Farewell to the old limit of two free credit reports per year for consumers. The three major national credit reporting agencies, namely Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, have had a change of heart and are now offering an extended deal.
Now, you can obtain a complimentary credit report from each of these agencies once every week, for the rest of your life. That's right - indefinitely, for as long as you can imagine, until the cows come home.
By law, all three credit reporting agencies are obligated to provide a free credit report to everyone every twelve months. In 2020, in response to the financial upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting millions of people, these agencies announced a temporary arrangement to provide free weekly reports. This temporary measure has been extended twice and is now a permanent offering.
Why this matters:
Many individuals are satisfied with merely knowing their credit score, assuming that if it's a decent number, their credit is in good standing. However, these reports often contain errors. Over the past year, consumers lodged a staggering 270,475 complaints against Experian with the CFPB, 309,391 against TransUnion, and 298,159 against Equifax. That adds up to a total of 878,025 compelling reasons to check your credit report.
"Mistakes, such as inaccuracies in your accounts or bankruptcies that don't belong to you, can have adverse consequences on your credit profile. They can increase the cost of borrowing, and even hinder your prospects of securing a loan, insurance, a rental property, or employment," emphasizes Colleen Tressler from the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Consumer and Business Education.
These errors can originate from inaccurate data provided by businesses reporting credit information to the credit reporting agencies or be indicative of identity theft. The sooner you identify a mistake, the quicker you can dispute and rectify it.
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