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Time to refinance your mortgage? Start with a truly “free” credit report
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With mortgage rates at the lowest levels in almost 40 years, it’s a great time for Los Angeles residents to lock in a fixed rate and repair their credit. “Interest rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to an average of 5.14 percent for the week ending Wednesday, down from the previous week's 5.19 percent,” Freddie Mac just reported. “The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has not been lower since Freddie Mac started the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in 1971."
To qualify for a refinance, however, you need to have a decent credit score. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion (the nationwide consumer reporting companies) to provide a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.
To order your free credit report, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the companies one at a time. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.
Beware of “Imposter” credit report Web sites. Some Web sites claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring,” but provide the report with unnecessary strings attached. For example, the supposedly “free” service provided by some sites converts to one you have to pay for after a trial period. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be unwittingly agreeing to let the company start charging fees to your credit card.
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