During my freshman year of college, a guy came up to me with a credit card application and a free T-shirt.

The shirt is long gone, but the debt from that credit card lives on.

It's the beginning thread of my credit history - as reported by the three nationwide consumer reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Early last month, the three companies began providing free annual online credit reports to consumers in 13 Western states - including Colorado - under a new federal law, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. The rollout continues every three months by region, ending with the Eastern U.S.

The federal law requires the bureaus to provide consumers, upon request, with a free credit report every 12 months. Colorado and a handful of other states had previously required that by state law - with reports typically sent via mail.

The new federal law allows consumers to access these reports online, a process that I found relatively painless.

All three reports can be ordered at the same time, as I chose to do, or individually throughout the year. The website is www.annualcreditreport.com

A credit report contains consumers' identification information; payment history with different creditors; a list of inquiries made by various financial institutions; and information on the public record, such as foreclosures or bankruptcies. It does not include your "credit score" - but you can buy that from each bureau for a fee that ranges from about $5 to $7.

I logged on and received all three in less than an hour. I even had time to call one of my past creditors to close an account that the reports showed was still open.

Based on my experience, here's what you'll likely encounter:

Once at the site, you'll be asked to identify the state in which you live.

I was required to provide four or five pieces of personal information, including my full name, birth date, Social Security number, and current and previous addresses.

Your personal information is safe, the bureaus say, because it's encrypted before transmission and decrypted only on receipt by the bureaus.

"Physical, electronic and procedural safeguards designed to guard your personally identifiable information are maintained," the report website says.

As for your Social Security number, it's required to get a report, although the bureaus will abbreviate the number on the report, if you so request.

"The site's security protocols and measures are designed to protect the personally identifiable information you provide from unauthorized access or alteration," the site says.

Once I gave my personal information, the site asked me to select reports from one, two or three of the credit bureaus. I picked all three, but consumer advocates say it's smart to pull a different report every four months so you can continuously monitor your credit history.

In my case, TransUnion was the first bureau listed.

Once at the TransUnion portion of the website, I was required to verify some of the information I entered previously. Then, the site asked me to create a logon and password, choose a secret question, and enter my e-mail address, if I had one. Some terms and conditions were flashed on the screen, which required my approval.

At this point, the site cautioned that it needed to "ensure you are really Robert."

It asked me to verify myself - through either my credit accounts, employment history, addresses or year of birth. This process would occur again at the Experian and Equifax portions of the website.

I selected my birth year for verification. Now, I was approved and on my way.

A screen flashed asking whether I wanted to buy my credit score along with my free report. Credit scores are three-digit numbers used by lenders when evaluating your creditworthiness. Insurers, landlords and employers also use the scores in evaluating applications they receive.

The TransUnion score cost $5.95, and with the thought of a new car looming, I wanted to see it. I had to enter my credit card number, and a few seconds later, both my report and credit score were revealed to me.

TransUnion separated my credit accounts into "adverse" and "satisfactory" categories. And it separated credit inquiries - who's looking at your report - into "regular," "promotional" and "account review."

TransUnion uses a color-coding system: The accounts had a box displaying my standing for each month of my payment history. Green was OK, yellow was 30 days past due, orange for 60 days, and red for 90 days.

I had four adverse accounts. A 120-day lapse was there - a delinquency from an alumni association MasterCard, for which I never received a bill during summer 2002. I was studying abroad and my mom, who was taking care of my bills, didn't realize the account existed.

There also was the matter of a $60 high-speed Internet bill, which also has tarnished my dad's otherwise flawless credit report. Fathers, that will teach you to pass along your name.

One 30-day late payment on an account that I paid off and closed nearly two years ago showed up as adverse.

In the "satisfactory" category came a surprise - an open account from a tony department store. I assumed the account was closed more than a year and a half ago.

In less than five minutes, I called the credit service of the store and had it closed.

Then I went moved onto the Experian and Equifax reports, which operated in much the same way as TransUnion's.

Although all three reports were fairly straightforward, I found Experian to be the easiest to navigate.

It started with a report summary that said I had three potentially negative items and five accounts in good standing. The high-speed Internet account did not show up.

Like the other reports, it showed my month-to-month payment history, but it also displayed the balance I carried each month in a list format.

The Equifax report was thorough but less easy to navigate.

It used technical language in identifying the accounts. My student loan showed up as an installment and credit cards showed up as revolving. Next to each technical term was a help icon, but why not just use simple terms to begin with?

In the credit summary, it gave me a total amount of how much debt I have and broke it into four types.

According to Equifax, I have four open accounts, three closed accounts and six accounts in good standing. Each account history was similar to the other two reports. It showed what months I was late and where the account stands. Yet it said I had no negative account history on file.

Something I found useful was the section on credit inquiries in the Equifax report. Although each company showed inquiries into my credit, Equifax indicated that my bank reviews my credit every other month.

Although the law requires companies to provide a credit report once a year for no charge, it doesn't require them to provide a credit score.

You can, however, purchase it, along with a variety of other add-ons, while viewing your report.

My scores ranged on the lower end. Payment history is weighed heaviest in the score, said Heather Greer, spokeswoman for Experian. But it wasn't all my fault: The average age of my accounts is too young.

As a 22-year-old, I have only had credit for four years and I have only had credit cards. Potential lenders are looking for someone with different types of credit, Greer said.

My report was, for the most part, what I expected. I recognized all of the accounts and didn't disagree with the number of late payments. In fact, I thought the number might have been slightly higher.

Getting the reports was easy. The tough part will be trying to buy a new car next month.

Staff writer Robert Barba can be reached at 303-820-1209 or rbarba@denverpost.com.

For a FREE credit report go to:

www.annualcreditreport.com 1-877-322-8228


For a FEE:

www.equifax.com 1-800-685-1111

www.experian.com 1-888-397-3742

www.transunion.com 1-800-888-4213