01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, September 4, 2005

As of Sept. 1, everybody in the country may now obtain a free copy of their credit report from each of three national credit reporting companies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. And it's become a popular topic among MoneyLine readers:

Q: Regarding the free credit reports . . ., what I would like to do is to stagger the credit reports by credit agency and person, myself and my spouse. My question is, what is a year? Is it the calendar year? Is it the year starting Sept. 1? I just don't understand what that period is that could help me in laying out a schedule. . . .

-- R.S., Wakefield

A: Federal law lets you order one free copy of your credit report from each company once every 12 months, said Sandra Farrington, a staff lawyer with the division of financial practices at the Federal Trade Commission.

In other words, a separate 12-month "clock" applies for you for each of the three credit reporting companies, she said.

So suppose you wait until Oct. 15, 2005, to place your first order -- from TransUnion, let's say. Your personal 12-month clock for TransUnion would start ticking at that point; you'd be eligible for your next free TransUnion report on Oct. 15, 2006, Farrington said in a telephone interview from her office in Washington.

If you were to order your Experian report Nov. 15, 2005, you'd be eligible for your next free Experian report Nov. 15, 2006. (If you're married, remember that your spouse should make his or her own separate request.)

Q: One good tip I heard was to request a credit report from only one of the companies now, another in three to four months, and the last [one] three to four months after that. . . . You could be monitoring your credit activity all throughout the year. The three agencies generally have the same information, so monitoring one at a time would also allow you to ensure [that] steps you are taking (like closing old accounts, fixing errors, etc,) are being properly recorded.

-- S.P., Cranston

A: Your point is well worth repeating. You're under no obligation to order all three credit reports at once; you could -- and should -- stagger your orders.

Brendan Vigorito, director of the Center for Financial Education, which is affiliated with Consumer Credit Counseling Service, suggested that you order a copy from one of the credit reporting companies now, a copy from a second company in December, and a copy from a third company in March. Next September, start the process over again.

"That way, you'll be constantly reviewing the information that's reported about you," Vigorito said in an interview at his office in Warwick. Such regular monitoring, which you may now do at no charge, can be especially helpful for checking for signs of possible identity theft, he said.

"If you get into the habit of checking regularly your report, it'll show what accounts have been newly opened, as well as the people who have been inquiring about your credit," he said.

A credit report is the official credit file or credit history on you. It contains key information, such as your payment history with different creditors, a list of inquiries made by various financial institutions, and information from public records -- such as bankruptcies and foreclosures. Consumer reporting companies collect and sell the information to lenders and others. So it's important to know what's in your file, and to check it for accuracy.

Neil Downing is a Journal staff writer and author of The New IRAs and How to Make Them Work for You. Questions about your money matters? Call us at 1-401-277-7484 and leave a message, or e-mail:

moneyline [at] projo.com

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