The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACT Act, lets U.S. consumers obtain one free annual credit report from each nationwide bureau.
The law was enacted in 2003 as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It created a centralized process through which consumers could request reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The authorized service is AnnualCreditReport.com.
The reports are separate from credit scores. A report contains credit-account and public-record information, while a score is a numerical assessment calculated from information in a report. Consumers can therefore obtain a report without automatically receiving every score used by lenders.
The FACT Act also addressed identity theft, fraud alerts, and disposal of consumer-report information. The free-report entitlement is a federal rule; additional free reports may be available in certain circumstances or under state law.