Why should we pay to see our credit reports?!?

Question

Ok..ok I know you get one free one a year! But I had an error on mine, that had I checked my report 2 months later last year, it would have been fixed a whole 9 months sooner!!!

Anyway with all this emphasis on identity theft..and the fact that there can be soooo many mistakes on credit reports...why should we have to pay for them if we want to see more then once a year!!!

I think it is ridiculous, I mean it doesn't cost anything to see something online..seriously one more way for someone to make money!!!

Answer 1

I dislike the CRA's as much as the next person. My opinion is that their error rate is extremely high and they do as little as possible to correct it

but.........

If you had disputed an erroneous entry on your report, the CRA that you disputed with should have sent you an updated report, even if that entry remained as it was.
If you had used the report they sent to continue disputing or to dispute a different entry, then they would send you another updated report which you could use to dispute from.

If you received your free credit report and noticed errors but failed to follow up on it by disputing and re-disputing if necessary, or if you were denied when you applied for credit and failed to request your report within the time allowed, then the CRA's are under no obligation to provide you with a free report until a year has passed from your last free FACTA report or if you were denied credit.

The CRA's are independent "business" and in no way affiliated with the government.
Since they are "businesses" they have no obligation to "donate" free non FACTA reports, other than the free reports from being denied credit or after a dispute, any more than McDonalds is obligated to offer free burgers simply because a person "must" eat to survive.

Answer 2

Thats right. The only reason the once per year free reports are available is because Congress finally mandated it by law. The credit bureaus are definitely "for profit" companies.