As for getting your credit report free from any other source, be aware there may be a catch involved. An exception is when you apply for credit and are turned down. In that case, you will receive a letter from the lender denying your application, and in that letter you will be offered a free copy of your report from the reporting agency. That offer is for a limited time, usually within sixty days. The other exception is when you are a victim of fraud; then you can also request and obtain a free copy.
[Let CardRatings.com help you find the right cash back credit card for you.]It's also possible that a credit card company is offering you your report as part of a promotion for credit card insurance or to apply for their card, but other than the two scenarios mentioned above, the only other way I know of for you to obtain a copy of your credit report generated by your own request is by paying for it.
When you pull up your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com, I recommend you print it out immediately. Once you leave the Web site, your free annual report is unavailable for another year; however, since you are entitled to one free copy from each of the three bureaus, you might consider getting a different one every four months. This way you always have at least one new report nearly all the time.
As a final note, when you get your credit report, be sure to look closely for errors and get them corrected, as they could be negatively affecting your credit score.
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