New Credit Card Law and freecreditreport.com

The new credit card law (Credit Card Act of 2009) brings freecreditreport.com under clear FTC rulemaking authority. The provision will require, in nine months, that any radio or TV ad for this over-priced subscription credit monitoring product or similar product will have to include the following words: “This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law.”

Consumers in several states are also entitled to a separate, second additional annual free credit report under state law, by calling each of the three bureaus (Experian, Trans Union and Equifax) directly. Those states are Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey and Vermont. Here is a good FTC page explaining your free credit report rights, and for those who don’t like putting personal data on the Internet, explaining how to get reports under federal law by mail or phone.

Source: U.S. PIRG