Report access

Your rights for a free credit file disclosure

You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of each of the 3 consumer reporting agencies (your "file disclosure"). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security Number (SSN). You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:

• a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report;
• you are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file;
• your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;
• you are on public assistance;
• you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.

How to get a free credit report after being declined

Creditors, employers, insurance companies and landlords often request your credit report from at least one of the credit bureaus—Experian^®, TransUnion^® or Equifax^®—when reviewing your application. If your application gets declined because of information in your credit reports, you have the right to request a free copy of your credit report from the same credit bureau.

Have you experienced an adverse action in the last 60 days?

What is an adverse action letter?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) require certain organizations to send adverse action letters after taking an adverse action against consumers. These might include when a company:

• Denies your credit, job, rental or insurance application
• Offers you less favorable terms on a new account or lease
• Closes or makes unfavorable changes to your account, such as lowering your credit limit or increasing your premiums

The company has to send this letter if its action was based at least partially on information in your credit report. Alternatively, it may be able to give you an adverse action notice orally or electronically.

If you receive an adverse action letter or notice, it will contain several pieces of information:

• The reasons you were denied: These descriptions can be short, and they don't have to specify how something affected your application. For example, a reason could be "length of residence" or "credit application incomplete," but the letter doesn't need to specify how long you need to live somewhere to qualify or which part of the application was incomplete.
• Credit bureau information: You'll receive contact information for the credit reporting agency that created the credit report used, including its name, address and telephone number.
• Credit scores: If the organization used a credit score—some choose not to, some use several scores and employers never receive credit scores—you'll see the credit scores, scoring models, scoring range, who provided the score and the date that the score was generated.
• Adverse action codes: If a credit score was used, you'll also receive up to four credit score risk factors, sometimes called reason codes or adverse action codes. These tell you why your credit score wasn't higher in order of most to least influential reason. If hard inquiries were a reason, that can be included as a fifth reason code.
• Your right to request a free credit report and dispute errors: The letter will also inform you that you can request a free credit report from the credit bureau listed within 60 days, and that you have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your report.

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How to access free credit reports from all three credit bureaus

Your credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies often aren't identical, which is one reason you may have different credit scores. This is also why reviewing all three reports for errors can be important, especially if you're preparing to buy a home or car or apply for other credit.

In addition, all consumers are entitled to free weekly disclosures upon request from each nationwide credit reporting agency. One drawback to using the site is that the credit reports you receive from AnnualCreditReport.com don't include a credit score.

If you want a credit report and score, try going directly to the credit reporting agencies. For example, Experian offers members a free credit report with monthly updates and a FICO^® Score^Θ based on the report. Or, you can get an Experian Premium membership to receive monthly credit reports from all three bureaus and FICO^® Scores based on the reports.