Annualcreditreport.com

If you've wanted to check out what's on your credit report, but didn't want to pay $10 or more, then your lucky day has come.

A new site has appeared that will let you check your credit report from the three big credit agencies for free. Annualcreditreport.com. This isn't a scam. The site has been put up as part of the updated Fair Credit Reporting Act passed in January that guarantees U.S. citizens an opportunity to look at their credit report.

Unfortunately, certain areas of the US aren't able to check their credit reports yet. The US is divided into four areas. Each area will be able to check their credit reports for free once a year beginning on different dates specified in the picture below. How'd they determine who would go first, I wonder...

Diagram showing the dates when different regions of the country can use annualcreditreport.com (source: annualcreditreport.com)

--Update: For some strange reason, when anyone clicks on a link to their site they recieve this message.

For security purposes, www.AnnualCreditReport.com can be accessed by typing the web address "www.annualcreditreport.com", or from links from the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov), Equifax (www.equifax.com), Experian (www.experian.com) and TransUnion (www.transunion.com) websites.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only web source authorized by all three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies from which free annual credit file disclosures can be requested.

I guess I can understand that ... well, actually I can't (just like current fashion trends), but thems the rules. So, right click the annualcreditreport.com link above and select "copy link location" (for firefox users) or "copy shortcut" in IE and right click your browser's address bar and choose paste. Or, just type the address manually if you like doing things the old fashioned way.