We've all seen the TV ads - "Get your free credit report right now", "Its as simple as logging on to freecredit report.com", "over 20 million people have logged on to get their free credit report so now its your turn..." ,"My credit score is 720, do you know what yours is?"  Hmmm, why is there a tiny little disclaimer that only recently started being displayed on these TV commercials? 

Well, the reality is that currently freecreditreport.com is not free.  You are automatically and, as in most cases, without any knowledge started on a $12.95 monthly fee for their credit maintenance program.  This program will notify you of any questionable transactions or entries on your credit report.  If you really want credit maintenance or whatever their latest term is for this program, that is fine.  But at $12.95 per month that equals over $155 per year for a program that is completely unnecessary and even offered free by many credit cards and banks like Wachovia upon opening an account. 

As to the credit report, ever since 2006 every U.S. citizen (and soon many illegals depending on future legislation) is entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting bureaus.
The credit reporting bureaus are:
Experian
Equifax
Transunion
You are also entitled to a free report and an explanation whenever credit is denied.  This is federal law.  The law does not cover a credit score which is in addition to the regular report and can help you judge where your credit lies and how much repair work may be needed to fix your credit history.  

So, a free credit report can easily be obtained by anyone just by logging online and entering any of the three credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion).  This free report will show your complete credit history minus a credit score for the past 7 to 10 years (depending upon entries - some negative entries  like garnishments, bankruptcies, unpaid child support and tax liens can remain for longer periods of time like up to 10 years, all other items come off after 7 years). 

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So, the real free credit report comes with no credit score and no additional and mostly hidden monthly fees for credit maintenance.  The supposedly free credit report from Freecreditreport.com comes with your real credit scores.  Now before you say, "hey, I want to know what my credit score is...", yes, I agree with you that your credit score is important as it can help determine your finance rates on car and mortgages, etc...  But, rather than paying $12.95 per month ($155+ per year) for an absolute waste of money - just look up freecreditreport.com at ripoffreport.com, the FTC, or your local state attorney general and you will see what I mean.  Credit maintenance is akin to buying Aquafina at $1 a bottle and finding out is just tap water (Yes, Pepsi is going to start revealing the Aquafina water source on the bottles now - that is unbelievable).  Credit maintenance is something you can do yourself and even if you somehow miss something with the recent additions to law you are not responsible for charges you did not make - the responsibility rolls off to the bank or credit granting institution.

If you really want your credit score just select that for your credit report directly from the credit bureaus.  Last time I checked the cost for all three credit reports all with scores and helpful explanations so anyone can understand it was $30 to $40.  That's a whole lot cheaper than the $155+ you will pay every year through freecreditreport.com.  On top of that, just try ending your credit maintenance if you did fall for the free credit report TV advertisement.  There are countless thousands of reports of very unhappy people that got ripped off, didn't find out about the hidden $12.95 charge for years (tells you a lot about the credit maintenance program - what good is it if it doesn't ever contact you in several years?  According to reports revealed in congress 50% or more of credit reports have errors in them that can and will result in lower scores and diminished credit.  You'd think their monthly credit maintenance program would alert you to this). 

Basically you are better off forgoing the freecreditreport.com site and ignoring their commercials and going straight to the credit bureaus yourself.  If you want more great and free information on credit, credit repair, bad credit car loans, etc... go to http://www.mdwholesale.com/Sitemap.html where you will find hundreds of the most helpful tips and content you will ever see and its all free!  And as always we look forward to your comments and responses.  Also, Freecreditreport.com, we look forward to your response as well.  I don't know how you can defend yourself from making millions by charging hidden fees for what you refer to as a free credit report.  Last time I checked free meant free - no cost whatsoever.  No where does it state in any dictionary that free includes a $12.95 hidden charge for credit maintenance. 

What do you think?  We need your comments on this hot topic.