June 30, 2015
If you are in the planning stages before purchasing a new home with an FHA mortgage loan, it’s a very good idea–strongly recommended, in fact–to pull your credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies.
It’s best to request copies of your credit reports as early as possible in the process so that you have abundant time to dispute any outdated information, investigate evidence of identity theft, etc.
Many people in this stage go to the official sites for the three major agencies–Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. But did you know that federal law permits borrowers to get a free credit report from these three agencies once every 12 months?
According to the Federal Trade Commission official site (https://www.ftc.gov/), anyone who wants the free reports can order them from annualcreditreport.com, which the FTC official site describes as, “the only authorized website for free credit reports”.
Borrowers can order online or by phone at 1-877-322-8228. The FTC reminds borrowers they will need to provide their full name, address, social security number, and date of birth in order to get the free credit reports.
The process of investigating your own credit history can seem daunting at first, but thanks to the FTC the process is made much simpler and you can get on the road toward home ownership more efficiently once you know what your FICO scores and credit history will look like when the lender pulls them.
You can learn more about getting your free credit reports with this helpful article on the Federal Trade Commission official site.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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