Nowadays it seems that every channel you tune into, there's a commercial for a different company offering you a free credit report. I don't know about you, but most of the time, when a for-profit company is advertising something, it's because there's a sale attached to it. There's no way the bean counters at any well-run company will keep green-lighting an advertising campaign if said campaign is not turning a profit. And why do all those companies act like they're looking out for our best interests by offering us a free credit report? What's in it for them? Where does the truth lie (I know, wrong choice of words) when it comes to those free offers. It's true that with all the publicity that has been given to scams of all nature, people have grown increasingly wary of free offers. Yet if the ads keep airing it's because some people are still biting. Which begs the question: which of these offers (if any) are really free? The short version of the answers to these questions would simply be "No, they are typically not free", and "Yes, they mostly come with strings attached". If you're the type of person who like more detailed answers, then feel free to read on. A more detailed answer would be that just about any offer you see advertised on TV is NOT free, and so are most of the offers you see online. There are free offers, though, and we can help you sort out the free variety from the paid variety. Like we said previously, most of the credit report offers do carry a cost. Banks and other lending firms have been touting free credit reports for years now, but what they really are offering is a subscription service where you get to check your credit report any time you want. This service is managed either by them or is the result of a partnership with one of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. There are more than 3 credit bureaus operating in the US, but those three are pretty much the only ones that count. Many of the free credit report offers come from another industry that has been largely fueled by the rise of identity theft: we're referring to the "identity protection" businesses. Because of the large amount of publicity gathered by the people who have fallen victim to identity theft, people are more inclined to check what's in their credit report and many of them focus on the "free" part of the offers that are advertised to them. Yet the fine print on these offers makes it pretty clear that upon signing up, you're also enrolling for some sort of credit monitoring service, at a cost of $6.95 to $19.95 per month, for a period of three months to a year. The service alerts you of suspicious activity on your account, reports credit inquiries suppsedly made by you, and notifies you of late-payment notices that pop up on your account. For a few years now, the major credit bureaus are under legal obligation to each furnish you with a free credit report every year. That's three credit reports per year. But you have to ask for it, since their obligation is only to provide you with it IF you ask for it. There are three ways to get it: by phone, by mail, or online. In all three cases, you have to follow specific instructions so that your totally free credit reports gets delivered to you. You can legally request a free credit report if a company denies your credit, insurance or employment application based on information that was in said report. Just know that you have 60 days from the date this happened to make your request. Unemployed people are also eligible for a free credit report every year, provided that they're planning to look for a job within 60 days. Finally, if you're on welfare, or if you have reason to believe that your credit report contains errors, you can also request a free credit report and it will be sent to you. When it comes to competition, few industries push it to the level that banks do. Keeping current customers from going to the competitor and/or bringing them in from the competition requires ever-improving offers. That has prompted many banks to offer stripped-down versions of credit monitoring services as part of their services, as a reward for doing business with them. The terms vary but usually all you have to do is get approved for their credit card or open some type of account with them and you're good to go. Similarly, the companies that serve the high-end market (like, for example, American Express) also strive to offer their customers a complete suite of financial services, which almost always includes credit report access and monitoring. If your needs do not go beyond looking at your credit report a couple of times a year to check for erroneous reports and misuse of your accounts or identity, there's no need to pay a monthly fee for that. Even if you do want to monitor your credit report on an ongoing basis, before you go to a paid service, set up your free reports so that you receive one every four months. If that's still not enough for you, then you can investigate one of the banks or credit card issuers that offers the service as part of a package deal. Because so many life-changing decisions hang on the status of your credit report, it is essential that your credit report be accurate and that you take the necessary steps so that it remains that way. Monitoring services will only alert you, they won't do the legwork to correct anything that might go wrong. It's your responsibility to ensure that your credit report contains no errors, and you can do that without having to pay for it.
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