Understand the federal regulations concerning access to credit score reports. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) mandates credit reporting companies to issue accurate information to lenders when evaluating loan applications. The Act also obligates all three nationwide reporting agencies to issue consumers with a free credit score report every 12 months. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT) minimizes the chances of, and protects consumers from, identity theft and errors.
Contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Find any of these companies through their central website (annualcreditreport.com), call them toll free, or fill in the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to the Annual Credit Report Request Service.
Present any of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies with relevant information. Provide them with your name, date of birth, social security number, current address and previous address, if you moved recently. This helps them process your report and also establishes your accurate identity.
Wait for a reply from any of the reporting company you contacted. If you request your free credit score report through the central website, you may access it immediately. Requests made through the toll free number and through mailing take approximately 15 days to be sent to you.
Buy a copy of your credit score report from any of the three reporting companies if you need more than one copy in a period of 12 months. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the reporting companies, but you may buy an extra one for about $10.50, as of 2011.
Contact the three reporting companies individually to buy a credit score report. Find them on equifax.com, experian.com, or transunion.com.