Free yearly credit report under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

Anyone who filed their federal tax return last month knows the hassle of having to pay taxes abroad and back home — a burden that few other countries impose on their citizenry abroad. A burden complicated by the fact that the leading online tax preparation software, TurboTax, does not allow payment using foreign credit cards. On the subject of credit cards, regular checks of your credit report are an important as aspect of fiscal management. And all Americans have a legal right to a free credit report once a year.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (”FACT Act”) requires the big three credit reporting agencies–Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to provide consumers with one free credit report per year. According to Consumer Reports‘ “‘Free’ credit reports: Beware of add-ons“, the official website to distribute these free yearly credit reports is AnnualCreditReport.com. However, clicking on the link from abroad returns the following error message:

The AnnualCreditReport.com website is only accessible through ISPs (Internet Service Providers) located within the United States and its territories.

Simple errors can impact your credit rating so you should be regularly check your credit report. The United States Senate Federal Credit Union has a full report on access to free credit reports and offers a list of common credit report mistakes that can impact your credit rating. Look out for simple mistakes such as misspelled names, incorrect Social Security numbers, inaccurate birth dates and information about spouses, out-of-date addresses, account status, loan listing errors, and/or the absence of records that indicate credit-worthiness.

The FACT Act, covers all American citizens and taxpayers, but the 4 million+ Americans living abroad and required by U.S. law to file and pay U.S. taxes, cannot access AnnualCreditReport.com. Thus Americans abroad are unable to exercise their legal right to a free annual credit report. The credit bureaues shouls remedy this defect immediately, and if not Congress should act.