The three national credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — have permanently extended a program that lets you check your credit report at each of the agencies once a week for free.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued credit company TransUnion and one of its long-time executives on Tuesday, alleging the company completely “disregarded” a previous order from five years ago to stop selling dubious credit-related products and marketing.

On Friday, the three national credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, announced a joint industry measure to remove nearly 70% of medical collection debt accounts from consumer credit reports.

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020 file photo, a woman walks past a personal finance loan office in Franklin, Tenn. Overall, the hardship agreements — which can put a pause on payments or provide consumers other relief — hit their peak in May at 4.77%. TransUnion looked at auto, credit card, mortgage and unsecured personal loan products. Furthermore, TransUnion found that consumers had varying preferences of how they'd like to resume payments. Typically the length of a hardship agreement and plans to resume payments are established by the lender based on a consumer's needs.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – No matter if they’re bad or good, credit scores affect everyone’s lives. Still, for many people, by the time they’ve learned the importance of having good credit, it may be too late. If you want to build credit but need some help living within your means, Svoboda recommends getting what’s called a secured credit card. But unlike a debit card, a secured credit card builds credit. Because a bad credit score doesn’t have to be a life sentence.

COVID AND CREDITThe good news is that consumers, by and large, improved their credit profile during the pandemic, despite record unemployment and massive business shutdowns. The average FICO credit score was 711 in July, up 5 points from a year earlier, according to Fair Isaac, the company behind the score. A FICO score runs from 300-850 and is one of the most widely used metrics to determine a consumer’s credit worthiness. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, it could be a significant lag because of the extraordinary steps taken to help consumers. If you have run out the clock on a relief agreement, seek an extension if needed.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - With what seems like a new data breach every month, credit monitoring is a sound investment. Fortunately for active duty military and National Guard members, they won't have to pay. As of Oct. 31, three credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are provided the service completely free of charges. To take advantage of the program, just sign up for credit monitoring through each of the credit reporting firms. On each of their websites, there's a link for eligible service members:Experian | Equifax | TransUnionIt's that simple.