Credit reports and credit scores are being used to make more decisions than ever. Loan approvals. Insurance rates. Even employment consideration. It is important to know what your credit report says about you and the way you handle your financial obligations.

Maryland residents can now request and obtain a free credit report from each of the three agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, once every 12 months. The three credit bureaus have established one central website, telephone number, and mailing address to use for ordering your report and will only be providing the free annual reports through this central location, not through their individual websites, telephone numbers, or addresses.

Web: www.annualcreditreport.com
Telephone: 877-322-8228
Mail: Annual Credit Report Request Service
        P.O. Box 105281
        Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

You can get your free reports all at once, or stagger your requests throughout the year. If you request the report online, you should be able to view it immediately. Requests via telephone or mail will take approximately 15 days for processing.

The free credit reports will not include a credit score. You can obtain, for a fee, reports with scores from any of the credit bureaus listed below:

Equifax: www.Equifax.com or 1-800-685-1111
Experian: www.Experian.com OR 1-866-200-6020
Trans Union: www.TransUnion.com OR 1-800-888-4213

What is your credit score and why is it important? Your credit score is a number based on a statistical analysis of your credit files. It is important because it represents your creditworthiness. Your credit score helps lenders, mobile phone companies, government departments, even employers determine whether or not you will pay your debts in a timely manner, if you qualify for a loan, what interest rate you will be offered, and more.

There are different variants of credit score reporting, and your credit score from each credit bureau may be different. FICO is one type of credit score developed by Fair Issac & Co scale. 5 FICO score factors YOU need to know >>

To view your credit report online, click here and consider Equifax's Score Power™ credit report.

For a nominal fee you can view your Equifax Credit Report™ on-line and your FICO® credit score-the score used by most lenders when making a credit decision.

You also receive a personalized analysis of your score and, if applicable, suggestions on how to improve your score over time.

Best of all, this information is delivered to your web browser within seconds of submitting your order!