Hi all!

I know I missed a week, but I'm back now! 

One thing about buying a house is that it's a time in your life when you pay particular attention to your credit score and what your credit report says about you and how you handle your finances.

We all are now aware that we can get a free annual credit report, however, after doing some research, I discovered a few things.  First off, like with any other search parameters, when you put in your search terms, it will bring up a plethora of places that say "free credit report" and when you go to the sites, you find out that you have to sign up for a "trial period" for another service and then remember to cancel the membership before you get charged.  I can never remember when I have to do that, so I don't like to sign up for those free trial periods.

Well, the good part is that there is a good option.  There is only one site that the Federal Trade Commission authorizes to give the free credit reports.  Mind you, you will not get your credit score (unless you pay a price--go figure!), however, it's still a good idea to get the free credit report from the 3 credit bureaus so you can see if there are any potentially negative things on your credit report that you need to clean up prior to getting a loan.

SO, if you haven't gotten your annual free credit report yet, go to www.annualcreditreport.com and you can get your report from each of the bureaus.   To verify it is you, they ask questions that only you will know that will appear on your credit report.

It's a good idea to check your report annually anyway, but if you haven't looked at it in a while, or your planning on buying a house in the next few months to few years, or you know you need to clean up your credit, take some time and get your free credit report.  If there are issues, there are directions on each of the sites on how to file a dispute.  I've had to do this, and while it may seem tedious and time consuming, it was worth it in the long run to get the issue pulled off my credit report.

Enjoy!