Children are appealing targets for ID theft; parents can guard them

They even go after one of the most vulnerable groups: children."Children are not in any condition to protect themselves," said Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Identity Theft 911, which provides identity-theft products and helps victims of the crime. "It's up to their parents.

Children are especially enticing targets for identity-theft crooks because it can take years before the crime is discovered.

"Children, while it doesn't occur often, are probably the most vulnerable just because if someone steals my child's identity, they can use that for 10 to 15 years before they [the child] apply for a loan and they find that their credit is really not good," said Thomas Harkins, chief strategy officer for Secure Identity Systems in Nashville.

Statistics on child identity theft are hard to pin down.

"We don't ask for age in our identity-theft surveys," said Claudia Bourne Farrell, spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission. "Our self-reported, anecdotal data indicates that about 5 percent of the complaints last year were for people 18 and under."

The number of child identity thefts reported may be lower than the actual number because "many people find out after they're over the age of 18 that they were victims of identity theft when they were under 18," Mr. Levin said.

"The conventional wisdom is that it's about 500,000 people a year who are children who become victims of identity theft," he said.

The most common way child identity theft occurs is when the child's Social Security number is used to establish new lines of credit.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Making Cents: Knowing your credit score

If you've ever applied for a mortgage, car loan or most any other type of financing, you're familiar with the importance of having a good credit score. These days, insurers and even potential employers often scrutinize credit scores.

Ranging from 300 to 850, the higher your credit score, the better. But what exactly is a credit score and how is this almighty number determined?

A credit score, which is often referred to as a FICO score, is named for its software creator, the Fair Isaac Corp., and determined from information on credit reports. That payment history data is entered into software that establishes the number lenders use to estimate risk. The higher the score, the less likely a borrower will default on a loan.

There are five determining factors of a credit score. Payment history carries the most weight, followed by the amounts you owe, the length of your credit history, types of credit you use and new credit.

Payment history includes the number of accounts you have paid on time, negative collections and delinquent accounts.

What you owe is broken down as follows: the amount you owe on various accounts; the types of accounts with balances; any revolving credit lines; amounts due on installment loan accounts; and the number of zero balance accounts.

Types of credit may include a mortgage, installment or revolving accounts. A variety of accounts will typically earn you a higher credit score.

A number of factors come under the heading of new credit: The number of accounts you've recently opened, the number of recent credit inquiries and the time elapsed between making an inquiry and opening an account.

Attempting to open too many accounts in a short space of time will bring your credit score down.

The sooner you bring overdue bills up to date, the better. If you foresee a problem maintaining payment schedules, contact your creditor and hammer out a plan. Avoid opening new accounts that you don't need. And don't close unused accounts - that zero balance could help your score.

Be aware of the types of credit you currently use. A mixture of credit cards, installment loans and fixed-payment loans can help increase your credit score - provided you make timely payments.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

The High Cost of a ‘Free Credit Report’

EARLIER this year, Kris Steele, a Web developer in Madison, Wis., who was planning to buy a car, decided to check his credit score.
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Mr. Steele, 27, remembered a number of commercials for FreeCreditReport a young slacker singing about various life problems — living in the in-laws’ basement, dressing as a pirate to wait on tables in a seafood restaurant — all because he had neglected to check his credit score. The ads were lighthearted and catchy, with lyrics like: “F-R-E-E, that spells free creditreport.com, baby. Saw their ads on my TV, thought about going but was too lazy.”

So Mr. Steele headed to the site and filled out the information form, including his credit-card number, which he thought the site needed to verify his identity.

But a couple of months later, Mr. Steele noticed the site had been charging his credit card. While he believed he had signed up for a free report, he had actually enrolled in a credit-monitoring service that cost $14.95 a month. He says he never expected that it would cost anything.

“It’s called FreeCreditReport.com,” he said. “It’s kind of easy to make that assumption. I didn’t see anything in the process of signing up that said, ‘Hey, if you don’t cancel in 30 days or whatever, you’re going to get charged.’ ”

Consumer groups have long objected to sites like FreeCreditReport.com. Consumers may obtain a free credit report each year from the three major agencies, as mandated by an act that Congress passed in 2003. The only authorized site for that is

source : http://news.google.com/news?

How to Improve Your Credit Report

With the economy on go-slow and lenders in a cautious mood, this is the perfect moment to get to know your credit report. It lists your credit accounts, your repayment record and much more – and it can make all the difference between getting the credit card, loan or mortgage you want and a string of puzzling rejections.

Find out what a credit report contains, how it’s used and what you can do to improve it – and your chances of getting the credit you need.

Improve Your Credit Rating: Who has a Credit Report?

If you’re over 18 and have ever taken out a credit card or loan, apart from a student loan, then you have a credit report, which is held securely by a credit reference agency – Experian is the UK’s largest.

Lenders usually check your report when they decide whether to make you an offer and what terms, such as interest rates, to set. It helps them to make informed and responsible decisions.

Improve Your Credit Rating: What does a Credit Report Contain?

As well as listing your credit accounts and showing whether you make repayments on time and in full, your credit report contains a range of information that helps lenders to assess whether you are a reliable borrower and can afford to take out more credit. This data includes details of any court judgments against you for non-payment of debts, plus bankruptcies or individual voluntary arrangements you’ve taken out.

The electoral roll shows if you have registered as a voter at your current address. Lenders check the roll as a precaution against fraud, to make sure that you live where you say you do.

Another section lists the people with whom you share a joint account, such as a credit card or mortgage. These people are known as your financial associates. Their credit report details don’t appear in your report but lenders may look them up separately because their circumstances could affect your ability to repay what you owe.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Clean up credit score to land a sweet mortgage rate

If you're planning to sell your house in this sluggish housing market, you need to make a good impression. Clean the windows. Wax the floors. Power-wash the cat.

If you're a home buyer, you need to do some housekeeping, too. Unless your credit record is spotless, you probably won't qualify for the lowest mortgage rates.

When you apply for a mortgage, most lenders will review your FICO score, a widely used score developed by Fair Isaac. A few months ago, borrowers with a FICO score of 700 usually qualified for the lowest mortgage rates, says Mavel Vargas, manager of lending research for Informa Research Services. Now, though, most borrowers need a score of at least 720 to get the best rates, she says.

Most borrowers know that falling behind on debts will hurt credit scores. But other issues that could hurt your score may be less obvious, including:

•"Same as cash" offers. These deals, offered on everything from new decks to high-definition TVs, provide a way to postpone having to pay for a large purchase, for anywhere from 90 days to a year. But these offers carry hidden costs for borrowers, says John Ulzheimer, president of educational services for

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Seeking approval New rule for getting a mortgage today: Don't assume anything

But even borrowers who think they're well positioned to be approved for a mortgage "can't assume anything," said Guy Cecala, of Inside Mortgage Finance. And they'd better be prepared to shop around to get the best rates.

Cecala estimates that a third of the people who were able to get a loan in 2005 and 2006 no longer qualify for financing today. That takes into account the disappearance of subprime and Alt-A loans as well as the tightened requirements for getting prime mortgages, he said.

"Mortgage credit is as tight as we've seen it in a generation," said Cecala, publisher of the industry newsletter. "When does it get looser? When people feel that the housing market is stabilized, and that's really not going to happen until we start seeing an end to rising defaults and foreclosures, and housing prices have stabilized in markets throughout the country."

If he had to guess, it'll be another year before getting a mortgage becomes any easier.

In some cases, lenders are even looking beyond the numbers for proof not only that an applicant has a job with a steady income stream but is also likely to keep that job, said Bob Moulton, president of Americana Mortgage Group on Long Island, N.Y.

Case in point: One of his clients, an employee at Bear Stearns, was recently required to get a statement from the human resources department indicating continued probability of employment at the firm. The statement could not be obtained, and the mortgage wasn't approved, he said.

"They're trying to be a lot smarter than they were three, four or five years ago," he said.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Credit Scores Cost Consumers $28 Billion, Survey Says (Update2)

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumers remain in the dark about how the credit-scoring system works in obtaining mortgages, insurance and credit cards, costing individuals as much as $28 billion each year, a survey concluded.

Credit scores are a vital but often overlooked part of people's financial health. The number, also known as a FICO score, determines interest rates on credit cards, and is being used increasingly by insurance companies to set rates and prospective employers in hiring decisions.

``The good news is they know more about what will affect their scores,'' said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Washington- based Consumer Federation of America. ``The bad news is they don't know what their score means.''

Taking steps such as paying bills on time and not maxing out credit cards will improve scores, the Consumer Federation and Washington Mutual Inc. said at a news conference in Washington today.

The survey showed improvement from previous years, with 28 percent correctly identifying 700 as the minimum score to qualify for a prime mortgage rate, up from 24 percent last year. Washington Mutual and the consumer group surveyed more than 1,000 Americans in June, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

Saving With Scores

People responding to the survey didn't understand that free credit scores are based on payment histories and how they've used credit in the past. Many respondents said factors such as income, age, marital status, and education levels influence credit scores, the consumer federation said. They don't.

Consumers are assigned credit scores on a scale of 300 to 850, with 700 or above considered prime. Below 600 is considered ``subprime,'' with greater lending risk, as the subprime-mortgage crisis demonstrated.

A low credit score means you'll spend more money to borrow. Raising a credit score by 30 points translates into an annual credit- card finance-charge saving of $105, according to Anthony Vuoto, president of Washington Mutual Card Services. If all consumers raised their scores by that margin, the savings would reach $28 billion, he said.

Scores can also be improved by paying off debts, rather than moving balances between accounts. Paying more than the minimum due on credit cards also improves your FICO score. Missing a single payment by more than 30 days may lower your score by 25 to 50 points, Vuoto said.

The importance of the FICO scores has increased amid the subprime-mortgage meltdown and the ensuing credit crunch. With less money available to lend, many companies have tightened standards, cutting off loans for people with lower numbers.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Monitoring your credit score is one of the most important things you can do

Americans are identified by certain numbers: age, social security number, income, even a street address. Often these are just numbers, and don't reveal much about identity or history. However, one number which identifies all of us and, unfortunately, many people may not know it: is our credit score. A credit score is the measure of credit risk calculated from a credit report using a standardized formula. A higher credit score compared to a lower credit score indicates to lenders that the person with the higher score is less of a risk when deciding to loan money.
Credit scores most likely will be reviewed by a lender when applying for a car loan or mortgage. What might be surprising is that a credit score may also be reviewed when a person applies for car insurance, inquires about a rental property or even applies for a job. Because credit scores are reviewed for so many different purposes, in some instances without your knowledge, it is a good idea to review both it and your credit history, which is used to determine your credit score, periodically.

Monitoring your credit score and credit history from time to time allows you to monitor any changes and, in the event that false information is included in your credit history, have the false information stricken from your record. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. To request your report online go to www.annualcreditreport.com or link to that website from the Federal Trade Commission's website, www.ftc.gov.
If, after reviewing your credit history, you believe that someone has obtained credit using your stolen identity or, if you lost your wallet and you think someone may use the information to steal your identity, you may wish to subscribe to a credit monitoring service. This service may provide you access to your credit score, provide you notice when credit is applied for using your personal information and has the ability to "lock" your credit so no one can obtain new credit (including you until you "unlock" your credit).

You may be eligible to receive credit monitoring services for a limited time at no cost. Recently, TransUnion agreed, as a part of a preliminary lawsuit settlement, to offer free credit monitoring to those individuals who had an open credit account or open line of credit from any lender from January 1, 1987, to May 28, 2008. This group includes those individuals who had a credit card, car loan, mortgage, student loan or any other loan. The lawsuit claims that TransUnion violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by selling lists with consumers' personal and financial information for marketing purposes, a practice which TransUnion has discontinued. For more details about the preliminary settlement, and to select one of the several settlement options listed in Summary Notice, visit www.listclassaction.com or call 1-866-416-3470.

As your credit score affects most financial aspects of your life, knowing what it is and, possibility monitoring it, may help you save money when you buy your home or obtain insurance. You may want to consider taking advantage of the opportunity to receive a free credit report, and for some, free monitoring services.
The advice in this column is general in nature. Consult your attorney for legal guidance to fit your particular situation.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

BBB advises Mississippians to use credit reports wisely

Everyone is aware that bad credit can affect your ability to obtain additional credit.

But not everyone is aware that it can also affect your ability to get or keep a job.

Employers often use a credit report when hiring or evaluating employees for promotion, reassignment or retention.

“Under the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA), an employer must get permission to look at an individual's credit report,” said Bill Moak, President/CEO of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Mississippi.

“Additionally, if bad credit is the basis for an employer failing to hire someone, the employer must show them their credit report.”

The BBB urges all consumers to obtain a credit report annually. The reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - are required to provide consumers with a free credit report, upon request, once every 12 months.

The three ways to request these reports are:
# Call toll-free 877-322-8228
# Mail to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P O Box 105281 Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

According to the FCRA, both the reporting company and the information provider are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information on individual reports.

Therefore, to protect rights, the BBB advises consumers to contact both entities when disputing any information on their reports.

The BBB mission is to promote the highest ethical marketplace relationship between businesses and the public through self-regulation, education and information.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

The score on getting credit scores

Your phone number, Social Security number and PIN for your ATM card are important numbers, but no numbers are more important to know—and have the potential to save you money—than your three-digit credit scores.

A credit report—the once-secret dossier about your credit life—is the basis of your credit scores, three-digit numbers that try to predict whether you'll pay back borrowed money and pay your bills on time.

Details about credit scores are complicated and confusing. After all, scores weren't invented for consumers but for creditors. For details and more great advice, read the books, "You're Nothing but a Number" by John R. Ulzheimer, president of education for Credit.com, and "Your Credit Score" by Liz Pulliam Weston.

We talked to Ulzheimer and Weston about how to get scores and what they mean. Here's what you need to know about getting your scores:

I have a lost laptop horror story for you.

I used to work for Boeing in Wichita. Boeing sold the Wichita division and all of the workers, including me, to another company. We still did the same work, but Boeing was just one customer of several.

Nearly a year after the sale, someone at Boeing lost a laptop that had the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of nearly all of the 12,000 Wichita ex-employees on it. They waited an unknown period of time before telling anyone, then another couple of weeks before they offered to pay for credit reporting subscriptions for us. They offered no compensation for people that had been actual identity-theft victims and they wouldn't pay for identity-theft insurance.

Almost immediately after the laptop went missing, someone used my SSN to apply for credit cards all over the country. The name they used was always close, but not exactly a match to my name/address. They used addresses of those private mail drop places.

Since I'd lived at my house for nearly 20 years at the time, all these bogus addresses made the credit card companies reject the applications, but those rejections showed up on my credit reports and lowered my rating.

The credit bureaus (I had to deal with all three of them separately) couldn't just remove those rejections; they said that the credit card companies that made the requests had to retract them. The bogus addresses also appeared on my credit report as alternate addresses for me, and I had to convince the credit agencies that I'd never lived in Minneapolis or Boca Raton or wherever.

I spent untold frustrating hours on the phone being transferred from one credit card company customer service representative to the next, listening to crappy on-hold music, often being disconnected, and having to tell my story over and over. It took several months to finally get everything cleared up, and I now have a fraud alert on my credit rating so nobody can request a report without my explicit permission.

That's really a double-edged sword. I recently tried to open a new bank account and when the bank found out that there was a fraud alert on my account, they assumed that I was a criminal. I eventually went to a different bank, one that didn't need a credit report to open a checking account. There have also been credit report requests in the last two or three years since the original laptop loss that didn't originate with anything I'd done. They were rejected, but there's someone out there that's still trying.

Like AT&T, Boeing wasn't particularly apologetic. They insisted that the information "probably hadn't been compromised," and they couldn't explain why someone was running around with the social security numbers of a bunch of people that didn't even work for Boeing.

You can read a news story about the Boeing incident here. You can read about similar incidents pretty much every day of the week, or so it seems.

Security guru Bruce Schneier had an interesting post recently that included the contention that identity theft isn't necessarily the financial drain or pain in the ass that worrywarts such as yours truly might fear. He wasn't saying it's a picnic, just not the catastrophe one might imagine ... and it's not worth paying any significant insurance premium to mitigate.

He's probably right, but as with so much surrounding the purchase of insurance, this isn't entirely a decision based on logic alone.

Here's my bottom line: Aside from the really serious worries in life -- health, kids, job security, etc. -- having to go through what Russ Jones went through is way up there on my list of fears. It would drive me absolutely bonkers to have to spend so much time -- time I don't have to spare -- undoing the damage to my financial reputation.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

SEC proposals may diminish credit ratings role: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to propose rules that may diminish the importance of credit ratings across various markets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

One proposal, to be unveiled Wednesday, would make it possible for U.S. money-market funds to invest in short-term debt without regard to ratings put on those securities by firms such as Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Currently, SEC rules generally require that money-market funds purchase only short-term debt with high investment-grade ratings, the Journal said.

The SEC also will propose rules that may diminish the importance of credit ratings in determining the amount of capital that investment banks are required to hold, the Journal reported.

The renewed effort is part of a push in the United States and Europe amid the credit crunch that has devastated many banks and investors, the Journal said, adding that rating Moody's Corp's (MCO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Moody's Investors Service, McGraw-Hill Cos' (MHP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Standard & Poor's and Fimalac SA's (LBCP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Fitch Ratings have been blamed by some for underestimating the risk of default on hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage debt.

source : http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2430339620080624

Komputer Klinic: Protect yourself from identity theft

According to the government, 8.3 million Americans fell victim to identity theft in 2005. Estimated losses surpassed $15 billion. Fortunately, you can protect yourself from identity theft.

You've probably seen ads touting identity theft "protection" services. For a monthly fee, your credit report is locked. You receive copies of your credit reports annually. The services also promise to insure you against identity theft.

The monthly fees quickly add up. You can accomplish the same thing for less through the credit reporting agencies. And you don't need to disclose personal data to a third party.

FREE CREDIT REPORTS

Keeping an eye on your credit report is your first step to protecting yourself. Federal law grants you a free credit report each year. Each of the three major credit reporting agencies must provide one.

I recommend staggering your credit report requests. For example, request a report from Experian. Four months later, request one from Equifax. In eight months, request it from TransUnion.

Credit activity should appear on all reports. However, there may be discrepancies between reports from the three bureaus.

Request your free reports at or call (877) 322-8228. Be sure you go to the correct site. Other sites use the word "free" in their names. This business seems to thrive on confusion. For free reports mandated by Congress, you want this site, period.

FREEZING YOUR CREDIT

You can also freeze your credit report. A credit freeze prevents thieves from opening lines of credit.

New creditors can't access your credit report. So they are less likely to issue credit to a thief. That assumes that the creditor consults a reporting agency.

Companies with which you already do business may access your report. It may be accessed for fraud investigation, collection, account review and the like.

Plan carefully if you freeze your credit. You can't apply for new credit with a freeze in place. And limits cannot be increased on your accounts.

Credit freezes can be lifted, either temporarily or permanently. It may take three days or longer to lift a freeze.

A freeze can be lifted temporarily for a particular creditor. You verify your identification and provide a PIN to lift the freeze. Then, you name the creditor. You may need to provide another PIN to the creditor.

Or you can lift a freeze for a set amount of time. This ranges from one to 30 days. This is helpful if you are comparing credit card or mortgage rates.

You must freeze your credit with each of the three major agencies. In most cases, you will pay $10 to freeze your credit. This depends upon your state of residence. Some states limit freezes to seven years.

source : http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/119130

Secondary market eyed in carbon underwriting and guarantees

Financial services executives are tentatively looking forward to a secondary market in the ETS sphere focused on underwriting and guarantees.

Overlooked by some in the run up to ETS is the need for insurance over carbon credit pledges. This centres on literally ensuring that the credit pledges retain their value through the lifetime of the credit arrangement.

To access this Carbon News information right now, please accept our 7 DAY FREE TRIAL subscription offer. Simply click the Subscribe button and follow the steps.


We send you a reminder before we charge your card or send an invoice before your FREE trial ends. We'll also remind you before we automatically renew your annual subscription. We will also ask you for updated credit card or invoicing information at this time, if necessary.


RISK FREE: You can stop your subscription at any time for any reason without question! We will refund you for the unused proportion of your subscription.

source : http://www.carbonnews.co.nz/story.asp?storyID=1151

Give this credit monitor strategy a look

A class-action settlement of a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against credit bureau giant TransUnion could result in credit monitoring benefits to as many as 190 million consumers.

But consumer experts caution that those benefits may, in the end, prove to be more useful to some consumers than to others. And could result in as much or more gain for TransUnion.

Even so, there is enough substance to the deal that consumers with access to the Internet should check it out when the settlement Web site, www. listclassaction.com, goes online June 16.

“TransUnion is committed to providing consumers with tools and services that empower them to manage their own credit health,” said Colleen Ryan, a TransUnion spokeswoman. “The services offered through this settlement complement our many consumer empowering initiatives.”

The settlement, which still must be approved by a federal judge, covers any consumer who from Jan. 1, 1987, to May 28, 2008, opened a credit account or a line of credit — and that covers just about everything, from credit cards to car loans to home mortgages to student loans.

As part of the settlement, TransUnion agreed to pay $75 million — which translates to less than 40 cents paid to all the consumers who may be entitled to a share.

The biggest benefit is a free credit and monitoring service that allows consumers unlimited daily access to their credit report and credit score. Consumers can sign up for a six-month plan (a $59.75 value) or a nine-month plan, which includes insurance scores (a $115.50 value).

Monitoring your credit history often is a good way to guard against identity theft and also to keep track of what your creditors are saying about you. Knowing your credit score is a plus because this three-digit numeral is the first thing lenders look at when deciding whether to lend you money and what interest rate to charge.

So, getting free monitoring is nothing to sneeze at. Still, the benefits are in the eye of the beholder.

First of all, these credit monitoring services you see advertised on the Internet and on TV are overhyped.

They really hold merit only for consumers who are in the market for a mortgage or other big loan, who have reason to fear they may be a victim of identity theft or who don’t want to bother monitoring their credit themselves.

Fact is, there are a number of free ways already to monitor your credit from time to time.

First, you have a right to one free credit report each year from each of the big three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. In addition, if you lose your wallet or your credit card, you can have a fraud alert posted on your account at each bureau every 90 days.

As a result, you can conceivably have 15 different ways to keep tabs on your credit over the course of a year — for free.

“We don’t think monitoring services are all that great for most consumers,” said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearing House. “There are other ways to monitor your credit without paying. Besides, the monitoring offered here only pertains to TransUnion.”

Even so, Ryan said the deal TransUnion is offering consumers not only is free, but also offers consumers a chance to look at their credit report whenever they want, any time of day. Consumers would be alerted by e-mail of any significant changes in their files, whether it is an account opened in their name or a late payment.

In addition, she said, the service provides a good “hands-on” introduction to many consumers who may not have experience with monitoring their credit report or credit score.

source : http://www.google.com/news?

Here's way to get free credit reports throughout year

Question: I know I am entitled to one free credit report annually, from each of the three credit reporting companies, but I want to receive one every four months throughout the year (one from each reporting company at a time). I wrote to one of them last year and specifically stated I wanted only a report from that company at that time: I received one from each of the three, all within a week of each other! So, I was then unable to check my credit throughout the rest of the year (unless, I guess, if I had paid for such reports).

How can I receive only one credit report at a time? I am a senior citizen, on a fixed income and truly cannot afford to pay to receive reports -- the fact that we are supposed to get one from each company annually is a big plus for folks like me, but the reports don't do much good if they all come at the same time -- I want to be able to keep an eye on my credit status throughout the year.
Answer: You can receive one free credit report per year from each of the three primary credit reporting agencies.

What I do is go to annualcreditreport.com and get one credit report for each of my family members. I do this once every four months (April 15, August 15, December 15) from a different credit reporting agency. When you go to the Web site you can select which agency you would like to receive a report from, and then choose a different one the next time.

By the end of the year you will have received a credit report from each company for free.
news source : http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-qna0108jun01,0,325254.story

Tougher rules needed on credit-card policies

Federal officials are proposing tougher rules on how credit-card companies handle their relationships with customers — steps that are long overdue.

The recommended changes were drafted by the Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration. They are expected to become final by the end of the year.

One of the most controversial practices to be banned: Credit card companies sometimes raise rates based on a customer’s poor payment history with another credit card issuer.

Some companies have also jacked up rates because of problems noted in a customer’s credit report. Under the new rules, a company could only penalize a cardholder for his or her payment performance on that card.

Other practices that would be banned include:

• Some card issuers average the balance over two months and use that to compute a cardholder’s rate, instead of using the balance from the most recent payment period.

• Some companies have shortened the time they allow cardholders to make payments before new interest charges are assessed. The rules require companies to allow a 21-day grace period.

• Some customers may have cards with different rates applied to different balances. Some companies apply payments only to the balances with lower rates.

The new rules say payments must go to the higher-rate balance or at least be split among balances.

Industry representatives argue that these changes would make it harder for card issuers to match rates with risks.

But they overstate the problems. Many of these gouging practices didn’t exist until recently, and credit issuers survived quite nicely.

The proposed changes might help improve the industry’s dubious public image. They seem reasonable and fair.

source : http://www.kansascity.com/340/story/636568.html

Freezing credit report helps prevent fraud

By Rosemary Heins, University of Minnesota Extension

Recent federal laws and Minnesota state laws help citizens protect themselves from new account fraud by allowing “freezing.” The laws empower any consumer to freeze their credit report by contacting any of the three major credit reporting agencies and requesting a credit report freeze. This action will deny potential thieves access to the credit history and prevent them from opening new credit cards or loans in the consumer’s name.

Victims of identity theft can have their reports frozen without a charge, but they will need the theft documented by a copy of the police report or case number. People who have not been victims of identity theft can choose to freeze their report for a $5 fee to each of the credit reporting agencies. When an agency receives a freeze request, it must place the freeze within 3 days of the request. In addition, the agency must provide a unique Personal Identification Number to the consumer within ten days.

The PIN can then be used by the consumer to temporarily lift or “thaw” their report for a specific period of time or for a specific creditor. For example, you are car shopping and want to allow a dealership, credit union or bank to look at your credit history to obtain a car loan. Or you may request your information be openly available for a specific period of time, like 30 days, in order to shop at several locations. After this period is over the report will automatically refreeze.

The thawing process is free to those who have been identity theft victims. Those who have not been victims will be charged the $5 fee for thawing.

(Rosemary Heins is a family resource management educator with University of Minnesota Extension.)

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Use the Web to help you get your finances in order

House prices are falling, and the cost of gas and food is on the rise. Specialized software and sites can help you manage these financial changes. And if you use the right resources, it won't cost you a thing.

Create a budget

The first step to taking control is to understand how you spend your money. Start by determining your basic living expenses such as housing, food and transportation.

Then, list other monthly expenses. This may take some work. So pull out your bills and credit card statements. Fortunately, free software can make light work of organizing it all.


SimpleD Budget (Windows) is a small program that helps you track expenses. You enter your monthly expenses and income. After allocating your money to certain categories, you enter payments as you make them.

You'll see when you're approaching the limit for a particular category. You'll also get an idea of how fast you're spending money


Buddi (Mac/Windows) works much the same as SimpleD Budget. However, it can also help you generate various reports. For example, you can see how your net worth has changed over the months.

Another free finance manager is AceMoney Lite (Windows). It has more features than the other two. For example, it can download stock quotes from the Internet..

news source : http://www.usatoday.com/tech/

How to get a credit report?

Have you ever been denied a loan or a credit card, by a bank, on the pretext that you have a 'bad credit history'? If you have, you have a right to ask the bank for the data based on which it took that decision.

As per law, if a bank denies loan or credit card application on the basis of data provided by a credit bureau, it is supposed to give you a copy of those records.

However, before you are handed over the report, you may have to prove that you are the person whose credit report is being sought. So, carry an identity proof and address proof with you.

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Remember, nobody else, not even your kith or kin, would be handed over your report. Nor can you get it without having applied for a loan or a credit card.

The way it works, credit bureaus maintain records of your borrowing history with all the banks you have transacted with. These include details such as your permanent account number, the addresses you have notified banks about, number of credit cards you hold currently or have held in the past, loans you have taken, the period within which you have repaid or whether you have not repaid and for what period you have not repaid.

Presently, the Credit Information Bureau (India) Pvt Ltd (Cibil) maintains such records and provides it to all its 147 members, who in turn keep the database updated. As and when a person applies for a loan or credit card, the member banks would check with the Cibil database.

The system would also throw up details such as the last time any bank checked for your credit records. This indicates the last time you applied for a loan with any bank, as banks are not supposed to check the Cibil database unless they receive a loan or credit card application.

Banks are barred from checking the records for marketing purposes. Moreover, each time they check the database, it costs them money, according to a banking source.

As for the cost to the individual, a random survey by DNA Money found that some banks charge between Rs 50 and Rs 300 for furnishing credit reports.

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Cibil is currently working on a system whereby you can get your credit report against a payment of Rs 100.

If you find any discrepancy in the data maintained by Cibil on you, then inform the bank and take up your case with Cibil. However, note that you would need the credit report as a proof to even take up the case. So keep your copy safe.

news source : http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14670641