How to get a three-bureau report

The easiest way to get a three-bureau report — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — is through a monitoring service: SmartCredit, IdentityIQ or MyScoreIQ. Trial access costs about $1, and the report is ready right after registration.

• The service shows all three reports in one window and updates them every month, and monitoring warns you about new inquiries and accounts.
• To register you need your name, address, date of birth and SSN; identity verification takes a couple of minutes online.
• Save your reports as dated PDFs: you'll need them as "before" and "after" evidence.
• If a credit freeze is in place, the report will still be issued, but a creditor will need the freeze temporarily lifted to run a check.

SmartCredit and IdentityIQ show VantageScore, MyScoreIQ shows FICO. Banks more often look at FICO, so the numbers in different services may differ.