The reading level for this article is All Levels
If you punch the string “free business credit reports†into a google search engine, you will undoubtedly find a number of offers that seem aggressively solicited or contain a lot of fine print. Part of the reason why this is is because most credit reports aren’t free. Really the only genuinely free credit report that you will find will be those offered through www.annualcreditreport.com (mainly because of the FACTA legislation in 2004). Getting a personal credit report from any given credit reporting agency more than once per year will likely result in you having to pay for it, and with businesses you are pretty much guaranteed to pay. However, there is a fun little way around this (even if it is not always the best way to determine your credit.)
The way to do this is as follows: find a credit card that you think you will be rejected for, and apply. Try to find a company that says it will provide a decision instantly. When you aren’t approved, you will get a denial letter in the mail informing you of same, and the business credit report bureau that was used to identify your business. (Of course, this will not work if you get approved for the credit card, but then that’s not all that bad of a situation now is it?) Then all you have to do is send a copy of the letter, along with a request for a business credit report to the business credit reporting bureau in question. In 30 days, you will receive back free business credit reports, explaining what it was that they told the credit card agency in the first place.
While this is a tried and true method, hunting down free credit reports in this fashion is probably not the best way to go about getting this job done. It is usually better for you to pay a company and get the credit report done properly rather than take this roundabout method (which will often result in the harm of your credit score anyway.)
