There’s only one place to get your credit report from all three credit bureaus—TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian—for free. To get yours, visit AnnualCreditReport.com.
You’ll provide your Social Security number and answer a series of questions to verify your identity to gain access to your credit report from any or all of the bureaus. This report won’t show your score, but it’s actually more important than your numeric credit grade. It shows every credit account you’ve held for the past seven to ten years, along with your payment history. (If you don’t see your most recent payment activity, that’s okay—it takes lenders a month or two to send updates to the credit bureaus.)
Doing these checks also ensures that you haven’t been a victim of identity theft or fraud. Review it for any errors or accounts you don’t recognize. If there are discrepancies, you’ll need to file a dispute with that credit bureau to get it straightened out (the bureau will have instructions for doing that at the top of your report). The more boring your report is, filled with decreasing balances and on-time payments, the better.
Your credit report gives you a baseline for the health of your credit, so routinely check it like you would your health. You can access a free report once a year from each of the three bureaus, meaning you can choose to access them all at once (helpful for your first time), or stagger them throughout the year. Maybe you request your free Equifax report every January, then TransUnion in May and Experian in October. Whatever schedule you choose, mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget.