Wait For The FACTA Or Apply For A Free Credit Report It May Be Costly |
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FACTA (the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act) has already implemented its free credit disclosure scheme in most states, except the eastern states, whereby consumers will be entitled to a copy of their free credit report once a year from the three major nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies-- Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. In the eastern states this will be implemented by September 2005. However, there are situations in which you can get your free credit report without having to wait for FACT to complete its free credit disclosure program. If you have been denied credit for any reason and a credit report was used in making the decision, you have a right to a look at free credit report. You can send your request by mail or by phone within 60 days and you must mention whether you were denied credit, insurance or a job. The other situations in which you can get a copy of your free credit report are if you believe your credit report has been used to perpetrate a fraud, if you are unemployed or actively seeking employment, or if an employer or potential employer has requested a credit report and if you are receiving public welfare assistance. Why the delay? If you want to set up a free system in a competitive, for-profit industry where everyone in the country once had to pay for the credit information on file, it can't be easy-going. Lenders, collection agencies, credit card companies, leasing firms, almost anyone who extends you credit or reports information about you make up almost 100,000 entities that report information to the credit reporting agencies. Currently, 2 million credit reports are ordered each day, and 2 billion pieces of information are added to these files each month. Added to this overwhelming flood of incoming information, is the prospect of the rush of citizens requesting their free credit report which can completely inundate the whole system. To create a centralized point of contact for consumers, an entirely new system was essential and it needed to be properly safeguarded against any form of fraud. Since such sensitive information is involved, the process should probably not be rushed. How do the credit bureaus benefit? The credit reporting agencies are not allowed to market to you from the website but if you exit the site and log on to one of the three bureaus' sites, they are no longer prohibited to make sales. However, you should know that you are not required to purchase anything to receive your free credit report. There are other legitimate services besides the three major credit reporting agencies that offer fairly priced reports. Some of these reports are presented in a better, easily understandable format. Until FACTA covers all the areas, especially yours, you might have to shell out your hard earned money for receiving your free credit report. You might be watching the Internet ads or late-night TV commercials offering a free credit report and hoping to be able to get a truly free credit report but that is only a dream. Most offers of free credit reports have strings attached which will draw out more money from your purse than the going rate for a report. Moreover, if you sign up for a 30-day trial, most companies will give you a glimpse of one of your files and if you forget to rescind their services in time, you may be automatically re-billed for the service. The free report bait is also used by marketers to gather active internet addresses and as such it will be better for you to avoid any such offers. Therefore, you should either wait for FACTA to start operating in your state or you should pay the fee to the legitimate credit reporting agencies to view your free credit report, unless you like spam and relish being taken for a ride by the online marketers. |
