Consumer Law

"Free" Credit Scores And Reports Still Not Entirely Free

By M. Stan Herring

Our friend Denise Richardson of givemebackmycredit.com has posted an article about the continuing problem of free credit reports and scores still not being completely free. The FTC has posed new regulations on companies claiming to give free credit reports but really come with expensive hidden fees. Experian and other companies have come up with a clever way around the FTC's rules. They are no longer advertising free credit reports, but have instead moved on to pushing "free credit scores."

They no longer are advertising "Free Credit Report!" -- a pitch that drew complaints from thousands of consumers because the offers typically came with costly strings attached. Instead, some of the top sites are now offering "Free Credit Scores." And the best-known site, FreeCreditReport.com, says it's still in the business of supplying credit reports, but that they'll now cost $1 (that it will donate to charity).

The company is being partly truthful. Once you give your credit card information, you really are charged just $1...but you have to cancel your membership or else you'll be charged a $14.95 monthly fee. You have a 7 day trial period to cancel your membership before being charged the fee. Be sure and read the fine print before signing up for a free credit report or score and be on the lookout for hidden service fees.

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Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on April 07, 2010 (boomark / email).