Today’s article, End of the “free” credit report, is a great excuse for me to talk about a topic that I’ve wanted to address for a while: The so called “free” credit report.
Lots of companies offer so called “free” credit reports, but many of their claims aren’t worth a hill of beans. Once you go to their websites, or bricks and mortar locations, you find out that they want you to sign up for subscription services. Some of them even offer monthly monitoring services for your credit, and come with a monthly fee as well. As of yesterday, however, they can no longer claim to offer free credit reports without a disclaimer on their websites, and in September, the disclaimer will also have to be included in radio and TV ads. Under the new rules of the Credit Card Act of 2009, any website advertising free credit reports has to include a disclosure on the top of each page that says “This notice is required by law and you can read more at FTC.gov. Also: You have the right to a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com, or by calling 877-322-8228, the only authorized source under federal law.”
I love it! It’s about time something was done about the misleading advertising I see all over the TV with regard to credit reports. It is a great way to keep people from being tricked into signing up for services they don’t want or need. The fact of the matter is, there is only 1 website that actually offers a free credit report, and that website, as stated above, is annualcreditreport.com. You should run your credit report every year, but don’t fall for the scams!
Tags: Credit Reports
