Free Weekly Credit Reports Extended Through 2023

You can review your credit report practically as often as you want through next year.

The three major credit reporting agencies recently announced some great news for consumers. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion will continue to offer free weekly credit reports through the end of 2023.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers are legally entitled to a free annual credit report from each agency. However, you'd normally need to pay for additional reports. That makes it harder to stay up to date on your credit history without paying for credit reports, since a lot can happen in a year.

Starting in 2020 during the pandemic, the credit bureaus began offering free weekly credit reports. So far, this benefit has been extended several times, and it makes it easier than ever to stay on top of your credit.

How to get your free weekly credit reports

To pull your free credit reports, go to AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only site authorized by the federal government.

The homepage has an option to request your credit reports. After you click that, there are three steps to complete:

1. Fill out a form. You'll need to provide some basic information, including your name, date of birth, Social Security number, and your U.S. addresses for the past two years.
2. Pick the reports you want. You can request reports from all three credit bureaus or just one or two of them.
3. Request and review your online reports. You'll go through this process one at a time with each bureau you selected. Each credit bureau will ask you some questions to verify your identity. After you complete the verification, the bureau will provide your credit report.

The verification process with each credit bureau is the part that can be a little tricky. You'll answer questions about information on your credit report, so you'll need to remember addresses where you've lived and accounts you've had. Note that there can be questions where "None of the above" is the correct answer. If a question is referring to an address or loan you can't remember at all, it could be because that information actually isn't on your credit report.

You'll receive your requested credit report immediately after the verification process. You can review it or save it, and then move on to the credit report from the next bureau.

Why checking your credit report is important

Your credit report is a record of all the information that a credit bureau has on file for you. Although the report itself doesn't have your credit score, the information it contains is used to calculate your credit score. Here are some common examples of what you'll find in your credit report:

• Credit card and loan accounts
• Account statuses (paid on time, past due, closed, etc.)
• Hard inquiries where parties have pulled your credit file
• Addresses

It's important to review your credit reports with each bureau for multiple reasons. For one, it's a good way to spot warning signs of identity theft, like addresses or accounts you don't recognize. You can also confirm that each credit bureau has the correct information and there aren't any reporting errors. In a 2021 investigation, 34% of consumers found a credit report error, so they're more common than you might think.

If you don't catch an error, it could damage your credit score. That, in turn, can keep you from getting approved for the credit cards you want or result in higher interest rates than you should be paying on a loan.

In the event you do find an error on your credit report, dispute it with the credit bureau. You can do this online at the following links:

• Equifax disputes
• Experian disputes
• TransUnion disputes

Although you don't need to check your credit on a weekly basis, it's nice to have the option of pulling your credit reports frequently. A year between reports can be a long time to wait, especially for people who are working on their credit and want to keep a close eye on it. Hopefully, the credit bureaus will decide to make free weekly credit reports a permanent feature.