Consumer Reports has a detailed information page about companies that track and sell your personal information. The data comes in the form of consumer credit reports, insurance credit reports, your health history, your checking and banking account history, your criminal background, your history of retail returns, and your property rental history.

In most cases, you can pull free copies of these reports periodically, which is good because errors can pop up in these reports just like they can in a consumer credit history. But who has time to pull and monitor that many databases of personal information? The website PrivacyRights.org suggests you stick with yearly monitoring of your consumer credit report (the one you can get for free only at www.annualcreditreport.com), and pay attention to the other ones only under certain circumstances:

• New homeowner's or auto insurance: order your CLUE or A-PLUS reports
• Victim of check fraud or general checking or savings account problems: order your ChexSystems report
• Employer (current or potential) asks for permission to run background check: ask for name of the screening company and contact them as soon as they've issued the report
• Applying for a new job: order Employment Data Report from Work Number if any past employers used that company; also consider ordering a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure
• Renting an apartment or home: ask the landlord for the name of the screening company, as there are several
• Health, life, long-term care, or disability insurance: order your MIB report from Medical Information Bureau
• General overall check-up on what you look like as data: order a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure and a Lexus-Nexis Accurint Person Report

There is one time when you may want to go crazy and order everything, and that's if you've been a victim of identity theft.

(Thanks to commenter mac-phisto, whose advice in an earlier post on auto insurance triggered this one.)

"Big Brother is watching" [Consumer Reports]
"What You Should Know about 'Specialty' Reports" [Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]
(Photo: Erik Pitti)

Basically what you do is send back a professional letter to the address on your denial. State your case, and why you're a good credit risk. Point out the specific factors in your credit history that show you are a good debtor. This is what Frugal Travel Guy's letter looked like:

To: Blah Blah Blah

RE: Credit Card Reconsideration Request

To Whom it May Concern:

I was surprised to receive an online denial of my recent SPG Amex card application reference # 123456987654.

I am asking you to reconsider your decision based on the following facts:

My wife and I are both employed full time as professionals and have an annual income in excess of $___________.

Although our past credit is limited, you can see from our credit report, we have never missed a payment or been late. I know, as I checked my credit score just before applying for your card to insure it's accuracy. I note the current credit score is 745 which is better than over 55% of the public and is considered good credit by the credit reporting agency.

We are not heavy users of credit and never plan to be, but have heard from many sources that your card is the best rewards card on the market today, and we believe we are responsible credit risks and deserve a chance with your card.

We do not need a large credit limit and would be happy with a small credit line at first to prove to you our reliability.

Although I am not including our most recent paystubs, I can send them to you if you need them.

I look forward to your reconsideration and receipt of my new Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card.

Respectfully

Josh Xxxxxxx

And it worked, his son was approved after they got this letter.

Have you ever tried a reconsideration letter? How did it go?

I'm Proud of Me Today a Successful Reconsideration Letter [Frugal Travel Guy] (Photo: the prodigal untitled13)

What you're doing is actually settling the debt for less than you owe. As such, the lender will probably report the debt as "settled" rather than paid. Often it's more important to get the debt off your back than to maintain a pristine credit score, but you should just be aware you might incur a ding. But don't let that stop you from getting debt-free if that's what it takes!

Negotiating reduced payments can hurt credit scores [Ask Max] (Photo: Colin Tobin)

If you have a disputed account on your credit report, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will automatically kick your application back to your bank for manual underwriting. If your bank really wants that loan, they'll underwrite it themselves before sending it back upstream. But if they can't or don't want to do that, they'll just reject your application and blame it on Fannie or Freddie.

Before you buy or refinance a home, pull copies of your credit report and clean it up if necessary. If you see any disputes that were resolved in your favor but that you can't get the bureau(s) to remove, look for a lender that will offer in-house underwriting.

"Old credit disputes can scuttle loan" [Washington Post]
(Photo: me'nthedogs)

I recently applied for a Best Buy Rewards Zone Mastercard from HSBC Bank USA. I applied on the website and at the end of the online approval process I was required to call a telephone number to confirm my identity. After I answered several question based on information from my credit report, I was approved. Over the next week, I received 2 more calls (with bad English ability, and without saying who they represented) asking me the exact same information using information from my credit report.

On the 3rd week I received the credit card in the mail. The information with the card explained the $59 annual fee. I was also approved for a $300 credit limit. I looked over the Cardholder Terms, and found that the $59 annual fee would not have to be paid if you closed the account within 90 days and did not use the account.

I called Customer Service the same day to close the account, but apparently during one of the 3 calls they made, they asked me for a Secret Identity Word. I did not know this word, so they tried the alternative verification method using my credit report information. It turns out they pulled my information through the credit agency so many times they were unable to do it a 4th time. I then spoke with a Supervisor who said that he would close the account, but that in order to reopen it in the future I will need to provide 3 forms of ID. After trying five times to convince me not to close the account, he finally closed it.

2 weeks later, on 10/15/2009, I get a bill in the mail from HSBC for $59.00 (with a min. payment of $15 due 11/3/2009). My account was supposed to be closed. I call and get stuck at the "identity word", the customer service rep. can not access my account without the word. I then speak with a Supervisor and he is able to see my account and says that it is active and has a balance of $59.00 from the Annual fee. He also says that the account was not closed 2 weeks prior and his log only shows that I called to discuss my account.

This supervisor, Chris, says that he can credit the account for $59 and close the account. He credits the account for $59 after I am put on hold for 23 minutes (in what seems an attempt to kick me off). He then tells me that if he closes my account it will be reported on my credit report as a Fraudulent account. I tell him that I have been recording everything so that my friend and attorney general can know about it. He says that unless I stop immediately he will add back the $59 and will not be able to help me. I tell him that I have, and he goes ahead in closing the account but that it will still show up on my Credit Report as a Security Hold. The only way to stop that is sending in 3 forms of ID of which is HARD to get because I am a college student and my mailing, voting, etc. is all my school address. He tells me there is no one higher up to talk to and says goodbye. I end the call after an 1hr and 20 minutes.

After all of this I was treated rudely by customer service, threatened and lied to, and left very upset with HSBC. I know this type of customer service and attitude is not inherent in all Credit Card customer service as I have always had excellent conversations with Bank of America & Chase. Is there anything I should do to let HSBC Corporate know, or stop them from damaging my Credit Report?

It sounds as if regular customer service, even the supervisors, won't be much help in this situation. It's time to talk to the more powerful folks at HSBC's executive customer service. Here's the latest phone number we have for them. It may also be worth dropping a regular letter or e-mail to Best Buy to let them know how their credit card partner is treating loyal Best Buy customers.

(Photo: adotjdotsmith)

The thief got hold of his wife's SSN, address, and DOB, says John, and used that to access his wife's TransUnion credit report. He says TransUnion confirmed that someone had accessed her credit report via the credit bureau's website.

On the credit report, the credit card numbers are listed in full. John says he spoke with the merchants the card numbers were used at and they confirmed that the thief used tried several different expiration dates before successfully charging the card. Since the report also says what date the account was opened, guessing the expiration date isn't as hard as it might be otherwise.

I just checked my TransUnion credit report, a portion of which I'm showing above, and indeed the credit card numbers are listed in full. I also noticed a disclaimer that said, "the account # may be scrambled by the creditor for your protection." That "may" should be an "is." Both the creditors and credit bureuas need to change how credit card and account numbers show up. All the pieces of information needed to access an individual's credit report can be gotten from public records.

"If you haven't already done it go right now and check your TransUnion credit report, set a password on the account to prevent thieves who know you SSN/Address/DOB from accessing it. If when you get there there is already a password and you didn't set it you're probably a victim," says John.

(Photo: B Rosen)

Michelle Singletary at the Washington Post notes that the FTC is attempting to correct this oversight. They're also asking the general public for input on what would make the service less confusing to use.

In an effort to help keep people from ending up on impostor sites or falling for promotions for free credit reports that aren't really free, the FTC is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the free-report rule. The credit card legislation passed this spring requires the agency to create amendments to the law by Feb. 22, 2010, to prevent deceptive marketing of these reports.

Over the next two months, you'll have a chance to weigh in on the FTC's rulemaking effort. Do take the time to comment, especially if you feel you've been deceived. This isn't a trivial matter. These rules will dictate how you get your credit reports. Most of what the FTC is proposing will make things better, but the agency needs to be tougher.

"We are encouraging consumers and anybody else to comment," said Katherine Armstrong, an FTC lawyer. "We want to know if we got it right."

Here are three rule changes they're proposing:

1. All credit bureau advertising and upsells would be removed from the process until after you have received your free credit report(s).

2. The "sponsored" links from the credit bureaus would be removed.

3. Other companies (like our much-hated "freecreditreport.com") would have to send customers to a landing page that reads, "This is not the free credit report provided for by federal law."

What do you think? Whether you agree or disagree, or have other suggestions, you should send them in to the FTC:

To read the text of the Federal Register notice with all the proposed changes, go to http://www.ftc.gov. Comments must be received by Nov. 30.

To submit your comments electronically, go to http://public.commentworks.com/ftc/FreeCreditReportNPRM. Comments on paper should be mailed or delivered to Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex T), 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580.

"Underlining 'Free' in 'Free Credit Report'" [Washington Post]

I just received a notice from FIA Card Services regarding my (Formerly PNC) Worldpoints Visa Card.

"Your card will now be assessed an annual fee of $99, which will be billed on your Febuary statement each year. We appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to meet your credit card needs. If you accept this change, you will continue to enjoy valuable benefits such as the WorldPoints(R) rewards program, which lets you earn points you can redeem for travel,, merchandise, gift cards, cash and limited-edition memorabilia...

... You have the right to reject this change. INstructions are included in the enclosed Amendment. If you choose to reject this change, your account will be closed, and you must continue to make regular payments until your balance is paid in full..."

A little background info: This is currently my only credit card and is the single oldest thing on my credit report. Closing this card will most definitely adversely affect my credit score. A $99 annual fee seems absolutely outrageous to me. Is this sort of change allowed and is there anything I can do to prevent paying this fee aside from closing the account and taking the hit on my credit score? I'll be shopping for student loans next year and need my score to be as high as possible.

This is a tough situation. The company is essentially holding Michael's credit score hostage. Calling and asking for a waiver of the fee probably won't work, since more credit cards will be adding annual fees. The threat of switching to another card doesn't have the same impact that it did in, say, 2006.

We would suggest trying to negotiate with the company—ask if he can switch to a different card type, without reward points, but maintain the same account.

Any advice for Michael, or similar experiences to share?

(Photo: frankieleon)

My fiance and I are currently in the market for a new home. We found one in a great neighborhood that we absolutely fell in love with and decided to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Imagine our surprise when our mortgage counselor informs us that my fiances credit is less than desirable. We are both working professionals with long credit histories who pay on-time. When we asked what the problem was, she told us that the Juniper credit card that my fiance used to purchase an Apple computer earlier in the year was showing as more than 30 days late.

When we contacted Juniper about the issue, we were informed that my fiance had paid the month in question too early to be credited towards that billing cycle. How early? 3 hours. She paid the card off three hours too soon. And not at some random, early morning hour. The payment posted at 4pm and was technically due at 7pm. Who would have thought that a bank would post a payment at COB? I guess not Juniper. As a result, late fees began to accumulate and they reported her to the credit agencies. When speaking with them on the phone, she repeatedly got the "canned answer" from their representative as they denied any wrongdoing. Where does that leave us? Out of the housing market. Thanks, Juniper.

In the hopes that others won't get caught in a trap like this, I wanted to share with you guys.

We recommend that John and his fiancee not take this sitting down. Her case seems ideal for a credit report dispute, or escalating her case as high within the company as she can.

RELATED:
How To Fix Your Credit Report When Creditors Won't Admit Their Mistakes
EECB Finally Gets Someone At Bank Of America To Listen, Admit Responsibility
Asking For Lower APR Gets Juniper iTunes Rewards VISA Card Closed Against Man's Will

(Photo: Nesster)

You may have seen Ben Stein hawking Freescore.com on your TV in recent months. (It's why he was fired from the New York Times in August, in fact, because of a perceived conflict of interest.) It's no different from any other "free" credit report nonsense out there in that after a short trial period—7 days in this case—you have to pay for what you can get for free once a year from annualcreditreport.com. The company exists to lure in people who don't mind paying unnecessary fees, as well as people who don't read fine print, as well as those who do read fine print but forget to cancel within that 7 day window. Freescore.com is even more obnoxious in that it will charge you $1 to access your "free" initial results; the fine print says that if you choose to cancel within 7 days, "remember to ask for a refund of your $1 processing fee."

For those reasons, Reuters blogger Felix Salmon called Stein a "predatory bait-and-switch merchant" in July, and someone called "Flâneur de fraude" added to the claim in a blog post, where he showed that Freescore is ultimately owned by Vertrue Inc., a company that has a BBB rating of "F", mostly due to complaints that Vertrue's various membership companies enrolled customers without their knowledge or permission.

Somehow, that spurred Freescore to retaliate with legal action. But what's weird is although they're making a lot of noise about defamation and trade libel, and they've filed a suit with Yahoo to get Flâneur's real name revealed, they haven't actually argued that anything Flâneur posted was false. They haven't even gone after Felix Salmon, the original blogger at Reuters.

So is Freescore.com planning on suing Flâneur if they can find out her real name? If so, for what? As you can see from her blog post, the original content she added to the story was all about tracing ownership and pointing out the history of complaints against Freescore's parent company.

The happy ending (at least so far) is that Flâneur has brought bigger guns to the fight:

At that point, Flâneur sprung into action, and got the Public Citizen Litigation Group involved. They have now filed a monster 43-page brief with the Connecticut court, and after reading it one has difficulty imagining that any judge will compel Yahoo to unmask Flâneur. Public Citizen's press release is here, and the headline sums it up: the blogger who criticized freescore.com, it says, has the right to remain anonymous.

Adaptive has never complained to Flâneur, to me, or to anybody else, as far as I can tell, about any of our characterizations of their business. They never asked for any of our blog entries to be updated or edited, and they were conspicuous by their absence during the brouhaha over Ben Stein. If they had any problem with the blog entries, that was the time to say so - not now, when the whole episode is already half-forgotten.

Instead, knowing that Flâneur values her anonymity, they decided to try to unmask her in Connecticut court. I hope and trust that now, with the intervention of Public Citizen, they will fail miserably.

"Ben Stein's sleazy paymasters" [Reuters]

RELATED
"Developments about Adaptive Marketing's suit to identify critical blogger" [CL&P]
"Ben Stein steals your money" [flâneur de fraude]
"Ben Stein, predatory bait-and-switch merchant" [Reuters]

The sites give you access to a wide range of your personal information, with links to your free annual credit report, past insurance claims, health history, checking account info, background checks, previous purchase returns, and your rental history.

Because some of these were new to us, we decided to go through the whole list and try out all of the links Consumer Reports provided. (We didn't try the free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com, with which most readers should already be familiar.)

ChoiceTrust, which provides free reports on personal property and auto insurance claims, as well as bankruptcies, liens, and any licenses (e.g., firearms, admission to a state medical board, etc.) you have, gave us accurate information quickly.

Chex Systems, which offers free reports on checking and debit history, over drafts, unpaid charges, and so on, was accessible, but does not offer online reports; ours will be arriving in the mail next week. TeleCheck, which provides similar information, had a buggy website that kept clearing form values when we clicked Submit. Encouraging sign from a company that has access to your checking account.

The Retail Equation provides your return history, used by stores to spot potential refund/return scams, but you can only access a free report online if you've been denied a return and have a refusal code, otherwise you'll need to contact them by phone to get your report.

SafeRent and RentBureau both provide consumer information to landlords and property management companies when prospective renters apply for housing. Both sites offer free reports, however, you have to print out and mail in a form to receive your report.

The CR article also offers several phone numbers for companies that maintain your medical records, although when we tried, it was such a formidable labyrinth of phone trees and automated prompts that we up for going through it all.

Taking control of your finances and your personal information requires knowing what agencies are saying about you. Use these resources to spot any fraud, incomplete information, or legitimate red flags that will pop up when you apply for credit, a mortgage, or an apartment.

Big Brother Is Watching [Consumer Reports Money Adviser]
(Photo: frankieleon)

EQ stands for Equifax, TU for TransUnion, and EX for Experian.

FICO Risk Factor Reason Codes [Bargaineering]
(Photo: Egan Snow)

Hiring consultant Nancy Schuman explains:

Some companies believe they can deduce how a person will handle their job responsibilities based on how they handle their personal finances. Others use the information to gauge how long a person might stay in a position if their debt load is higher than a position pays. It is also used to verify employment history and a social security number.

There is no clear connection between a credit history and job performance, and many job seekers consider it to be an unfair way of screening candidates, however, no Federal discrimination law specifically prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of a bad credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state credit laws help to regulate how an employer can obtain and use their findings. An employer must gain your consent in writing to do a credit check and the report they receive is different than one viewed by a credit agency or an individual. Full account numbers are not revealed and they won't see a credit score, but they will be able to see late payments, collections and bankruptcies. If you are actually denied employment because of your credit report, the company must notify you so that you may view the report on which the decision was based.

An accurate credit report is best defense against a discriminating employer. Every year, consumers find 13 million errors staining their credit reports. Request a copy of your report from each of the three credit reporting agencies at AnnualCreditReport.com (not FreeCreditReport.com!) Challenge anything that looks like an error. If you can't scrape strikes from your report, talk to your potential employer clearly and honestly and help them understand what led to financial transgression, and explain how it is completely unrelated to your future job performance.

Does Bad Credit = A Bad Candidate [Long Island Press via Fair Credit Reporting Act]
PREVIOUSLY: Repair Your Credit By Disputing
Check Your Credit History Year-Round, For Free
(Photo: ninjapoodles)

Is a true that after 7 years your bad credits go away?

By credit you mean debts, and, for the most part, the answer is yes. However, it depends. Some negative information can stay on your report for up to 15 years. Here's a breakdown of how long each of 10 different kinds of negative items stay on your report, aka, drag down your credit score:

Delinquencies (30 – 180 days): Up to 7 years after the first missed payment, the original delinquency date, after which point you never caught up on your payments again. A 30 days late stops mattering after about a year or two, but 60+ days can last for a long time, notes commenter FDCPA Guy.

Bankruptcy: Ten years from date of discharge for chapter 7, 11, and 12. Seven years for chapter 13. Any accounts involved in the bankruptcy stay on for seven years.

Collection accounts: 7 years from the original delinquency date (ODD).

Charged-off accounts (when the original lender figures they're never going to get money from you and writes it off as a loss and sells it to a collector): 7 years from the ODD, even if payments are late made (this is important to remember because some collectors try to say that by making a payment with them you've reset the debt clock. We covered this more in this post).

Closed accounts: 7 years from date of reported closing if they have delinquiencies, 10 years if there's a positive balance.

Lost credit card: 2 years, if there's no delinquienceies. If there are, then 7 years from ODD.

Child support judgments: 7 years from date judgement is filed.

Small claims and civil judgments: 7 years from date judgement is filed.

Liens: 15 years for unpaid tax liens. 7 years for paid liens.

Hard credit inquiries: 2 years.

Paid positive accounts: 10 years.

Positive open credit information: forever.

That many years sounds like a long time for a lot of these items. How will I ever get credit? Don't worry so much, says commenter Stephmo. They note that a lot of credit-scoring models just look at the last 24 months, "meaning that if you keep your pills paid for 24 months and your score improves and you manage to rebuild credit for 24 solid months - this stuff starts to not matter as much. If you have 24 months of similar high re-established credit, most creditors will consider you "rehabilitated." In many cases, you can even get auto-approved unless they're really targeting specific delinquency types."

[via Experian] (Photo: -heureux-)

He tried sending a certified letter. He contacted the credit reporting agency to dispute the delinquency claim, and he ended up being sent back to BoA's credit dispute department, where they refused his request. Finally, all other channels exhausted, he resorted to the following Executive Email Carpet Bomb (EECB).

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing today to express my frustration in the lack of help I've been receiving from the associates at Bank of America. I've been in constant contact with your Credit Card Customer Service department about an on-going issue for the past few months along with sending certified letters (see below for tracking info) for someone to help me. Because of the lack of notes each associate has taken on my record, each call to Customer Service is always new adventure. Another result of the lack of notes is that no associate believes anything I say and are quick to note, "well we don't have a record of that" which allows them to offer minimal help. It came to a point where I called on 6/18/09 asking for help and was told "there is no help and there's nothing I can do." I can't express how embarrassing it is to call your customer service, explain my situation, and then be treated as if I were irresponsible and, basically, shown the door.

I have multiple products with Bank of America including a checking account and 2 credit cards and have contemplated moving more accounts over to take advantage of some of your other products. I have been a member since my accounts were MBNA back in 1999. That's ten years of loyalty. But I am writing to talk about credit card account [redacted] which I used as my secondary credit account in the event my primary Bank of America card had any issues.

Since I used my primary card so much, it got to a point where no card readers would accept it. So I put in a call to Bank of America for a new card and used my secondary card (which carried a $0 balance) until my primary card was replaced. Since I'm also a heavy user of the BankofAmerica.com website, I enjoyed checking my statements and paying my bills online. I noticed the account-in-question was not attached to my online profile and a point came where I was not receiving a statement to pay off the account. I called Customer Service and after a couple hours of back and forth with your tech department and other managers, they were able to return with "an issue linking old MBNA accounts/profiles that were transferred during the buyout". The customer service agent said that they were going to work on the online problem, but until then, a statement was definitely on the way.

Time passed, and I still didn't get a statement. So I called Customer Service again and was told that the statement was already sent and to wait a couple days and call back again if it doesn't show up. So I waited, no statement, and I call customer service again. The new agent I spoke to was confused as I tried to explain my situation, again, that my account was not attached online, your tech department was working on it, I'm not receiving statements, and I have no way to pay my bill. The customer service agent said I can pay over the phone but there was a fee. I asked if she can waive the fee considering all the issues and she told me she could not do that. So I said I'll wait another week for the statement since the agent ASSURED me one was on the way.

Time passes, again, no statement. I jumped on my BankofAmerica.com account and the account in question had Finally attached to my profile. I was relieved because I really didn't want to call customer service again over this issue. BUT, I had to… The account was past due and late fees were tacked on… I called and had to explain the story again, and of course I get "there's no record of any of that" and that I needed to be more responsible. Obviously I'm trying to be responsible, which is why I have been calling. But the agent politely apologized for the inconvenience and waived all the fees to the account and stayed on the phone with me as I completed an online payment to the account. I was VERY happy with how the situation ended (or so I thought) and we proceeded to close the account since I still was not receiving statements.

I recently ordered a pre-approval for a mortgage refinance and received my credit report. I noticed a flag on my credit report for the account in question. After the constant communication with customer service, the issues with the web site, not receiving statements, an admitted "issue with previous MBNA profiles/accounts" and not to mention the 10 years of loyalty with absolutely no blemishes, I cannot understand how this account was reported as a "delinquent account."

I wrote letters to the 3 main credit bureaus (certified mail), a letter to Bank of America (see tracking info below), and, again, called Bank of America customer where I was greeted with "I don't have a record of any of that" but will put in a "request" to the Credit department to review the account (April 22, 2009). A few weeks later I received responses from the 3 credit bureaus all stating, "We have verified that Bank of America did in fact report this account. All disputes should be resolved through Bank of America." That's fine, but I had yet to hear anything from Bank of America from the letter and dispute I requested.

June 17, 2009.

I decided to call again to see what steps were being taken on my account where, again, I was greeted with "I don't have a record of any of that except that we closed the account and a dispute was generated by our customer service department." So I again repeated the entire story in which the agent told me "we already made a decision and we will not be removing the delinquent notice from your credit report." I asked who else I can speak to but was told "there is no one else." I don't buy it, there's ALWAYS someone to talk to. I didn't ask to speak to a CEO, just to someone who can help me and who would listen to my side of the story.

I was then told "Sir, there is no one else to talk to, we've made our decision. From what i'm reading, you were late and you disputed this."

Even after explaining the story and all the issues again, and being told that there is absolutely no one else I can discuss this with, I asked, "So where is the letter I sent you explaining the situation? Did anyone review it?"

"I don't have a record of that," your associate responded.

I respond, "Well, I have a record that I sent you a letter, and I have a record stating you received it, so why isn't THAT recorded in your notes, and why hasn't anyone responded? If you guys record every contact you receive from us, why hasn't anyone contacted me" (see tracking info below)

"I'm sorry sir, that may be on another recording system."

SERIOUSLY?? Another recording system?? So are all my other online issues and phone calls also on another recording system?

We again went back and forth about how many other people there are at Bank of America and I, in no way, can speak to any of them.

I asked how the last customer service associate put in the dispute I requested by phone. "There is a form we fill out," he said.

I asked if its just "Check off your issue" and then fill out an explanation, or just copy/paste my account number and then push send.

"No, I fill out your account and then select ‘would like to dispute' and send it in."

Any employee can look at an account and see the person was late and say "we won't fix it." But that wasn't the case with mine. I wanted to speak to someone. I wanted someone to read my letter. I wanted someone to HELP me. SPEAK to me. GIVE me the respect of explaining what was going on over there... I even went out of my way to write a full letter requesting help as well as attached a copy of my FULL credit report with the issue highlighted to make the issue for your associates as simple as possible upon receipt.

Now, I understand mergers can be stressful, I also understand mistakes happen, I am also VERY forgiving when it comes to mistakes, but, constantly being told that it's my fault, "we don't have a record of that," "we can't do any more for you" and "there's no one else that can help you" is UNACCEPTABLE. I've been extremely patient with your staff, I have never yelled at them, never cursed at them, and have tried to uphold as much professionalism as I can muster. But this has gone TOO far. 10 years of loyalty, 10 years of being in "good standing" and an issue I had NO control over arises and I get screwed over with absolutely no help from anyone.

I've hit a dead end and would like some help from somebody. A manager, a district manager, someone who will actually take the time to listen to me and review my situation without looking at the lack of notes and saying "we don't have a record of that."

I included my contact information below and am available, at any time, to discuss this matter.

Your kindness in this matter would be GREATLY appreciated.

Sincerely ,
Andrew

Whew, that was long! But it was a long story, and a frustrating one. We were especially annoyed by how, as time went on, Bank of America used its own institutional amnesia to justify blaming Andrew for a series of mistakes made on their end. What's the point of having a "notes" section on an account, and of repeatedly referring to it, if your CSRs aren't actually using it correctly?

The good news is that the EECB had the desired effect. Andrew wrote back to us this morning,

The day I sent the email (Friday), an executive named Nereida called me from the office of Ken Lewis. She was extremely polite and seemed to really care about how I felt with getting a dead end in the customer service I should have received. She was prepared with a list of names of managers ready to work with me. But she did NOT send me on a calling spree. She had already put in calls to these people, but since it was Friday night at 730pm, everyone here on the east coast was gone for the day. So she said she would call me first thing Monday morning and keep me informed on any updates she received, and again apologized for not receiving more attention.

I received a call from Nereida this morning at about 10:30am and she conference-called me with Myron who worked out of the Consumer Credit Affairs division. Myron told me that they would be removing the alerts from my credit report. He also told me that he did see a couple reasons as to why I may not have recieved a statement and because of that, and along with all the details I had given, he saw no reason not to remove the alerts on my credit report.

The lesson here is that the EECB still can work, if you have a good reason to send it. As Andy points out in his summary below, it really pays to exhaust your other options first. When you launch and EECB you should be able to explain how you were blocked from a solution at every other customer service path in the company first.

Originally, I thought that my EECB would be a lost cause. Even fall on deaf ears... But thanks to Nereida's kindness and swift action, she helped to make my issue go away in less than 2 days.

To the readers of The Consumerist, the EECB works, but PLEASE do not abuse it. I exhausted every resource including numerous phone calls to customer serivce, secure emails from my bankofamerica.com account, and even resorted to Certified Mail with the USPS, which I feel was the biggest help in my case.

(Photo: Indigo Goat)

Credit Karma Report Card (requires registration)

Have you wondered why?

At my last job, during the routine background investigation process, I had asked investigators why they reviewed credit histories. They gave some predictable answers. If you have a lot of debt, you may be more susceptible to bribes or you're more likely to steal. If you don't have a lot of debt but are otherwise reckless with money, you might soon acquire a lot of debt and fall into the same trap. Beyond those two tenuous but plausible reasons, there were others I didn't think of. The prime example has to do with residency and corroborating what your résumé claims. If my résumé states that I worked at a company in Pittsburgh for five years, I should have a western Pennsylvania address listed as a former address on my credit report. If that address isn't on my report, it's possible I'm falsifying my résumé.

This underscores the importance of regularly reviewing your credit reports.

If you're curious what you can do to clean up your image, I found an undated article by Liz Pulliam Weston on employment inquiries. It discusses what you can do to clean up your report, what protections you have under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and what you can do if you are denied a job because of your credit.

Also in the article, she talked to James Lee, chief marketing offer of ChoicePoint Inc., which does background checks. According to Lee:

Credit has not turned out to be a good predictor of workplace theft. This is what our customers are telling us, anyway, Lee said. A better predictor is a criminal history involving bounced checks.

So while they're not a good predictor, employers are still checking anyway. Incidentally, bounced checks are reported on specialty reports offered by ChexSystems. You're given the same free annual right to review those reports as you are credit reports.

Have you ever been denied a job because of your credit?

Jim writes about personal finance at Bargaineering.com.

(Photo: pyxopotamus)

Well there's two ways, the easy way and the hard way. In the easy way, you simply go to annualcreditreport.com and check out your free credit report from all of the bureaus. Look through your credit history. If there's anything amiss, there should be a link next to it or on the page to file a dispute. As long as the creditor doesn't disagree, the error is gone within 3 months. And if that doesn't work, there's the hard way, where you have to keep detailed documentation as you go between bureaur and furnisher, pressing your case. In the worst case, you may have to go to trial to get an error removed.

For a good look at each step of how the hard way works, check out "How to complain about: credit report errors" over at The Red Tape Chronicles.

How to complain about: credit report errors [Red Tape Chronicles]

He writes:

I broke up with my girlfriend a few months ago and moved out all my belongings from the apartment we shared. Being a shared apartment, we tried splitting things down the middle: she paid for the cat's vet bills while I paid for the Time Warner internet bill — hell, that seems rational to me. The thing about signing up with an internet service provider is that they have your social security number and credit score all to their own devices in case you, say, decide to forgo paying the monthly bill.

After I moved out of my ex-girlfriend's apartment I forgot to do one thing: change the name of the person attached to the Time Warner account (me). I figured that she would call up Time Warner and put her own name on the account since I don't think I can just call up and put her name on it since I a) don't know her SSN and b) didn't want to talk to that crazy woman!

Three or so months went by and I hadn't talked to my ex for the bulk of that time — beautiful since I really had nothing I wanted to say to her (except that I missed the cat). It was at this point where I received a phone call from Time Warner, threatening to turn off my cable tomorrow unless I paid the $140 worth of past-due bills (three months). WHAT?!

Turns out that my ex decided to NOT pay the Time Warner bills but, of course, still use the service since my name was attached to it. I told Time Warner the situation — that I have not lived there for over three months — and they simple responded, "Well, the account is under your name so it's your credit score and you gotta pay it." I think what ticked me off the most was that Time Warner was completely in the right and it was my responsibility to take my name off any account I had associated with that apartment. I guess I didn't think my ex would actually go so far to do that to me but in retrospect I definitely had it coming.

I did end up paying the $140 in the end, but I learned some valuable lessons:

1) When you break up with someone whom you live with, be sure to have a dialogue about bills and whose name is attached to what so you don't end up in a $nafu.
2) If you get a threatening phone call from a company, pay the bills IMMEDIATELY so your credit score won't get hurt anymore than it has from the past due fines/bills/whatever.
3) Steal the cat when you walk out the door because you'll always miss the cute way he cuddled on your lap on the couch. :(

Just some tips for those dealing with bills and breakups. And yes, I do have a new girlfriend now who doesn't maliciously stick me with a $140 bill. And no, we don't have a cat. Yet.

The same goes for roommates and even amicable splits. Bills in your name should be sent only to places you're still living.

(Photo: frankieleon)

• Cancel your account with the credit report site immediately. They won't let you do this online, so you'll have to call an 800 number to cancel. They'll try to talk you out of canceling. Stand firm.
• Watch your credit card statements carefully. Some of the "free credit report" services are owned by companies notorious for slipping unauthorized charges onto your bill. Watch your statements, and pounce on those bogus charges like a kitten on a dust bunny. Dispute them, or file a chargeback if necessary.
• Your personal data is probably safe, but just in case, keep an eye on your credit report. Use AnnualCreditReport.com. I like to order a report from a different credit bureau every four months, so it remains free, but I have a broad sense of what's getting reported over time. The scammers aren't out to steal your identity. They're out to collect affiliate fees for selling you a not-so-free credit report.
• Remember, you're not stupid. Credit checks are a common part of the rental process, so don't feel stupid for not being suspicious at first.

RELATED:
Scammers Advertise Fake Apartments, Want Your Real Credit Information
Easy Weight Loss And Free Cash: A Dubious Product Online Marketing Empire Revealed
Don't Fall For The Job Hunting Credit Report Scam

(Photo: brendancox)

Oh, it also comes with an enrollment in some sort of identity theft protection program for $13 a month.

Looks like Wachovia (a Wells Fargo Company) is now taking its lead from a singing pirate. Just in time for your post yesterday on the CARD Act and its impact on "free" credit reports, I recieved the attached letter from my bank, asking me to simply attach a sticker and return the mailing in the enclosed prepaid, already-addressed envelope to get a Free Credit Report! What could be easier!

Naturally, upon reading the fine print, one finds this little doozy: "Unless I call to cancel during my thirty-day trial, my protection will be automatically continued at the $12.99 monthly credit monitoring fee, or then current monthly fee, debited from my primary Wachovia checking account each month, without my having to do anything further."

Granted, it's all laid out for you relatively clearly in the small print, but how is this any different than what FreeCreditReport.com is doing? And why is my bank selling my personal information to a third party for the sole purpose of shadily trying to get me to sign up for a "credit monitoring service" of dubious value? This stinks. The only reason I've stayed with super-inconvenient Wachovia while living in New York City is out of loyalty - I used to work for them - but if this is the way they're doing business now, screw 'em.

We know why they're doing it—because there's still a lot of confused or ignorant consumers out there who either don't know about annualcreditreport.com (the only real source of free credit reports), or who see the phrase "free credit report" and stop looking for alternatives. The sticker gimmick seems particularly silly, and aimed at customers who have an "I just won a contest!" mentality when it comes to offers in the mail.

We don't know if offers like this one will be covered under the CARD Act, because Wachovia does make it quite clear that there's going to be an ongoing fee after the first 30 days. It's nowhere near as misleading as the FreeCreditReport.com commercials, in other words.

That doesn't change the fact that if you really want to pull your credit reports for free, annualcreditreport.com is the only place where you can do it.

35% Payment History: Do you pay your bills on time?
+ for on-time
- for tardy or skipping

30% Utilization: How much are you using of all your available credit?
+ tapping less
- using up most of it

15% Credit History: How long you've held your accounts, how recently have you used them?
+ longer time, fewer accounts
- short time, more accounts

10% New Credit: How many accounts have you opened recently vs. your total number of accounts? How many recent credit inquires have lenders made?
+ fewer accounts, older, less inquiries
- more accounts, more recently, more inquiries

10% Types Of Credit: What kind of credit do you have?
+ showing a history of being able to pay off credit card debt (revolving debt) counts for more than a mortgage (installment loan)

So how can you use this info to improve your credit score? Well, you can change your behaviors so you're doing more of the + stuff and less of the -. Also, check out your credit reports, all three of them, for free at annualcreditreport.com. The first thing you'll want to do is make sure all the information is accurate, and if not, start disputing incorrect information that might be hurting your score.

FURTHER READING:
Credit Scores: What You Need to Know [NYT]
What's in your FICO score [MyFICO]

(Photo: funny strange or funny ha ha)

Santana had actually already sought permission from the bank to settle for as little as $10,000. It's an open secret that if a debtor is willing to wait long enough, he can probably get away with paying almost nothing, as long as he doesn't mind hurting his credit score. So Santana knew he should jump at the offer. But as an amateur psychologist, Santana was eager to make his own diagnosis - and presumably boost his own commission.

"I don't think that's going to work," Santana told the man...

Santana's classes had focused on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a still-popular midcentury theory of human motivation. Santana had initially put this guy on the "love/belonging" level of Maslow's hierarchy and built his pitch around his relationship with his ex-wife. But Santana was beginning to suspect that the debtor was actually in the "esteem" phase, where respect is a primary driver. So he switched tactics.

"You spent this money," Santana said. "You made a promise. Now you have to decide what kind of a world you want to live in. Do you want to live around people who break their promises? How are you going to tell your friends or your kids that you can't honor your word?"

The man mulled it over, and a few days later called back and said he'd pay $12,000.

"Boom, baby!" Santana shouted as he put down the phone. "It's all about getting inside their heads and understanding what they need to hear," he told me later. "It really feels great to know I'm helping people in pain."

The debtor could have gotten away with paying only $10,000 but let his emotions get manipulated by the debt collector.

What Does Your Credit-Card Company Know About You? [NYT]

My friend Amanda is looking for a new apartment, and last week she responded to an appealing ad on Craigslist. There was no apartment, though...just a credit report scam that's showing up in more and more cities.

Here's how the scam works. An ad goes up for a house or an apartment at an appealing rent. (See an example.) The ads don't change much from city to city, and are vague about where the place is located. The person who placed the ad e-mails prospective renters back with a rental application, a promise to walk them through the property soon, and a request for a copy of your credit report.

The demand for a credit report is the only part of this scam that's real. It's an affiliate link to one of the "free" credit report services. You know, like FreeCreditReport.com, only shadier and without the annoying TV commercials. The URL to the "free" credit report contains the scammer's affiliate code, and they receive money for every new customer referred to the credit report site.

Since the apartments often have suspiciously low rents for the area, the landlord scammer can just pretend that someone else was approved before you. Victims of the scam continue in their apartment hunts, never the wiser until strange charges for credit monitoring services show up on their credit card bill.

Here's an example of one of the e-mails. When my friend e-mailed the person offering the apartment asking where the place was located, she received this reply from George:

Hi,

We try to keep our costs and our tenants costs to a minimum so we can rent our units fast and keep them rented. Pets are accepted if you have any.

Hopefully I can walk you through the property either tomorrow or within the next few days.

Once you have these completed the steps below, send me an email. This really is a very nice rental especially for the price. Wont last long at this price.

Here is our Rental Application: Here
Print it out and bring it with you when we look at the property.

You'll need a copy of your credit report. Your report is free with a free trial. This will save me from charging you any fees for checking your credit history. Get it at http://www.rentalinvestors.net/freecreditreport.html

Regards,
George
Rental Investors

"Wont last long at this price," indeed.

She replied to him, again asking where the apartment was located—which, after all, was the only thing she asked in her initial e-mail. He never responded.

We reported on a very similar employment ad scam back in February. Apparently, people become suspicious when a prospective employer asks for a credit check before the interview, but a credit check as part of a rental application is much more plausible.

Many Consumerist readers have spotted this scam, and some have gone through with the credit checks. If you're one of them, carefully watch your credit card statements, dispute any charges you never asked for, and be sure to get a real free credit report from Annualcreditreport.com every year.

Here's a partial list of sham real estate companies, and the credit report companies they're sending business to. If you've run into similar ads, send us an e-mail with the fake company's information, and we'll add it to the list.

Landlords:
Equal Opportunity Rentals - equalopportunityrentals.com
Rental Investors - rentalinvestors.net
Katie's Rentals - katiesrentals.com
Metro Apartments - metroapartments.org
Anna's Rental Properties annasrentalproperties.com
Reed Apartments - reedapartments.org - marissa@reedapartments.org
ZT Apartments - zt_apts@earthlink.net
http://www.creditgradegroup.com - wayne.morrison20@gmail.com
Derek Couture - dcouture1977@gmail.com
Exquisite Rentals - exquisiterentals.com - ExquisiteRentals@mail.com
Kimberly McReynolds - kimberlymcreynolds2@gmail.com

Credit check services;
http://www.my-credit-score-now.com
http://www.creditreportamerica.com (See their BBB report and previous Consumerist appearance.)
http://www.gofreecredit.com
http://creditreporteveryone.com
http://creditreportprocessor.com
http://check-your-credit-online.com
http://CreditScoreDeluxe.com
http://www.icredit-scores.com

RELATED:
"Help, I Fell For The Apartment Rental Credit Check Scam!"
Consumer 101: Get Your Free Credit Report From "Annual Credit Report.com"
Beware Of Apartment Scammers
Don't Fall For The Job Hunting Credit Report Scam

(Photo: cincyproject)

Restaurant
The better of the two, because parents watching from the bar and ladies getting jig with it are at least amusing.

Apartment

We think the FTC should have tapped Venida Evans to help them out. You probably know her as the hallucination who encourages people to do things in those IKEA spots about mental illness. Imagine her standing next to a lad at the PC, warning him to not sign up at freecreditreport.com. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here she is turning a vulnerable, lonely housewife against her own child:

Free Reports [FTC]

USA Today reports:

Steven Wagner, president of consumer information services at Experian, says the firm nixed its partnership with Fair Isaac to sell the scores to consumers because Fair Isaac was "simply unreasonable" in negotiating a separate contract.

Experian announced it wasn't selling the score anymore on Feb 4. On Feb 5, FICO '08 came out, which was modified the old FICO system to deal with some of the credit score abuses revealed in the wake of the subprime meltdown. That seems hardly a coinkydink. Perhaps Fair Issac wanted a greater rev share from selling the scores to consumers in order to recoup their costs of developing the new system and Experian balked.

In any event, just makes it clearer than ever that credit bureaus don't care about consumers, their real customers are lenders.

Consumers lose access to their Experian credit scores [USA Today] (Thanks to caslonbold!)
PREVIOUSLY:
Experian Yanks FICO Score Away From Consumers
6 Ways Your Credit Score Changes Thursday

(Photo: Dplanet)

We all know that your credit score will affect your loans. A higher score means you will get a lower rate on mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. What if you don't plan on getting a mortgage or a car loan? Does it matter what your score is? Yes, it does. Here are four unexpected situations where bad credit or an inaccurate report can really hurt you.

Prospective Employers: Employers are allowed to use your credit report in hiring, firing , and promotion decisions. Federal law prohibits employers from making adverse decisions if you file bankruptcy (Title 11, Bankruptcy, of the U.S. Code), but every other negative item can be used against you. If you defaulted on a loan or missed a payment, then an employer can use that information against you. The government has been known to run routine background checks which include criminal history and credit history. If you have a low credit score, you could be considered a security risk because you could be more susceptible to bribery or blackmail. Credit history information is most often used for sensitive positions and those that deal directly with money. Your credit history could also be used to confirm other facts you presented about yourself. If you said you spent four years working for a firm in California but your credit history doesn't show residency in California, it could be a problem for you.

Landlords: This one is a little less unexpected because landlords routinely run credit checks to determine whether you'll be able to pay the rent each month. Credit reports will list all your late payments and evictions, which are the two categories landlords are most concerned about. It will also give a good indication of the renter's debt burden and debt profile, which can help a landlord decide which renter is most likely to cause the fewest number of headaches.

Insurance Companies: Insurance companies will use your credit score in determining your premiums because their actuaries have determined a lower credit score leads to higher claims. There are theories as to why this is true but the statistical data supports this policy. The lower your score, the higher your premiums will be. This applies to all insurance policies from auto to home to renters. It will also apply to medical if you seek out independent health insurance but not if you get it through your employer (it's because as an employee you are treated as part of a "class," rather than an individual).

Cell Phones: If you have bad credit and want to get a cell phone, you may find that the cell phone company will want you to put down a deposit before they will offer you service. You will also lose access to the multitude of special offers and free equipment many companies offer for new contracts. The reason companies do this is because your score has indicated you have difficulty meeting your obligations. Cell phones are essentially "loaning" you the cost of a month's service and if you have low or bad credit, they don't trust that you'll pay on time, so they require a deposit. This explanation is true for other monthly service type products like cable television and internet service.

As you can see, your credit history and your credit score can have an impact on your life even if you don't plan on getting a loan. This is why it's critically important to regularly check your credit history for inaccuracies and correct them when you see them. The only place you can get a free copy of your credit report is at the government sponsored AnnualCreditReport.com.

Have you ever had a credit report error come back to haunt in a way you never expected?

Jim writes about personal finance at his personal finance blog, Bargaineering.

(Photo: R_Adam_G)

1. Spouses and children can improve their credit score by being an authorized user on a credit card account, but that's it. No more piggybacking off strangers.
2. Debts less than $100 that go to collections will matter less.
3. They will look at the total picture more. A single repossession, for instance, won't matter as much if everything else looks good.
4. Having less available credit will drag down your score more.
5. Diversity matters more. A mix of healthy auto, personal and student loans would bring up a score.
6. Closing accounts will bring down the score.

Though companies will start using it to make decisions about you right away, it may be months or even years before the scores are commercially available to consumers. So, just like in middle school, they're quietly judging you behind your back, and no, you can't see inside the black and white composition notebook.

The good and the bad of the new credit scoring formula [NewsChannel5]

So how do mistakes show up on your credit report in the first place? Some problems can be attributed to false matches by algorithms, and human error by data entry employees:

If the name or Social Security number on another person’s account partially matches the data on your file, the computer might attach it to your record. The credit bureaus also employ contractors who gather tax lien and bankruptcy data from courthouses and government offices. If these workers transpose a digit or misread a document, their error winds up on your report.

Many of the remaining errors come from mistakes made by lenders or other businesses that report information to the credit bureaus (like a bank that assumes you're dead, in one real life example used in the article).

Bureaus usually contact lenders whenever there's a dispute—but to save money, they funnel the disputes through outsourced data processing centers where actual human workers are expected to spend a fraction of an hour on each case:

Here’s where the trouble begins. Rather than call the lender or send it the consumer’s letter and supporting evidence, the bureaus zap the documents to a data processing center run by a third-party contractor. This system yields considerable savings. Equifax reduced its per-dispute cost from $4.50 to 50 cents by outsourcing the work to Costa Rica and the Philippines, for example. But consumer advocates say these workers are under enormous pressure to process disputes and forward them to lenders as quickly as possible. While the bureaus say quality is the overriding factor, employees deposed in civil suits describe a harried pace. One TransUnion manager testified that workers were expected to complete up to 22 cases an hour. An Equifax worker estimated she was allotted four minutes per dispute. To process the letters so rapidly, the workers summarize every complaint with a two-digit code selected from a menu of 26 options. The code “A3,” for example, stands for “belongs to another individual with a similar name.” The worker can also add a single line of commentary. The two-digit code and short comment is the only information the lender receives about the dispute.

Consumer advocates say these summaries omit the background banks need to understand a complaint, and banks agree.

Currently, there are only a couple of ways to get around this broken robot system. The first is to contact your lender directly, which can be hit or miss because they're only required to investigate the dispute if a credit bureau asks. The second is to try to bump your case up to VIP treatment—where it might actually receive some human oversight—by getting a politician, judge, lawyer, celebrity, or member of the media involved.

We frequently suggest you should read the full linked article when we write about something, but in this case, you really should, because it has so much illuminating, infuriating info about the credit bureaus that will remind you of just why we need to change the laws governing credit reporting.

"Why the Credit Bureaus Can't Get It Right" [SmartMoney] (Thanks to Chris!)
(Photo: hassan1980)

Identity theft protection companies love touting advertising statistics like "8.4 million adults were victims of identity theft in 2007" and "the mean fraud amount per fraud victim was $5,720 in 2007" (PrivacyRights.org) because they're really scary. There's almost no reason to pay a monthly fee for something you can do yourself, most of the time at no cost. Here's what ID Theft Protection usually involves. Note: Several of these not only make it hard for other people to get new credit under your name, but also for you, so be sure to pick the ones that work best for your financial situation.

CHECK YOUR CREDIT HISTORY
The first step in prevention is to check whether you've unknowingly become a victim. By keeping close tabs on your report, you can identify signs of fraud as early as possible. Look for any lines of credit opened up in your name that you don't remember. If you spot them, dispute the credit item with the credit bureau and let them know it's identity theft. You'll need to do this with all three bureaus. You can get your free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. Because you only get one free one from each bureau per year, I like to check one report from a different bureau every four months. When you pay for identity theft protection, this checking is one of the "benefits" they tout... something you can do yourself, absolutely free.

FREEZE YOUR CREDIT
You can freeze your credit report, stopping most identity thieves immediately. With your credit history frozen, no one can access your credit history. If a responsible lender can't access your history, then they won't give the thief any credit. They could have all the information in the world but your credit is locked away. It's a pain to initiate, costs about $10 at each bureau (and you'll have to do each one separately), but is a very effective strategy if you've been having identity problems.

Each state deals with credit freezes differently. In some states there are fees, in others credit freezes are only available to consumers who have filed an ID theft related police report. Other states do not allow credit freezes at all. To find out what the laws are in your state, check out Consumer's Union for an up-to-date round up of credit freeze laws.

STOP THE UNSOLICITED CREDIT CARD MAILINGS
Save a few trees and your identity by signing up at OptOutPrescreen.com, that will stop most of those unsolicited pre-approved applications. Then call up all of your cards and ask to be removed from their marketing lists, which should stop all the rest. OptOutPrescreen.com stops mailings from companies you don't have an existing business relationship with, calling each card will stop mailings from companies you do have an existing business relationship with. By reducing those pre-approved offers, you reduce the risk some someone opens up your mailbox and steals one of them for their own nefarious purposes.

PUT FRAUD ALERTS ON YOUR CREDIT HISTORY
Call up each bureau and request that they put a fraud alert on your account. This lets any potential lender or creditor know that they should do some extra investigating when it comes to their request because fraud has occurred in the past. Lenders don't want to be party to identity theft anymore than you do so they will take the notice seriously. It's not a hard protection like freezing your credit, but it's better than nothing if you don't want to deal with the hassles of freezing and unfreezing your credit.

BUY A CROSS-SHREDDER
A cross-shredder is a paper shredder that cuts vertically and horizontally, turning sensitive mail into confetti. If you think a torn up credit card application wouldn't be accepted by any respectable credit card company, you'd be wrong. Red Tape Chronicles has a story about how Chase approved a torn up credit card application! You can pick up a cross-shredder at any office supply store and they're well worth the investment.

If you read identity theft protection company websites, you'd think they had some secret way of putting a force field around your credit - they don't. As for large dollar guarantees to protect your identity, many only cover failures on their part. If a thief gets through by some other means or doesn't fit their narrow interpretation of "theft," guess who else you have to fight? Yep, the ID theft company itself. With those steps, you can do for free what some identity theft companies will charge you a ridiculous $20 a month for. Save your money for all those "hot deals" at Circuit City.

Jim writes about personal finance at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

(Photo: Getty)

Jose says:

I'm just writing you because I am so angry with freecreditreport.com. I wanted to check my credit report last month just to see where I stand so after watching the commercial, I used freecreditreport.com.

I am aware that, by law, your allowed one free credit report per year from each of the three credit unions. After I got my credit score I checked my BofA account and saw there was a $14.95 charge. I thought it was just a deposit and that it'll be refunded.

I completely forgot about it and today, a month after I checked my score there is another $14.95 charge. I call freecreditreport.com to see whats wrong and they tell me I have to cancel my membership and the $14.95 charge will not be refunded. I get super upset and then they just hang up on me without trying to give me an explanation. The moral of the story is they are a scam and I would like to let you know that so other people don't fall for the same thing I did.

Thanks, Jose. You might want to call Bank of America and explain the situation to them and see if they'll reverse the charge. You're not the only one who has fallen for the scruffy singing loser and his factually inaccurate songs. They have a big advertising budget, and we are just one little blog trying to explain federal law.

In the middle of a chunk of smaller print explainer next to the signup page, you learn that their name should really be FreeTripleScoreForSevenDays. The deal is you get charged $1 to make sure your credit card works, then you get your credit score from all three bureaus. Starting on or after a 7-day trial, you get charged a $29.95 monthly membership fee for continuous access to your credit score.

So if you cancel ahead of time, you really can get your scores for free. They're of course banking on most people forgetting to cancel. At least then it says you can cancel at any time. I wasn't able to find any online complaints from people saying they had difficulty canceling. I would still check my credit card bills afterwards to make sure they didn't somehow forget to stop billing me... anyone who advertises something as "free" when it so very isn't should not be trusted.

There's also a few less "dangerous" ways to get a free credit score or something like it. CreditKarma.com gives you roughly your TransUnion score for free. MyFico offers an estimator as well. Here's 4 other ways to do it, too.

APPENDIX:

The important part of the FreeTripleScore text:

To activate your trial membership to Privacy Matters 1-2-3 you will be charged/debited a $1.00 refundable processing fee and then you can immediately take advantage of the exciting savings Privacy Matters 1-2-3 has to offer! After your 7-day FREE trial period it’s just $29.95 per month for Privacy Matters 1-2-3. Remember, you can call Privacy Matters 1-2-3 toll-free at 1-877-993-6264 within the first 7 days to cancel, and you will not be charged/debited.

The ad:

PREVIOUSLY: FreeTripleScore.com Will Cost You $30 Per Month

Innovis can actually trace their relevance to everybody's favorite vanguard of responsible finance, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mortgage backers ordered their partner organizations to report mortgage payments to Innovis back in 2001.

Unlike the other bureaus, Innovis lives almost exclusively to build mailing lists that creditors use to determine offers. If you don't want to receive credit offers, call the one-stop opt-out number 888-5-OPTOUT (888-567-8688) and you'll be taken off all four bureaus' lists for two years.

To see what dirt Innovis is reporting to potential creditors, send in the following information:

Full name
Social Security Number
Date of birth (month/day/year)
Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill, lease arrangement or rental receipt
One copy of a legible government-issued identification card, such as a driver's license, state ID card, or military ID card

Mail to:

Innovis
Attention: Consumer Assistance
P.O. Box 1358
Columbus, Ohio 43216-1358

The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you to one free Innovis credit report each year. For free credit reports from the other three credit agencies, don't visit any site other than AnnualCreditReport.com.

Pulling Credit Reports - Make Sure And Include Innovis [Alabama Consumer Law Blog]
The credit report you don't know about [Bankrate]

My brother went to the bank last Friday to talk to the branch manager about his situation which I emailed you about 2 weeks ago. The bank reported the check as fraud, not my brother. His account was cancelled because it was opened with a bad check, and he was charged $10 for depositing a bounced check. There was nothing that was entered as a negative mark on his credit report, and the case is pretty much closed.

The manager even went so far as to type up and sign a memo explaining that it was not my brothers fault and that there should be nothing against him on his credit report.

The Wachovia branch manager also offered to open a new account for him.

So, phew! None of the bad things that could have happened to Fred's brother actually happened, like:

• The bank could have pressed fraud charges against him.
• He could have been reported to the FBI.
• A report could have been sent to Chexsystems and made it hard for him to get a new bank account or keep his new one.

PREVIOUSLY: Always Look A Gift Check In The Mouth (Photo: Getty)

(Photo: darkmatter)

By the way, be sure to check out the article for an awesome "zombie debt" illustration by Michael Meister.

"Dealing With Debt That Refuses to Die" [WSJ.com]

So what exactly is the problem? After 12 online (and phone) disputes to Equifax and 14 calls (and faxes) to the Direct Loan Servicing Center, each party seems to blame the other.

David is fed up with being given the runaround. He's drafted a very clear letter and faxed it not only to Equifax and the Direct Loan Servicing Center, but also:

• U.S. Department of Education Federal Studen Aid Ombudsman
• Nationwide Consumer Rights
• National Association of Consumer Advocates
• The Consumerist

Here's the letter, which we're printing in part to publicize Equifax's negligence but also as a guide for others who face a similar problem:

My name is [redacted] and I write this letter to each representative at once so that the issues of the past two years can be remedied and that the buck can, hopefully, stop being passed in regards to the gross errors on my credit report. I am not some typical, ranting customer who has an axe to grind, but rather someone who has had his Federal Student Loan credit falsely reported since July of 2006.

Just so we are all on the same page, I have filed 12 disputes online with Equifax and have called both Equifax and the Direct Loan Servicing Center 14 times (all documented) since July of 2006.

The issue is that my Federal Student Loan balance of $28,455 is being reported twice on my Equifax credit report. The initial account was opened in 09/2000 and then later consolidated in 07/06. However, rather than the balance for the 09/00 account being reduced to $0.00 and the status appearing as “consolidated”, the balance remained. The $28,455 balance also appears, as expected, on the 07/06 account.

Again, the issue is simply that my pre-consolidation account from 09/00 still has a balance of $28,455 as does my post-consolidation account from 07/06. This appears on my Equifax credit report as though I have a total balance owed to the Direct Loan Servicing Center of $56,910 between two accounts.

The Direct Loan Servicing Center has repeatedly verified that I only have one account with a balance, the 07/06 account, and that my only debt to them is $28,455. This was done by Brian Cornia at DL on 05/08/08 and previously by Stephanie (of Team 2) on 01/29/08.

So what exactly is the problem? After 12 online (and phone) disputes to Equifax and 14 calls (and faxes) to the Direct Loan Servicing Center, each party seems to blame the other. Direct Loans claims repeatedly that they are sending the correct information to Equifax, however, as seen in my credit report (below) from 24/Sep/2008, this is still not the case (this full credit report will also be faxed in full, this can be seen on pages 4 and 5).

It may very well be that Direct Loan Servicing Center is dropping the ball on this, but we feel it's ultimately Equifax's responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the data that it collects, places a value on, and then sells for profit to other companies. By misreporting David's credit history and failing to fix it for 26 months now, they're doing persistent damage to his credit history, and not providing a very reliable service to their own customers either.

(Photo: The Shining)

1) free credit report monitoring for six months, plus cash if there's any money left over in settlement fund and you still get to sue them if you want
2) all the benefits of option one but you can't sue them any further.
3) 9 months of credit monitoring, access to some free credit scores, and free use of TransUnion's mortgage simulator service - but no cash payment. For more information, visit the settlement site at ListAction.com or call 1-866-416-3470.

ListClassAction [Official Settlement Site] (Thanks to Scott!)
PREVIOUSLY: Massive TransUnion Settlement To Reveal Credit Scores (Photo: dbdbrobot)