You can get a free credit report from each of the three major bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — once every week through AnnualCreditReport.com.1Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You Now Have Permanent Access to Free Weekly Credit Reports That’s three free reports per week, every week, with no annual cap. Federal law separately guarantees additional free copies in certain situations, such as a credit denial, unemployment, or identity theft, and those sit on top of the weekly allowance.
Where the Weekly Access Comes From
The Fair Credit Reporting Act sets a legal floor of one free disclosure per bureau every twelve months.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures The weekly program is more generous than the statute. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion began offering free weekly reports voluntarily during the pandemic, extended the program twice, and made it permanent in October 2023.1Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You Now Have Permanent Access to Free Weekly Credit Reports
What that means in practice: the yearly report is your guaranteed right, and the weekly report is current policy. If the bureaus ever stopped offering weekly access, you’d still be entitled to one free copy per bureau per year. For now, weekly is the real number to work with, and it’s enough to catch errors quickly, watch for unauthorized accounts, and track your file after paying down balances or closing an account.
Extra Free Reports Beyond the Weekly Program
Several events entitle you to additional free copies from the bureaus. These are separate from AnnualCreditReport.com and are triggered by your circumstances, so you can tap them even in a week when you’ve already pulled your weekly reports.
- A credit denial or other adverse action. If a lender, insurer, or employer turns you down based on information in your file, you have 60 days from the notice to request a free copy of the report used in that decision.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures
- Unemployment. If you’re out of work and plan to apply for a job within 60 days, you qualify for a free report.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures
- Public assistance. Consumers receiving public welfare benefits can request a free disclosure once per year under the same provision.
- Fraud alerts. When you place a fraud alert on your file, you’re entitled to a free report from each bureau that maintains your file. An extended fraud alert, available after you file an identity theft report, entitles you to additional free reports as well.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts and Active Duty Alerts
If you’ve already used your weekly pull and then get a denial letter, you can still request the additional free copy by contacting the bureau directly. The two systems don’t cancel each other out.
Active Duty Military
Service members on active duty, reservists called to active service, and National Guard members are entitled to free electronic credit monitoring from each nationwide bureau instead of a one-time pull.4eCFR. 16 CFR 609.3 – Requirement to Provide Free Electronic Credit Monitoring Service You self-certify your status when you sign up, and the certification lasts two years. This runs alongside the weekly report program.
Specialty Reports Have Their Own Free Pull
The three major bureaus aren’t the only companies that keep files on you. Dozens of specialty consumer reporting companies collect data for tenant screening, check-writing history, insurance claims, medical payments, and more. They’re also required to give you a free report, generally once a year.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. List of Consumer Reporting Companies If you’ve been turned down for a rental, had a check rejected, or seen an unexplained insurance rate increase, the report behind that decision likely came from one of these companies rather than from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. The CFPB publishes the full list, organized by industry, so you can find the right company to contact.
How to Actually Request Your Reports
There are three authorized channels, and all of them lead to the same place. Using any other site to order your “free” report risks fees for something the law guarantees at no cost.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Get a Free Copy of My Credit Reports?
- Online at AnnualCreditReport.com. Select the bureau reports you want, answer a few security questions, and view your reports immediately.
- By phone at (877) 322-8228.
- By mail. Download the Annual Credit Report Request Form and send it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Reports arrive within 15 days.7AnnualCreditReport.com. Getting Your Credit Reports
Whichever method you use, be ready to provide your full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current address. If you’ve moved in the past two years, you may also need your previous address.8Federal Trade Commission. Annual Credit Report Request Form Online and phone requests use knowledge-based authentication: questions about details from your financial history, such as which lender holds a specific loan or what the monthly payment is on a particular account. Miss one and the system may lock you out, which means switching to the mail option. Take your time on the first attempt.
Checking Your Own Report Does Not Lower Your Score
A worry that keeps a lot of people from using their weekly access: that pulling the report themselves will hurt their credit. It won’t. Reviewing your own file registers as a soft inquiry, which has no effect on your score. The hard inquiries that can temporarily dent a score only happen when a lender checks your file because you applied for credit. You could pull your reports every week of the year without any impact.
The Free Report Does Not Include Your Score
Your credit report and your credit score are different things. The report is the raw data — account balances, payment history, how old each account is, and any negative marks such as collections or late payments. The score is a number calculated from that data.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is the Difference Between a Credit Report and a Credit Score? The free reports from AnnualCreditReport.com don’t include the score itself.
Many banks and credit card issuers display a free score inside your account dashboard, and lenders are sometimes required to share your score when they offer you less favorable terms based on it. For most purposes, the report is actually more useful than the score, because it shows the account-level information that the score is built from.