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FTC Issues New Rule Regarding the Advertising for Free Credit Reports --The Federal Trade Commission has issued new rules regarding the advertising of free credit reports to consumers. The gist of the new rules is to make it clear to consumers who are exposed to numerous offers of free credit reports, that the only source authorized by Federal law for consumers to get their free annual credit report is the AnnualCreditReport.com site......

Your Credit Report is not Merged with your Spouse after Marriage --Credit reports are separate even after marriage, and getting married in itself should not affect your credit report. Each spouse will continue to have their own report that includes their individual items of credit as well as the credit they have incurred jointly with others......

Federal Trade Commission Announces Price Reduction to Consumers for Copies of Their Personal Credit Reports --In December, the Federal Trade Commission announced a price decrease in the maximum amount that the consumer reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and Trans Union may charge consumers for additional copies of their credit file disclosures (credit reports). The price was reduced to $10.50 per copy down from $11. .....

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Veterans Identity Theft -May 26th, 2006: The United States Department of Veteran Affairs has reported in the last few days that a laptop containing personal identifying information on over 26 million US veterans was stolen in a burglary a few weeks ago.

Latest personal information data theft leaves 26 Million Veterans wondering what to do

The United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has reported in the last few days that a laptop containing personal identifying information on over 26 million US veterans was stolen in a burglary a few weeks ago.

The VA has set up a call center for veterans who have questions about the episode. The number is 1-800-FED INFO (1-800-333-4636).

(UPDATE 7/23/09: for more information on this topic, see http://www.veteransclass.com/ )

The theft appears to be a simple burglary, and it is too early to tell if the stolen information will be used for illegal purposes. However, if you are concerned that you may become a victim of identity theft because of this theft, you may put a fraud alert on your credit report.

To put a fraud alert on your credit reports, contact one of the 3 national credit reporting agencies:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, Texas 75013 TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Since identity theft can follow the initial data theft by several years, it may also be prudent to consider enrolling in credit monitoring service which will monitor the activity in your credit report and notify you of things like new accounts opened and inquiries into your credit report.

Pursuant to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) passed by Congress in late 2003, consumers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas will be eligible for their free annual credit reports on June 1, 2005.

After that date, consumers in those states may apply for their free reports online at www.annualcreditreport.com. This annualcreditreport web site is a joint venture of the three national credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. The construction and design of the site were specified by FACTA and approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

For consumers without Internet access, you may call 1-877-322-8228 for your free report. Or you may request an application for your free credit report by mail from:

The Southern States join the Western and Midwest States in being eligible for their free annual credit report. On September 1, consumers in the Eastern States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Territories become eligible.

The issue of ordering your credit report and monitoring your credit is especially important in light of the recent incidents of unauthorized access to databases containing sensitive consumer information. While these unfortunate crimes underscore the difficulty of defeating criminals intent on stealing your personal information, it also reminds all consumers to take steps to safeguard their credit as much as they are able.

At a minimum, consumers should check their report annually for inaccurate information and for unusual or unauthorized inquiries into their credit.

For consumers not eligible for their free credit report under FACTA, there are numerous alternatives to check their credit report onlinel from Creditreporting.com. Choices include a free credit report offer, a credit monitoring service, and merged 3 bureau credit reports with credit scores that include information from the three national credit bureaus.

To: National and Business Desks
RE: Free Credit Reports now available in the Midwest States

Pursuant to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) passed by Congress in 2003, consumers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin will be eligible for their free annual credit reports on March 1, 2005.

Consumers in those states may apply for their free reports online at www.annualcreditreport.com. The annualcreditreport web site is a joint venture of the three national credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. The construction and design of the site were specified by FACTA and approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

For consumers without Internet access, they may call 1-877-322-8228 for their free report. Or you may request an application for your free credit report by mail from:

The Midwest States join the Western States in being eligible for their free annual credit report. On June 1, consumers in the Southern States become eligible, and on September 1 the rest of the country becomes eligible including Puerto Rico and the US Territories.

The issue of ordering your credit report and monitoring your credit is especially timely in light of the recent ChoicePoint incident where over 100,000 consumer records nationwide may have been accessed by criminals operating an identity theft ring for the past year. While this unfortunate crime underscores the difficulty of defeating criminals intent on stealing your personal information, it should also remind consumers to take steps to safeguard their credit as much as they are able.

At a minimum, consumers should check their report annually for inaccurate information and for unusual or unauthorized inquiries into their credit. It is recommended that consumers be proactive and check their credit reports biannually. Monitoring services offer frequent reviews of credit reports and helpful information about the credit report activity.

For consumers not eligible for their free credit report under FACTA, there are numerous alternatives to check their credit report online and by mail from Creditreporting.com. Choices include a free credit report offer, a credit report monitoring service, and merged 3 bureau credit reports with credit scores that include information from the three national credit bureaus.

For Immediate Release
July 19,2001

A recent anonymous e-mail containing false and misleading information regarding the use of personal consumer data has been making the rounds of the Internet. CDIA would like to warn consumers about it.

The e-mail states that a new law went into effect July 1, which allows credit bureaus "to release your credit info, mailing addresses, phone numbers... to anyone who requests it"(sic). It then goes on to provide a phone number so the consumer can opt out of having this information released.

First, there was no such law that took effect July 1. The law that did go into effect on that date covers financial institutions like banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms. It states that these institutions can not provide a customer's "nonpublic personal information" to third parties without a consumer's consent. To meet this standard, lenders have been sending out disclosure statements to consumers noting that they have the right to opt out of having their "nonpublic personal information" shared.

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It's important to point out that credit reporting agencies are exempt from this law.
Congress understood that data from lenders must be shared with credit reporting agencies in order for credit granting decisions to be made. Likewise, Congress knew that the same type of information had to be provided to a lender when a consumer was requesting credit from that lender so that a lending decision could be made.

The opt out information contained in the e-mail is correct and is not new. The credit
reporting industry has been providing toll-free opt out numbers to consumers for years. In fact, when the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that regulates credit bureaus, was amended in 1996, it incorporated an opt out system similar to that being used at the time by credit reporting agencies.

The opt out number given in the e-mail, 1.888.567.8688, (1.888.50PTOU1) is the credit reporting industry toll-free number that enables consumers to opt out of inclusion on any mailing list for pre-approved offers of credit generated by the major credit reporting agencies. It has been available to consumers since 1997. We have always encouraged those consumers to contact us if they want to opt out of receiving pre-approved credit offers. At the same time, since the mailings generated by credit reporting lists are a fraction of the total, we have told consumers they might want to contact others who provide direct marketing services as well.

There is one other major error implicit in the e-mail. Credit reporting agencies do not provide personal consumer data to "anyone who requests it". Federal law prohibits the disclosure of consumer credit data to anyone other than for a "legitimate business need" and a" permissible purpose" under the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In short, a consumer credit report is provided to legitimate businesses for the purpose of making a determination on the extension of credit and other consumer benefits.

For consumers without Internet access, you may call 1-877-322-8228 for your free report. Or you may request an application for your free credit report by mail from:

At a minimum, consumers should check their report annually for inaccurate information and for unusual or unauthorized inquiries into their credit.

To: National and Business Desks
RE: Free Credit Reports now available in the Midwest States

For consumers without Internet access, they may call 1-877-322-8228 for their free report. Or you may request an application for your free credit report by mail from: