# Getting a free copy of your credit report (California, USA)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 16, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957 "2011-08-16T21:34:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/1 "2011-08-16T21:34:25Z")
We all know that, in the USA, thanks to the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA), you can get three copies of your credit report for free each year, one copy each from the three major credit reporting agencies.
> **[Free Credit Reports](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/free-credit-reports)**
>
> Learn how, why, and when to order copies of your free annual credit report.
I thought that if someone runs a credit check on you, you can get a copy of _that_ credit report for free. Is this true? The Federal Trade Commission page in my previous link is saying that I can get the free report if I’m **denied** credit.
> [@](#):
>
> Q: Are there any other situations where I might be eligible for a free report?
>
> A: Under federal law, you’re entitled to a free report if a company takes adverse action against you, such as denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment, and you ask for your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action.
My case:
Just got a letter from my credit union saying that they are changing the interest rate on my VISA. The letter says “your credit score is X”. Does this mean that I can get a free copy of the credit report they ran on me? If I did get a free copy, would it count towards the total of free credit reports I can get each year as specified by the FCRA?
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/2 "2011-08-16T22:18:51Z")
The free credit reports from [annualcreditreport.com](http://annualcreditreport.com) **do not give you scores**. They merely let you know about how many lines are open, past delinquencies, etc.
I believe you can now request copies of your scores when you take out a loan, etc., but not sure how that works.
Oh, and those two things should be separate. The website above lets you get scores from all 3 companies once a year. You can select all or just one, and they might give you slightly different scores.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/3 "2011-08-16T22:48:41Z")
If an adverse action occurred, I suspect you are entitled to a credit report on your financial institution’s dime.
I would check the back or or the fine print of the letter you received.
I’m guessing you’ll see directions on receiving that credit report on that document.
I have no clue as to whether or not this voids your eligibility for a free annual report. I’ve read most of the statutes related to credit reporting, and can remember nothing that would answer that last question.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/4 "2011-08-16T23:15:05Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#):
>
> If an adverse action occurred, I suspect you are entitled to a credit report on your financial institution’s dime.
> I would check the back or or the fine print of the letter you received.
> I’m guessing you’ll see directions on receiving that credit report on that document.
There were no directions in the letter, but then again, they lowered my interest rate, so maybe that doesn’t count as an adverse action. I’ll just call them and ask if I can get a copy of the credit report they mention in the letter.
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### Author:  [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/5 "2011-08-16T23:23:30Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#):
>
> IThe website above lets you get scores from all 3 companies once a year. You can select all or just one, and they might give you slightly different scores.
The advice I read (and now follow) is to request a report every 4 months (rolling through the three agencies). They generally have the same stuff, so anything adverse and/or incorrect will likely be caught by you more quickly than if you ask for all three on the same date each year.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/6 "2011-08-17T02:21:25Z")
Lowering your interest rate doesn’t count as adverse in my world, so I think they’re in the clear.
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/7 "2011-08-17T14:54:59Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> There were no directions in the letter, but then again, they lowered my interest rate, so maybe that doesn’t count as an adverse action. I’ll just call them and ask if I can get a copy of the credit report they mention in the letter.
Scores:
You are never legally empowered to get a free score.
Adverse Action reports:
You are not entitled to a free credit report, because there was no adverse action. This free report would have to be requested directly from the agency that provided the information, if that info resulted in adverse action. None of this matters when it comes to the next type of free report…
Federally mandated reports:
Every twelve months, you can get a free report under the guidelines set forth under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). To do so, visit the site setup by the three big credit reporting agencies (CRAs), TransUnion, Equifax and Experian, in conjunction with the FTC’s guidance. Toll-Free # is 877-FACT-ACT
State mandated free reports:
Many states grant you a report (or two) for free every twelve months, too.
You have lots of ways to get free reports. Scores are not free – not unless some entity decides to willingly offer them for free.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Morgan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Morgan)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/8 "2011-08-17T18:24:24Z")
Just a note about obtaining credit scores, If you have a Walmart store card, they give you your TransUnion FICO score every month now for free.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/9 "2011-08-17T20:20:11Z")
> [@Captain\_Morgan](#):
>
> Just a note about obtaining credit scores, If you have a Walmart store card, they give you your TransUnion FICO score every month now for free.
I had a Providian CC way back that did the same. I don’t even know if they still do this or even what company they were absorbed into ultimately (Ah, Wikipedia says Chase. Ick). Of course, with these, you only get one company’s scores. Last I checked at the [annualcreditreport.com](http://annualcreditreport.com), I couldn’t even get a score from TransUnion for some reason, without submitting a request in writing. One of the companies, I think Experian, was the least painful.
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-a-free-copy-of-your-credit-report-california-usa/592957/10 "2011-08-20T15:25:13Z")
Credit scores, like the FICO score, are proprietary information, and not part of the credit reports the credit bureaus are required to give for free. Some creditors (like Wal Mart, apparently) will share them for free; the bureaus all have credit-monitoring plans that they’ll sell you, and these usually include access to your credit score. There’s also [www.creditkarma.com](http://www.creditkarma.com), a free credit-scoring website that gets its data direct from TransUnion; it is funded by advertising.
The true FICO scores (they sell tailored credit-scoring services to different clients and industries) are the property of FICO, and you probably can’t get one, but the ones from the credit bureaus should be pretty close. The three large bureaus have a new scoring model they call VantageScore, which puts greater emphasis on recent credit history. This allows them to provide scores to people with short credit histories, but heavily penalizes people with excellent credit histories but recent financial problems. My standard score would get me a “C” on a report card, because I have years of good credit habits, hit with a recent bankruptcy with two tax liens. My VantageScore would get a “D,” because my old accounts count for less, and I have almost no recent credit accounts – no credit cards, auto loan paid off a year ago, and those liens are still on file.