How do I get my free credit report if I don’t live in the U.S. anymore?
Posted on Jan 23, 2007 with Comments 4
Lorelei asked:
I suppose I am a little naive when it comes to how this credit thing runs as I moved away from the U.S. to Europe when I turned 18. I have never opened any kind of account, whether it be credit cards or bank accounts, etc. I never changed my surname from my maiden name to my married name with the credit agencies.
I now have strong reasons to believe that someone in my family in the U.S. is using my maiden name to open accounts. I need to access my free annual credit report but, I don’t know how to do that. I can’t even go to the credit report site as it does not allow access for people outside the U.S.! I can’t print out the application as the address space is only for U.S. addresses.
So, what do I do now?
If anyone has any suggestions then that would be great!
I can’t pay for them online because I do not have a credit card.
Daman..as much as it makes me sound like a stupid person, I didn’t even know what credit was or that credit reports existed until my sister told me about it. I had really no reason to know. I went from being a high school student to a housewife and my husband (who is not American) handles all our finances here. Like I said, I am pretty naive when it comes to this. I’m trying to get everything sorted now.
P.S. you can’t call 1-800 numbers outside the U.S.
Pilar Grochmal
I suppose I am a little naive when it comes to how this credit thing runs as I moved away from the U.S. to Europe when I turned 18. I have never opened any kind of account, whether it be credit cards or bank accounts, etc. I never changed my surname from my maiden name to my married name with the credit agencies.
I now have strong reasons to believe that someone in my family in the U.S. is using my maiden name to open accounts. I need to access my free annual credit report but, I don’t know how to do that. I can’t even go to the credit report site as it does not allow access for people outside the U.S.! I can’t print out the application as the address space is only for U.S. addresses.
So, what do I do now?
If anyone has any suggestions then that would be great!
I can’t pay for them online because I do not have a credit card.
Daman..as much as it makes me sound like a stupid person, I didn’t even know what credit was or that credit reports existed until my sister told me about it. I had really no reason to know. I went from being a high school student to a housewife and my husband (who is not American) handles all our finances here. Like I said, I am pretty naive when it comes to this. I’m trying to get everything sorted now.
P.S. you can’t call 1-800 numbers outside the U.S.
Pilar Grochmal
Filed Under: Credit
Try using the Contact Us address from the website:
To provide a suggestion or make comments about the Annual Credit Report Request Service, send your
correspondence to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105283
Atlanta, GA 30348-5283
Newsflash:
When you move away and especially out of the country, you need to tell Transunion, Experian, and Equifax IMMEDIATELY so they can update your credit file with your NEW ADDRESS!
WHEN YOU MARRY SOMEONE and change your legal name, you need to tell the credit bureau immediately to mitigate the risk of someone using this “change” against you.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Your situation requires so many changes:
(1) need to place a fraud alert;
(2) need to change address;
(3) need to change legal name; and
(4) need a free copy of your credit report.
I want to be clear on this — your inertia on telling IMPORTANT people and BUREAUS about important life events (e.g. moving out of the country, getting married) is the primary cause of the current situation you are in.
You need 4 things done and the bureaus don’t allow you to do all of them in ONE LETTER!
One letter per request!
This may take some time — something you seem to have very little of.
You officially have a hot mess, but you need to get the fraud alert placed immediately. So, try the 1st hyperlink and call the 1-800 numbers for the bureaus to do it.
If you can’t call the 1-800 number because you are out of the country, then call mom or grandmom internationally and have her do a three-way with the U.S. 1-800 numbers contained for the 3 bureaus. Place the fraud alert using the last information contained in the file (e.g. your maiden name and old address before you moved). Remember these bureaus don’t yet have your current information!
Also, call the Attorney General of the last state you resided in to find out the best way to start fixing this hot mess.
I have provided the North Dakota Attorney General’s number in the second hyperlink and they have a (701) area code.
Call them for some advice!
And by the way, now is not the time to be “cheap” with the money to get your credit report fixed. If the bureaus make you pay for a credit report — just pay the $%^ money — your identity is way more imporant than a $10.00 fee + postage!
If this starts to get costly, just remember this adage.
When you gladly put off tomorrow what you should have done today, there is a price to pay and this price accrues at 21.9% interest!
And finally, you need to change your habit of letting stuff like this fall through the cracks. I don’t have enough to officially see a pattern of behavior, but my spirit is telling me that you have a tendency to procrastinate on things.
Good luck and Godspeed!
Send one of the credit bureaus a request for a 7 year fraud alert. It’s the best protection against identity theft. The one credit bureau will notify the others, by law.
This will make it so that nobody can pull your credit without speaking to you first.
Then, whenever you come back to the US, pull your credit reports and begin the repairing process.
Hello, I found interesting information about Credit Reports & options here. luck!