Credit Reporting

Free Credit Reports, Now for Everyone

2005-09-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

As of September 1st, everyone in the US is able to order a free, annual copy of their credit report from each of the three main credit reporting bureaus.

The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up one central website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your free annual reports.

To order, click on annualcreditreport.com, call 877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

For more info, visit the FTC's info pages.

Pizza Prescience

2005-02-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

Last summer, the ACLU released a mock telephone recording showing how data tracking in the future could get a bit, shall we say, personal. A man calls up to order pizza and is charged extra for a double meat pizza when the order taker sees his medical file stating that he has high cholesterol. When the man protests, the order taker suggests that he can afford the fee based on what she see on his the credit report of his other spending habits. In the end, the disconcerted man settles for an order of a sprout sandwich.

While this might have seemed a fanciful and humorous attempt to show the degree to which our privacy could be invaded, a recent news report from a Providence tv station suggested that it is closer to the truth than we might think. A woman armed with a new credit card went on a shopping spree. She had waited to get the card and knew up front what her first purchases would be. Unfortunately, the purchases she had in mind, jewelry and perfume and consumer electronics, are just the kind of purchase that triggered a fraud alert on her brand new account.

She quickly found her account frozen until she could verify her identity with her card provider, Providian. When the woman spoke to the fraud unit, she was asked to answer questions that would prove she was who she said she was. However, the questions went well beyond name, address, and social security number. The woman was asked about the age of her former husband as well as the name and county of residence of her former sister-in-law.

Wondering how a credit card company had information about her past relationships, the bank admitted that they use a new security system that gathered information on card holders from public government records of everything from births, marriages, and divorces to property purchases and fishing licenses.

Although disconcerting for the individual cardholder, the entire exchange was entirely legal.

There is a lot of information about us floating out there. And increasingly that information is being collected together in the name of combating one security problem or another. It’s a delicate – and potentially dangerous – balance.

If you want to join the ACLU, click here.

Credit Reports That Are REALLY Free

2004-12-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

The time has finally come. Residents of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are now able to request free reports from the major consumer reporting agencies.

For credit reports, you can either call 877-322-8228, or order your report by mail or online. Directions are at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/order. As with ordering some reports online, a few consumers groups have suggested that getting your free credit report online at this site does put your name on a list for direct marketers. Probably best to order by phone or mail...

Consumers in the Midwest can get their reports starting March 1, 2005; those in Southern states starting June 1, 2005; and anyone living on the East Coast is eligible starting September 1, 2005.

Reporting ID Theft

2004-11-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

The FTC has issued another ruling to bring last year's law regulating the credit reporting agencies when it comes to ID theft into force.

There were two important things to know about:

1) In order to get an action on a claim of incorrect information on your credit report due to identity theft, you must submit an official ID theft report to the consumer reporting agency (CRA). Basically, this report can be what you file with a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency or the United States Postal Inspection Service as long as it carries criminal penalties for false reporting. Submitting a complaint to the FTC won't do. Getting a police report is now much more important because it gives you additional rights in working with the consumer reporting agencies.

2) Even once they get your official report, consumer reporting agencies can still ask you for additional information. But they now have clear limitations on how fast they have to do it and how long they can drag an inquiry out. CRA's have 15 calendar days for a first request, 15 days for a second request and 5 days extension if you are the one taking your sweet old time. In a nutshell, the new ruling assures that your case should be resolved in 35 days from your first letter.

Faux FICO

2004-08-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

If you're curious about what ballpark your credit score is in, you can take advantage of Bankrate.com's FICO Score Estimator.

The estimator is a bit of an ad for Fair Isaac's Score calculator (which costs money) and if you've read the chapter on credit reporting, you know that scores are only worth your attention at very limited times. But if you have nothing better to do, the Estimator is quick and free and, from what I can tell, the results are pretty close to the mark.

Freeze!

2004-08-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Louisiana is the latest step to jump of the credit freeze bandwagon. Two states (California and Texas) already allow them. Two others (Vermont and now Louisiana) will allow them starting next year.

What's a credit freeze? Just what it sounds like a should be. With a phone call to a credit reporting agency, you can block access to your credit report. If credit granting companies can't access a credit report, they won't open new accounts. This means that a frozen account virtually assures that someone using your name won't be able to fraudulently open new credit lines. It offers very strong protection against identity theft.

Of course, having a frozen account also means that mortgage companies you contact to refinance your home - or the car loan people or the instant credit card folks at the department store - won't get your credit info either. Each and every time you think there might be a legitimate inquiry, you have to call the credit reporting agency and unfreeze access.

It's a bit of a hassle and it can be expensive. While victims of identity theft can take advantage of the service for free, other consumers must pay an initial freeze fee of $10 and a fee of anywhere from $8-12 for each temporary unfreeze. But for industrial strength protection against ID Theft, it can't be beat.

More information on credit freezes in California and Louisiana.

How Many Credit Reports Are Wrong?

2004-08-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

The California Public Interest Research Group has just released an update to their landmark study on credit report errors.

The news isn't good. Based on a survey of 200 adults who reviewed their credit reports for accuracy, CALPIRG found that 79% of the reports had mistakes. Fully 25% or 1 in 4 contained mistakes that were big enough to wrongly cause a denial of credit.

If the answer to "how many credit reports are wrong?" is too many, what's your answer to "when did you last check your credit reports?"

FTC issues Final Ruling on FACTA (or How Everyone Can Get a Free Copy of Their Credit Reports)

2004-07-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

In late June, the FTC issued its ruling on exactly how TransUnion, Equifax and Experian were going to have to supply free credit reports to each and every one of us.

Under the final rule, the three nationwide CRAs must establish a one-stop resource for you to request your free credit reports. This resource will include a dedicated Internet Web site, a toll-free telephone number, and a postal address but we don't know yet just what the URL, phone number or address will be (CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES ON THIS).

The final rule also provides for a gradual, structured roll-out of the program over a period of nine months, rolling-out from west to east. Consumers will become eligible on the following schedule:

Western states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) will become eligible on December 1, 2004;

Midwestern states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) will become eligible on March 1, 2005;

Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas ) will become eligible on June 1, 2005;

and Eastern states (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia), Puerto Rico, and all U.S. territories will become eligible on September 1, 2005.

In addition, the final rule requires nationwide specialty CRAs – CRAs that maintain specific types of files on consumers, such as employment history, tenant history, medical records, and insurance claims – to maintain a toll-free telephone number through which consumers may request a free copy of their credit report once every 12 months. As of December 1, 2004, these CRAs must have a toll-free number that you can call to get a free annual copy of anything they have on you.