Worse than a mouse!

You’re probably already aware that you’re entitled to three free credit reports per year. Every twelve months, you’re allowed to request a free credit report from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies.

• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

You may not, however, be aware that it is possible to request your free credit reports from the wrong place. I haven’t investigated each and every credit report service, but one that comes to mind is FreeCreditReport[dot]com. My Bitter Half signed up with them to receive his “free” credit report. What he didn’t know is that if you forget to cancel the service within the 30 day allotted time, you will be charged around $15 per month for their service. And get this - even if you cancel after 31 days, you are still required to pay for three monts of the service. By trying to do a good thing, we found ourselves out forty five smackers.

THIS is the place you want to go to get your free credit reports. Get them. Review them with a fine tooth comb. Contact the agencies to clear up any discrepancies. You may find things on there that don’t actually belong to you, and you may find accounts where you owe a piddly amount and weren’t even aware of it. Get these things cleaned up and you should find your credit much improved within six months.

P.S. Thanks to my Mom for forwarding me this link. She’s always on my case about this stuff.