation number, each error with its account number, and a request to remove or correct it. Circle or highlight the disputed items on a copy of your report.
3. Send it so you have proof. Certified mail with a return receipt gives you evidence of delivery. Keep copies of everything.
4. Wait for the investigation. The credit reporting company must forward your dispute to the company that supplied the information, and then report the results back to you. It may reject a dispute it considers frivolous or irrelevant, but it must send you a notice within five business days explaining why.
5. Also dispute with the company that supplied the information, such as a bank, landlord or card issuer. The CFPB says these companies generally must investigate and respond within 30 days of receiving your dispute. Send the dispute by certified mail to the address on your report or the one the company designates for disputes.
6. If the information was wrong or cannot be verified, it must be corrected or deleted, and the credit reporting companies must update your reports.

If the information is accurate

If the investigation concludes that the information is accurate, you cannot have it removed just because it is unflattering. The CFPB says that no one has the right to remove negative information from a credit report if it is accurate; only errors can be fixed.

What you can do is ask the credit reporting company to add a statement to your file explaining your side of the dispute. The statement is shared with anyone who requests your report in future. For accurate negative items, the real remedy is time: the CFPB says most negative information can generally be reported for seven years, lawsuits and judgments for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer, and bankruptcies for up to ten years.

If your dispute is not resolved

If you run into problems, such as a company that ignores your dispute or keeps reinserting the error, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Keep your dated letters and any replies, because they make the complaint far easier to resolve.

Fixing a wrong entry can take some patience, but it is worth the effort. A single incorrect late payment or an account that does not belong to you can raise the cost of every loan you take out, so a few hours of careful checking is among the best uses of your time in personal finance.