How Do I Pull My Boyfriend's Credit Report?

Lee,

How do I pull my boyfriend's credit report? This is really important. 

--Jennifer S. 


Jennifer,

I hope what you mean to ask is, "How do I help my boyfriend pull his own credit report?" Because before we go any further with this I am obligated to tell you that pulling someone else's credit report without their

Credit stalking isn't love, its illegal.

knowledge and permission is credit stalking and it's against federal law. Even big companies can get into severe trouble for doing it. It simply isn't worth a federal crime to satisfy your curiosity. You need "permissible purpose" to access someone's credit information.

That being said, since you said "boyfriend" and not "ex-boyfriend," I am going to assume that you aren't a credit stalker but rather a conscientious girlfriend trying to help the man she loves verify that his credit is accurate before he tries to buy a car or get a new apartment. Unfortunately, you still can't do this alone. You can walk him through the process, but this is something he has to do for himself.

That being said, tell your boyfriend to go to AnnualCreditReport.com. Click the option to order his free

credit report and follow the online prompts for information. This is the only website that allows consumers to get truly free credit reports without having to provide a credit card number or join some kind of credit monitoring service (Translation: tell him not to bother trying to pull his credit reports from the credit bureaus).

He'll have to answer a series of prompts and multiple choice questions about different accounts he holds. This is the part that usually trips up anyone trying to do a bit of credit stalking on the down low. Once he's answered all the questions accurately, he can view and print his credit reports from all three credit bureaus.

Tell him his credit scores are not included in his free credit reports. If he wants his real FICO scores--the kind lenders use--he'll need to buy them from the Fair Isaac Corporation at MyFico.com.

And one more time, just in case anyone missed it, federal law prohibits credit stalking! No matter how curious you are, don't pull your boyfriend's or girlfriend's credit report unless you are merely helping them do it themselves!

Best of Luck,
Lee