Once you have found your dream credit card, you may want to turn off the
solicitation faucet... not only because it makes it hard for your mailman
to fit in your mailbox the 42 catalogs for meat, cheese, underwear, and gardening
products you receive each week, but because they are a major contributor
to credit fraud and theft.
So-called "identity theft," where someone opens an account with your name,
social security number, or other identifying information, is a growing problem.
One way it happens is when the thief puts his own address on the "special
offer" you threw in the trash can and sends it in. The card is delivered
and maxed out, and you may never know about it until you get bills for things
you never bought or your loan is denied due to unpaid credit cards.
Law enforcement agencies and credit bureaus are just beginning to research
the extent of this type of fraud, but the National Fraud Information Center
says it costs financial institutions nearly a billion dollars a year. By
law consumers cannot be held responsible for more than $50 if they are the
victims of fraud and report the theft promptly, but banks and creditors get
us all to pay with higher fees and interest rates.
Thanks to amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which went into effect
September 30, 1997, there are steps consumers can take to avoid fraudulent
reports and damaged credit ratings.
The amended Fair Credit Reporting Act will help consumers and borrowers.
It makes it the reponsibility of retailers and lenders which provide credit
information to credit bureaus to insure that the information they provide
is accurate. Also, you have the right to see your credit report to make sure
that it is complete and correct -- your report is no longer the mystery-shrouded
chronicle it has been in the past. (So if you really do want to get
those pre-approved credit card offers, but you aren't because of some damning
error on your credit report, the credit bureau and its informers have to
correct your report. And it is your right, and also your responsibility,
to make sure that they have.)
As far as your junk mail-stuffed mailbox is concerned, though, the best provision
of the amendment is Section 604, § 1681e. Election of Consumer To Be
Excluded From Lists:
"A consumer may elect to have the consumer's name and address excluded from
any list provided by a consumer reporting agency... in connection with a
credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer by
notifying the agency... that the consumer does not consent to any use of
a consumer report relating to the consumer in connection with any credit
or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer... Each consumer
reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide
basis shall establish and maintain a notification system... jointly with
other such consumer reporting agencies."
Yes, you can end the flood of pre-screened credit card offers! There are
three main credit bureaus in the U.S.: Equifax Inc., Experian Inc., and Trans
Union Corp. They have established a system so that consumers may remove
themselves from all pre-screened credit offer lists via notification to any
of these three bureaus. Removal from these lists is effective for two years
after the request is made.
The credit bureaus each have extensive websites which explain marketing list
opt-out and how to request it, but you cannot opt out online.
The Federal Trade Commission is the agency responsible for enforcing this
law. Full text of the law and other consumer information is available at
http://www.ftc.gov
Interpretations of the law and consumer advice can be found at
http://www.acb-credit.com, the website
of Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc., the trade association for U. S. credit
bureaus.
Now, onto the the biggest trick in
the book.
--Jennifer Silber (TMF Amused)
Next: Don't Pay by Their Rules »
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