Annualcreditreport.com

Annualcreditreport.com is a website jointly operated by the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies. The site was created in order to comply with their obligations under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) to provide a mechanism for American consumers to receive a free annual credit report.

Background

One of the provisions of FACTA, passed in 2003 as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), was a requirement that the credit reporting agencies provide, upon request, a free credit report every twelve months to every consumer. The goal was to allow consumers a way to ensure their credit information is correct and to guard against identity theft.cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm|title= Your Access to Free Credit Reports|publisher=Federal Trade Commission|date=September 2005|accessdate=2007-12-21]

Accordingly, the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion created the joint venture company, Central Source LLC, to oversee their compliance with FACTA. [cite web|url=http://www.esperanza.us/site/pp.asp?c=6nJGLONiGiF&b=237604|title=Credit Reports and Credit Scores|publisher=Esperanza USA|accessdate=2007-12-21] Central Source then set up a toll free telephone number, a mailing address and a central website, annualcreditreport.com, to process consumer requests. Access to the free report was initially rolled out in stages, based on the consumer’s state of residence. By the end of 2005 all U.S. consumers could use these services to obtain a credit report.

Use of annualcreditreport.com

Annualcreditreport.com requires users to register with the site and provide their basic identification information, such as name, address and social security number. The user is then sent to the website of the individual credit reporting agency they select, where they are asked additional security questions to confirm their identity before getting their report. A consumer can request reports from all three agencies at the same time or stagger the requests throughout the twelve month period as a way to self-monitor their credit data. In order to obtain a free credit report, users are not required to give their credit card number and establishing an account is required by some of the agencies. Any inaccuracies or signs of identity theft may be dealt with using the mechanisms provided for under the FCRA and FACTA.

Credit scores are available as an add-on feature of the report for a fee.

The AnnualCreditReport.com website is only accessible through ISPs (Internet Service Providers) located within the United States and its territories.cite web|url=http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:s0-rw6wqD5IJ:www.annualcreditreport.com/+AnnualCreditReport.com&hl=en|title= AnnualCreditReport.com not accessible outside the United Stare|publisher=Google Inc,|accessdate=2008-07-29]

Criticisms and concerns

Credit inquiry effects on credit score

Using this service does not lower the consumer's credit score, as it counts as a "soft" credit pull. However, "hard" credit pulls made by lenders directly affect the borrower's credit score.

For more information see credit history and credit score.

Third-party fraud attempts

Annualcreditreport.com is the only federally mandated and authorized source for obtaining a free credit report. The Federal Trade Commission cautions consumers to be aware of “imposter” websites that have similar names or are deliberate misspellings of the real name.

In order to investigate this concern, the consumer group World Privacy Forum has made two studies regarding annualcreditreport.com. Their July 2005 study found that there were 233 domains with names very similar to annualcreditreport.com, of which 112 routed users to a variety of unintended destinations, including for-fee services, “link farms” and pornographic sites. The report concluded that the credit reporting agencies and the Federal Trade Commission needed to do more to rein in and shut down imposter sites. [cite web|url=http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/pdf/wpfcalldontclickpt2_7142005.pdf|title=Second Report on AnnualCreditReport.com and Related Issues|publisher=World Privacy Forum|date=July 19, 2005|accessdate=2007-12-21]

References

External links

* [http://www.annualcreditreport.com Annualcreditreport.com]
* [http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/pdf/wpfcalldontclickpt2_7142005.pdf World Privacy Forum’s 2005 Report on Annualcreditreport.com]