A Real Free Credit Report!

When is a free credit report not free?  A credit report is not really free, or at least you could easily be charged for it, if you use one of the commercially advertised websites.  The television commercial advertising this service is really a for profit venture trying to sell you a service for a fee.  You must first give them your credit card information (if you have an active credit card) and to avoid a charge you must cancel the service within a specified amount of time.

To paraphrase my friend Jay Fleischman who writes in the New York Consumer Litigation Center Blog.  The three primary national consumer credit reporting companies are required by a federal law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at least once every 12 months if you ask for it.