It’s important for Arizona consumers who want to build and maintain a good credit score to regularly pull and check their credit reports. This will allow you to catch suspicious activity that could indicate identity theft and find errors that might bring down your credit score. If you’ve never checked your credit reports, don’t worry. Now is a good time to start. It won’t cost you anything to request copies of your credit reports from each of the three major reporting bureaus. It’s also fairly simple to make these requests, but there are a few things you should know if you’re pulling your credit reports for the first time.

How Arizonians can Simplify the Process for Pulling Credit Reports

There is a federal statute known as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. It grants you a free copy of your credit report from each of the major reporting bureaus every 12 months. If you have looked at your credit reports in a while, or if it’s your first time pulling them, it’s best to request all three at once.

You can go to TransUnion.com, Experian.com, and Equifax.com and request a credit report from each bureau individually. There are online forms on each credit bureau’s website. Or, you can get their addresses and write letters requesting physical copies of your credit reports through the mail. Of course, the most convenient way to get copies of your credit reports from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax is to go to www.annualcreditreport.com and fill out the easy online form offered here.

Credit Report Pulling Prep-Work

If you choose to fill out an online form, you’ll need to get some information in order for a series of personal questions. In addition to basic info like your name, birth date, Social Security number, and address, you’ll need details about past employers, loans, and credit card accounts. So, unless you have a very good memory, it might be a good idea to have some notes in front of you when requesting your credit reports. If you are unable to provide the correct information, you should send away for your credit reports through the mail.

When you receive your credit reports, you’ll probably notice right away that your credit score is not included. This is because, typically, your credit score must be obtained separately, and there are a few different ways to gain access to it. You can purchase it from any of the major credit bureaus, buy your FICO score from www.myfico.com, or get a free VantageScore from www.creditkarma.com. Just keep in mind that, while a VantageScore is useful, most lenders check FICO scores when making loan decisions.

What Arizona Consumers May find on their Credit Reports

While going over your credit reports, it will soon be obvious that all three of them are different. This is because some of your credit information may only be reported to one or two of the credit bureaus. Make sure to take note of unfamiliar accounts, as these could indicate that you’ve been the victim of identity theft. You should also look closely at dates and account details. It’s not uncommon to find errors on credit reports, and some of these inaccuracies can hurt your credit score. Fortunately, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (another federal statute) entitles you to error-free credit reports. However, it is up to consumers to find these errors, dispute them, and demand their removal.

Luckily, Arizona consumers with flawed credit reports can get a FREE credit repair lawyer to help them through the disputing process.

The Free and Legal way to Get Better Credit

Don’t let errors on your credit reports bring your credit score down. At Arizona Credit Lawyers, we’ve been cleaning up credit reports for consumers since 2008 for free. How do we do it? All of our fees come from the defendants in settled cases. This is why our clients pay nothing for the work we do.

Let’s start the conversation about what we can do for your credit. Set up your free consultation today by calling Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (248) 353-2882 or you can send an email through our Contact Us page.