Because of the growing threat of identity theft, congress passed the law that allows everyone to receive the free Equifax credit report once a year. With the ability to view these reports for free, the government feels that more people will pay attention to what is in their credit report and be able to catch identity theft earlier than in the past.

To receive a free Equifax credit report, a person can do one of two things. They can send a written request to Experian asking that their report be mailed to them. Once they receive the request, Experian will mail the report and it will be received within six weeks. The other option is to log onto the internet and go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

Annualcreditreport.com allows a person to view not only their free Equifax credit report, but also their reports from the other two major credit reporting agencies.  They will request some personal information and then ask questions to verify the identity of the person requesting the report, and then let that person view their free Equifax credit report and the others for up to thirty days.

Once the free Equifax credit report is received, it needs to be checked for accuracy and anything that is not familiar reported to Equifax. This could include something as small as a discrepancy in the address history, or something as large as a loan or credit card being reported that the individual did not apply for.

With the law in place to receive a free Equifax credit report, more people should be requesting their credit reports and checking them to make sure that someone has not stolen, or tried to steal, their identity.