There is a very useful article in today’s Wall Street Journal on Why You Should Spy on Yourself. [Article link is to WSJ.com (subscription required). Wisconsinites can also access the article on Badgerlink (via ProQuest)]
The article lists services, free and fee, which you (and others) can use to check your credit history, criminal history and online reputation.
The author suggests these tips for running a background check on yourself:
- Order your credit report. These are from major credit-reporting agencies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian and can be obtained from www.annualcreditreport.com or 1-877-322-8228.
- Order a free annual public-records report (consumers are entitled under a 2004 federal law) from Acxiom Corp., ChoicePoint, LexisNexis and other reporting agencies. The records include lien searches, bankruptcy judgments, real-estate ownership records, insurance information, professional licenses and other government data. For a free report, go to www.ChoiceTrust.com for information. Contact LexisNexis at 1-877-913-6245. And Acxiom, which provides material to people only when a background search has also been ordered by a corporate client, is at 1-888-3ACXIOM.
Source: TVC Alert