If your information was stolen then whomever it was stolen from should have provided at least a year of the credit monitoring service.

I don't think it's normally the credit bureaus that do the screwing up. I think the companies that report data to them are the ones making the mistakes.

If you are ever denied credit for any reason you are entitled to the exact reason why and then you are also entitled to a free credit report.

You can also get free copies of your credit report every year from all bureaus through http://www.annualcreditreport.com. Arizona's turn is in the first quarter of the calendar year so don't try to do it now. This won't give you your credit score, just the raw report.

If you find something on your credit report that you don't recognize you have to dispute it with the credit bureau (and each credit bureau that shows it). They then have 90 days (I think) to either remove the disputed item or provide proof to you of why it's there.

keith smith wrote:

And that is part of my point. The credit bureaus hold us hostage and we need to pay extra to protect ourselves from them... They should be doing this for us.

I was one of the 46.5 million vets whose info was stolen. I went to the credit credit bureau websites and they offered a paid service to protect me... With just a few additions to the system such as allowing me to configure my account so anyone extending credit under my social security number must send me a registered letter or give me a phone call or... [add your own way to secure your file here] ... instead they leave the system virtually wide open.

There is no penalty for the mistakes the credit bureaus make.

Your credit is extremely important and becoming more so every day. Employers use your credit report as part of the selection process. Car insurance rates are base first on your credit score then on all the other stuff. Your interest rates are based on your credit score.... Your credit score is worth thousands of dollars every year.

Let me repeat that - Your credit score is worth thousands of dollars every year.

Dan Lund <situationalawareness@gmail.com> wrote:
They offer a service which if you bave it, a new account cannot be created before contacting you by telephone. Its a Ird party service that's sold as identity assuredness.

-----Original Message-----
From: keith smith
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2007 11:42 AM
To: Main PLUG discussion list
Subject: Re: OT~ Credit accounts....

The credit reporting agencies have no- accountability.

If they were fined for every error I'll be they would figure out how to get it right.

I would like to see them offer to put my Divers License picture on my account with a requirement that anyone opening an account verify they looked at my divers license. Any credit opened without proof would be at the liability of the company extending credit. I'll bet ID theft would drop substantially.

George Toft wrote: I read that 1/3 of all credit files have errors. I've been tracking my
credit report since the early 90's, and have found errors every time I
get a report. Fortunately, they are always not my accounts, and the
accounts were current.

Over a 30% error rate, and we base the stability of our country's
economy on it. Amazing.

George Toft, CISSP

[The entire original message is not included]
---------------------------------------------------
PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss

------------------------
Keith Smith
(480) 584-4772
PHP Programming

Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV.
---------------------------------------------------
PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss

-- 
Jon M. Hanson (N7ZVJ)
Homepage:  http://the-hansons-az.net
Weblog:    http://the-hansons-az.net/wordpress
Jabber IM: jon@the-hansons-az.net