There's a Federally mandated requirement that all 3 credit reporting companies give people 1 free credit report per year. If you go to any of the 3 company's web sites, you won't find a link. You will find a lot of "free" offers that cost you money every month.

Time for some truth. Read on.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the real free site, the one that resulted from the federal mandate. If you Google for "free credit report", you'll get dozens of scam sites saying they offer free credit reports, but in reality you're going to be paying something every month until you catch on that you've been scammed.

The worst offender is FreeCreditReport.com, which defines "free" as $12.95 a month for life. This is a scam run by Experian.

Even the Government's own web site on FTC.GOV has a warning about sites like this.


Tips:
Never, ever, pay for anything that's advertised as free.
Never, ever, give your credit card number to a company that's selling something for free.
Never, ever, pay anything for a credit report.
I have never heard of anyone benefiting from "Credit Monitoring Service". In my opinion, it's a worthless service that's making someone else money every month.
The real, free credit report has everything the paid report has, except for your 3 digit credit score. You really don't need that to check your credit report.

You may be able to get more than 1 report per year if you've been denied a loan based on your credit report, have had credit fraud, and a few other cases. Check out the FTC's site for details.

Even when using the real site, you're going to get a lot of prompts to add-on "services" that cost money. You don't need to do any of these. Free means no cost now or ever.

You can get your credit report by 3 methods:
-On the web at: AnnualCreditReport.com
-On the phone at: 1-877-322-8228 (only if you're fluent in English)
-By mail. Fill in the Annual Credit Report Request Form (at the web site) and send it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281


Semi-Related Credit Stuff
If you're having any kind of dispute with any of the credit agencies, do everything my mail and keep a copy of everything. Written letters are good evidence in Small Claims court- E-Mail and phone calls aren't treated as seriously by either the credit companies or by courts.

Next time you apply for a major loan or mortgage and need to have your credit report run, ask for a copy. Sometimes you can get a free copy if you ask nice.


Where does your credit score come from?
In short, Payment History, Amount Owed, Length of Credit History, Amount of New Credit, and Type of Credit. Want more details? Visit The Motley Fool.


What can I do to change my Credit Score?
There isn't much you can do to improve your score. About all you can do is:
-Pay your bills on time, every time.
-Don't apply for any new credit or loans.
-Wait. Negative information falls off 7 years after the last update.

There are some "Credit Score Simulators" that let you see what the effect of new loans and other factors will do to your credit score. Some random ones I found:
Providian
TrueCredit
BankRate


See also:
AnnualCreditReport.com
FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS ACT OF 2003 - Law requiring free credit reports
FTC's FAQ about free credit reports

Get Rich Slowly's "Anatomy of a Credit Score"

The 3 Credit Reporting Companies:
Equifax: 800-685-1111
Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
Trans Union: 800-916-8800

Stop Unsolicited Credit Card Offers

Stop Sales Calls. Federal Do Not Call list