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A copy of the credit report would have cost around $9.50 before 2004. But an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, in the same year has entitled every American citizen to get a copy of his credit report at absolutely no cost and completely free.

The free credit report can be obtained from each of the three major credit report bureaus, namely:

* Experian

* TransUnion

* Equifax

The free credit report can be ordered only from the joint website setup by these three bureaus (www.annualcreditreport.com). If you register in any other website, the particular agency may charge you to prepare your credit report.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stresses that all credit reporting agencies stating free credit reports must compulsorily display disclosures prominently in their website. Also, the Federal Trade Commission states that such disclosures must be displayed prominently from April 22, 2010. Though, this law is only for websites and advertisements in the internet. For radio and television advertisements, the disclosure has to be included from September 1, 2010.

It is up to the citizen to decide whether he or she wants all the three agencies/ bureaus to provide him or her, a copy of his or her free annual credit report at the same time, or one at a time. But the citizen must order it from a centralized agency only for security purposes.

The credit report is a rundown of the individuals’ payment history, bank transactions and accounts, and payment behavior. It contains the individuals’ present, permanent addresses as well as how often the individual shifts homes. It also contains medical information like insurance or mediclaim policies, tenant histories, cheque history (bounced cheques etc) and employment screeners.

The credit report affects your loan or debt or credit card sanctions and thus you would want to get a copy of your credit report to ensure that the information is correct, complete, and updated. It helps guard against identity thefts where others may gain information about your personal or financial information and may mishandle it. The credit report is an excellent way of finding out whether there has been a case of identity theft or not.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act lays down who all can gain access to your credit report. Creditors, insurers, banks can get a copy of your credit report. The credit reporting bureau may get your written consent to provide your credit report to your employer or prospective employer.