VCU - Technology Services

Numerous private organizations collect data about you and share it with your creditors, employers and insurers. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the 3 national consume reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) each provide you a free copy of your credit report at your request once every 12 months. You can request all 3 at the same time or you can stagger them. It's your choice. The only authorized online source is annualcreditreport.com. Some of the information in these reports may be inaccurate. Fortunately, you have the right to dispute the information in order to get it corrected.

But other organizations have your information as well. For example, ChoicePoint has 3 separate companies which maintain information on you - insurance claims, employment history and tenant history. You can request copies of these reports for free as well. However, if you're concerned about what may appear in a background check, it'll likely cost you since they often conduct research by contacting past employers, courts, and colleges you attended and they're not required to conduct that research for free. And plenty of background check horror stories have been published.