You have the right to obtain a copy of your credit report. The fee is $8. There is no fee if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance, or rental housing because of information in your credit report within the last 60 days. The credit reporting agency (CRA) must assist you if you need help interpreting your report. You have a right to dispute inaccurate information; however, neither you nor any credit repair company or credit service organization has the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable information removed from your credit report. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the CRA must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is more than seven years old (bankruptcies and unpaid tax liens may remain on your file for up to 10 years). If you notify the CRA that you dispute the accuracy of information in your report, they must then investigate within 30 business days and modify or remove inaccurate information at no charge. Provide all pertinent information to the CRA, and copies of documents that prove your claim. If an investigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may request that a brief statement be added to your file explaining why you think the information is inaccurate. You also may contact the credit grantor directly to dispute the information. You have a right to receive a record of all inquiries relating to a credit transaction initiated during the 12 months preceding your request.

You have a right to bring civil action against anyone, including a CRA, who improperly obtains access to your file, knowingly or willfully misuses file data, or fails to correct inaccurate data.

You may request that the information in your file not be provided to a third party for marketing purposes by contacting Experian at 1 888 5OPTOUT (1 888 567 8688).

You have a right to place a fraud security alert on your credit report that alerts anyone who reviews your credit information that your identity may have been used without your consent.

Recipients of your credit report are required to take reasonable steps, including contacting you at your telephone number if you provided one with your fraud alert, to verify your identity prior to lending money, extending credit, or completing the purchase, lease, or rental of goods or services. The alert may prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, the alert may delay or interfere with the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, insurance, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transactions, or other services, including extension of credit or services at point of sale. You may request or renew a security alert at the conclusion of the 1-year alert period at www.experian.com or by calling 1 888 EXPERIAN (1 888 397 3742) toll-free.

You have a right to obtain a free copy of your credit report at the conclusion of the 1-year alert period by renewing your alert OR by writing to Experian within 30 days after the alert expires. You have a right to place a "security freeze" on your credit report, which will prohibit a CRA from releasing any information in your credit report without your express authorization, except to those with whom you have an existing account or a collection agency acting on behalf of the account, for purposes of reviewing (account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases and account upgrades and enhancements) or collecting the account. A security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent; however, using a security freeze may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of subsequent requests or applications regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, insurance, government services or payments, rental housing, employment, investment, license, cellular phone, utilities, digital signature, Internet credit card transaction, or other services, including extension of credit or services at point of sale.

If you are a victim of identity theft and provide a copy of a valid police report or a valid DMV investigative report, you have the right to request:

that any information listed on the report as allegedly fraudulent be blocked so that it cannot be reported. Information may be unblocked due to material misrepresentation of the facts, or if you agree that the information is blocked in error, or if you knowingly obtained possession of goods, services, or moneys as a result of the blocked transactions. The CRA must promptly notify you if the information is unblocked.

one free copy of your credit report each month for up to 12 consecutive months following the date of the police or DMV investigative report.

Mail your request to P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013. Please send us one copy of a government issued identification card, such as a driver's license, state ID card, etc., and one copy of a utility bill, bank or insurance statement, etc. Make sure that each copy is legible (enlarge if necessary), displays your name and current mailing address, and the date of issue (statement dates must be recent). To protect your personal identification information, Experian does not return correspondence sent to us. send copies of any documents you wish to provide to us and always retain your original documents. Be sure to include the following identification information: your full name including middle initial (and generation such as JR, SR, II, III), previous addresses for the past two years, Social Security number, and date of birth. To renew a security alert or to request a free credit report at the conclusion of the security alert, include the date the alert was added and your credit report number.

California notice of your rights to request and obtain your credit score

You have the right to request and obtain your credit score if provided by Experian.

A credit score is a numerical value or a categorization derived from a statistical tool or modeling system used by a person who makes or arranges a loan to predict the likelihood of certain credit behaviors, including default. The numerical value or the categorization derived from this analysis may also be referred to as a "risk predictor" or "risk score." "Credit score" does not include any mortgage score or rating of an automated underwriting system that considers one or more factors in addition to credit information, including, but not limited to, the loan to value ratio, the amount of down payment, or a consumer's financial assets. "Credit score" does not include other elements of the underwriting process or underwriting decision.

Your credit score report must contain:

Your current credit score or your most recent credit score that was previously calculated by Experian for a purpose related to the extension of credit

The range of possible credit scores under the model used

All the key factors (up to four) that adversely affected your credit score, listed in the order of their importance based on their effect on the credit score

The date the credit score was created

The name of the person or entity that provided the credit score or credit file upon which the credit score was created

Your credit score will be calculated based on information in your personal credit report from Experian. If you do not have a current copy of your personal credit report, visit www.experian.com or call 1 888 EXPERIAN (1 888 397 3742) to order a copy.

How to obtain your credit score

The fee for your credit score is $7.95 per individual score. To purchase your score, visit www.experian.com or call us toll-free at 1 888 397 3742.

What is a credit score?

A credit score is a number that reflects your credit risk level, typically with a higher number indicating lower risk. Using elements from your personal credit report, a score is generated through a statistical model that uses your past credit behavior and current credit relationships to predict likely future behavior. Your credit score is a fluid number, and it changes as the elements in your personal credit report change. For example, payment updates or a new account could cause your score to fluctuate. There are many different scores used in the financial service industry. The score that Experian provides may be different from the one your lender uses, and scores may be different from lender to lender (or from car loan to mortgage loan), depending on the type of credit scoring model that was used. Because your score is based on information in your personal credit report, it is very important that you review your personal credit report carefully for accuracy.

How can I improve my credit score?

Paying your bills on time is the single most important contributor to a good credit score. In addition, it is important to minimize outstanding debt, avoid overextending yourself and avoid applying for credit needlessly. If you have potentially negative information on your credit report, such as late payments, a bankruptcy, public record items or too many requests for your credit history, your best strategy is to pay your bills on time and wait. Time is often your best ally in improving your credit score.