That's Right, You Can Get A Copy Of Your Credit Report FREE Every Year From Each Of The Credit Bureaus.

It amazes me how companies are capitalizing on the amended FCRA which was enacted in 2003 via FACTA by proclaiming that they will give you a copy of your credit reports from the Big 3 Credit Bureaus for FREE!  You've probably seen the commercials recently of these companies saying they will give you a copy of your credit reports and credit score for FREE, but in reality, you can get your credit reports for free without any of these TV commercial companies.  Why? Because it is now federal law that the credit bureaus must provide you with a FREE credit report every single year.  What these TV commercials also don't tell you is that you have to sign up for a service which will cost you a monthly fee after they've given you your free credit reports.

So how is it that you can get your credit reports free yourself?  Well I'm glad you asked.

On December 1st of 2004, the three nationwide consumer reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, began processing requests by consumers for their free annual credit reports, which you can also do now at www.annualcreditreport.com The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requiring the credit Bureaus to provide consumers with free credit reports every 12 months.  Initially only the 13 Western States were allowed this priveledge but is now good in all States.

The Credit Bureaus are working to kill the Piggybacking method of credit repair by modifying the FICO Scoring model.

People shouldn't really be surprised by this move by the credit bureaus to eliminate this method of credit restoration since it has become almost a fad in helping people build good credit within the industry.  If you are unfamiliar with what piggybacking is within the credit world, let me explain.

Let's say you are someone who has little to no credit and you wanted a quick way to build credit so that you could begin getting loans or credit cards with high credit limits.  The quickest way to build this kind of credit history is to do what is called piggybacking where you basically rent someone else's high credit score.  There are credit repair companies who contract with individuals who have high credit scores, typically with FICA scores in the 750 to 800+ range, who are willing to rent out there high scoring credit score by allowing an individual to be placed on their high limit credit card as an authorized user of the card. 

This placement on someone's credit card as an authorized user is done for a fee which the credit repair company then pays the credit renter a fee for allowing the authorized user to be placed on their card.  So for example the credit repair company would find an individual with a high credit score, pay them $200 to allow them to place an authorized user on one of their credit cards for a month.  The credit repair company would then charge an individual who needs credit a fee of $1500 to $2000 dollars for this authorized placement and would almost immediately gain a huge boost in their credit score because the authorized user would now be shown as having this new credit account on their credit report. 

No personal information is ever exchanged between the two parties and the credit repair company handles all the personal data between the parties so it is completely anonymous in nature.  The authorized user is never given information about the account itself so there is no risk of the authorized user charging up items to this credit card.  This entire process is what is referred to as Piggybacking.  

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Bogus July 1 Email Exposed: The Real Deal on Your Credit File Privacy

An anonymous email containing false and misleading information about the use of your personal information is showing up in email in-boxes across the country, leaving many consumers concerned and confused.

Here's what the bogus email says:

"Just wanted to let everyone know who hasn't already heard, the four major credit bureaus in the U.S. will be allowed, starting July 1, to release your credit info, mailing addresses, phone numbers... to anyone who requests it. If you would like to "opt out" of this release of info., you can call 1-888-567-8688. It only takes a couple of minutes to do."

Here's the real deal from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency that enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

• The July 1 deadline relates to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB), which set July 1, 2001 as the deadline for financial institutions to give you notice of their privacy policies and a way for you to opt-out of some of their information-sharing practices. You may recall getting mailings or statement inserts recently from your financial institutions, creditors, insurance companies and brokerage firms about this. The July 1 date is not a deadline for consumers to do anything. In fact, consumers can contact their financial institutions anytime to opt-out under GLB.