Free Annual Government Credit Reports - They Don't Exist

Reader Question: I am trying to find the website where I can obtain the free government credit report I'm entitled to once a year. But none of the websites I've found are government sites. Where do I go to get my annual reports?

Actually, there is no such thing as a government credit report -- this information is issued by private companies, not by Uncle Sam. This is a common point of confusion among consumers in the U.S. So I welcome the opportunity to clear things up, for you and for anyone else who reads this blog post.

The federal government does not maintain credit data on U.S. consumers, nor does it issue credit reports. The government does regulate the three private companies that issue reports, but the connection ends there.

There are three credit reporting agencies that perform this role: Experian (formerly called TRW), TranUnion and Equifax. These are private-sector companies, mind you. They are not government entities.

These three companies are regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a law enacted by the federal government in 1970 (and updated a few years ago in 2003). When the law was last amended, the government added a clause that is relevant to your question. Actually, they added an entire new act to the existing one -- the new one is called the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act or FACTA. Under this new government legislation, signed by President George W. Bush, the credit companies were required to create a website where consumers can request their free yearly reports (you are entitled to one report per year, from all three companies).

So while this website was mandated and authorized by the federal government in 2003, it is jointly owned and maintained by the credit reporting agencies. Because they are the ones who maintain data on U.S. consumers and issue the reports.

You can visit this above-mentioned website at AnnualCreditReport.com. See screen-shot image below.

If you want to know why there are so many other websites offering this information, you should check out this previous Q&A session.

So let's sum things up. There are no free government credit reports because Uncle Sam does not maintain such data. The federal government regulates the three companies that issue reports (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian), but that's as far as their involvement goes.

I hope that helps you find what you're looking for. Good luck.

Related question: What does three credit reporting mean?