How to get your free credit report from the government (annualcreditreport.com)
Federal law gives every consumer the right to a free credit report from all three major bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — every week. The only government-authorized source is annualcreditreport.com. Anything else asking for a credit card to "view your free report" is selling you something. Here's how to get the real one.
Use only annualcreditreport.com
This is the only website authorized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide the free annual credit reports required under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). Every other "free credit report" site either:
- Requires a credit-card subscription with a free trial that converts
- Shows you a stripped-down summary, not the full report
- Is a marketing funnel for paid credit-monitoring services
annualcreditreport.com asks for personal info to verify identity but never asks for a credit card. Bookmark it.
What the report contains
The free annual report from each bureau includes:
- Personal info: name, current/previous addresses, employment history, SSN (last 4)
- Open accounts: every active credit card, loan, mortgage with balances + payment status
- Closed accounts: paid-off accounts (stay 10 years for positive, 7 for negative)
- Public records: bankruptcies (10 years), tax liens (was 7 years; mostly removed since 2018), civil judgments
- Inquiries: hard inquiries (last 2 years) and soft inquiries (last ~12 months)
What it does not contain: your credit score. Scores are sold separately. Credit Karma offers free VantageScore 3.0; many credit cards now show free FICO scores in their app.
Free weekly access (post-2020 update)
Pre-pandemic, the law allowed one free report per bureau per year. In 2020 the bureaus voluntarily extended this to free weekly reports — and made it permanent in 2023. So you can pull all three bureaus weekly if you're actively running a dispute campaign.
Practical use: pull from one bureau per week, rotating, so you have a fresh data point every 7 days during a campaign. Or pull all three at the start of every month for a comprehensive view.
What to do once you have your reports
Three steps for any consumer running credit repair:
- Read every line. Don't trust summaries — go through every account, address, and inquiry. Errors hide in detail.
- Note discrepancies between bureaus. Different bureaus often have different DOFD dates, different balances, different status. Cross-bureau inconsistency is itself disputable.
- Save the report as PDF for your records. You'll reference these throughout the dispute process.
If you're using CreditCougar, upload all three reports — we parse them, identify negative items, and rank disputability automatically.
Common questions
Is annualcreditreport.com really free?
Yes. It's run by the Central Source LLC, a joint venture of the three bureaus required by federal law. No credit card, no subscription. Verify the URL exactly — scammers run lookalike domains.
Can I get my credit score for free?
Not from annualcreditreport.com. For free score: Credit Karma (VantageScore 3.0), most major credit cards show free FICO scores in their app, Discover Credit Scorecard, Experian's free FICO 8 (with sign-up). The bureaus also sell scores at the report-pull point.
How often can I check my credit report?
As often as you want. Pulling your own report is a 'soft inquiry' and doesn't affect your score. Hard inquiries (from creditor applications) are different and do affect score.
Should I freeze my credit?
If you're not actively applying for credit, yes. Free at all three bureaus. Prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. Doesn't affect existing accounts or your score. Lift the freeze when you need to apply for new credit.
Ready to act on this?
CreditCougar runs the full Cougar Method against your credit report — automatically.
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