Pursuant to a recent amendment to the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, every major nationwide consumer credit reporting company is now required by the law to provide you with a copy of your credit reports once every 12 months, upon your request, at no cost to you.

Additionally, you are also entitled to a copy of your current credit report if:

• A company takes adverse action (such as as denying you credit, insurance, or employment, etc.) against you provided you request your report within 60 days of receiving notice of such an action,
• You are unemployed, and plan to seek employment within 60 days,
• You are on welfare,
• You are have placed a fraud alert on your credit report, or
• Your believe that your credit report is inaccurate because of fraud.

You may also want to look into cost of additional credit reports in your state of residence. A consumer credit reporting agency may charge you up to $9.50/credit-report if you request an additional copy of your credit report within a given 12-month period.

Beginning September 1, 2005, all Americans will be able to order their annual credit report for free from one or all the national consumer reporting companies by:

• Visiting www.annualcreditreport.com website,
• Calling toll-free 877-322-8228, or
• Visiting Free Annual Credit Report Request Page at FTC website, or by contacting them at:
  Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348‑5281.

Please note that the three nationwide consumer reporting companies do not directly provide the free credit reports to consumers. Free consumer credit reports can only be requested through www.annualcreditreport.com website, their tall-free number 877‑322‑8228, or by mail to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348‑5281.