SayEducate

The topic of Identity Theft continues to surface regularly on the news, around the workplace water cooler, and in homes where consumers are trying to figure out the best way to respond when their social security numbers have been stolen, credit cards opened up in their names, and other unauthorized activity taken place. I.D. Theft isn’t merely an inconvenience, it is a problem that can cause much misery for the afflicted consumer.

If you suspect or know that you have been victimized, there are some steps you can take to defend yourself. Thanks to recommendations made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there are four steps you can take to win your battle against identity theft:

1 Review your credit reports, have alerts placed in your files. You are entitled to receive one free copy annually of your credit report from the three major credit reporting bureaus. If you suspect that your identity has been stolen, then obtain copies from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. If you instruct one company to place a fraud alert in your file, they are required to inform the other two that an alert has been placed. Visit AnnualCreditReport to obtain your free credit reports.

2. Close tampered or fake accounts. Any credit accounts you opened should be closed as well as accounts not opened by you, but in your name. You’ll need to contact the fraud departments of each business and there are steps on the FTC site instructing you how to do this.

3. File a complaint with the FTC. By notifying the FTC of I.D. Theft, you can help this agency track theft trends which are shared with law enforcement people across the country.

4. File a police report. Notify your local police or the police in the locality where the theft took place. Some locales may be hesitant to take your report, while others may be required to do so under state law. In some states, notifying the state police is the best approach.

Once that you have identified that you are a victim of I.D. theft, taking immediate action is necessary. The longer that you wait, the worse the problem can become.

Further Reading And Resources

Credit Management Center

Defend: Recover From Identity Theft

Free Credit Reports

Most certainly, the national real estate landscape has quieted, with home prices and sales down over the past year. Even with the reduced mortgage rates, many people will find it difficult to secure a home loan.

Consumers who are locked out of the housing market can still get in with a little creativity on their parts. By leasing a home with an option to purchase the property within a specified period of time, home ownership could be within reach.

A lease option is a terrific way for people to get into the home they want right now and live in it as a tenant. Then, at some point within the option period, usually one to three years, renters can “opt” to purchase the home for a predetermined price.

What you should know about a lease option:

• Lease options are typically for a one to three year period. If you want the home during that time, you can opt to buy it or walk away and allow the landlord to sell it to someone else.

• You’ll be expected to pay an option deposit which will be applied to your purchase. In addition, you may be charged an amount over and above your monthly rent money which coupled with the deposit be applied to your home’s purchase.

• If you decide that you don’t like the home, you can walk away from it without obligation to purchase it. Depending on the terms of the agreement, you may or may not get the deposit and extra monthly payment monies back.

• A lease option allows you to accumulate money which will act as the down payment for your home. Many consumers find that coming up with thousands of dollars for a down payment is impossible. The accrued funds will act as your down payment.

Of course, you must have good credit in order to qualify for a mortgage once you exercise your lease option. Make sure that your credit reports are clean and your credit score is good enough to qualify for a loan. See a mortgage professional to get pre-qualified for a loan before exercising your option.

A lease option serves as a method of forced savings of sorts, money you’ll come up with on a monthly basis which will be added to your down payment. Not every seller will agree to this option, but in a slow market presenting a lease option could be one way that a seller gets out from underneath his property, but one to three years later.

You’ve decided to go ahead with an important consumer purchase, perhaps that new car you always wanted even a vacation home and you receive a nasty piece of information — your credit is awful. “This can’t be!,” you think but according to at least one of the credit reporting services you aren’t even fit to buy a new shirt, let alone a high ticket consumer item.

Some consumers have bad credit because of action they took which caused accurate negative information to be added to their record. But, for many other consumers inaccurate even false information could have found its way into their reports.

How To Fix Your Credit Report

Your credit report won’t fix itself, but with your pro-active work you can take care of each mistake one by one.

To get started you should:

• Retrieve copies of each of the three major credit reports. These are available for free from AnnualCreditReport.Com, a service of the Big Three credit reporting services: Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. By law, the companies must allow you to access your reports once annually for free.

• Examine the report closely to make sure that your name, social security number, address and other personal information is correct.

• Check your individual accounts as they should each be in good standing. If not, find out the reason why an account isn’t in good standing. If it is due to something you did, then you cannot correct this problem other than making future payments on time. If there is an error with the account, contact the appropriate credit reporting service and explain to them what information you found is incorrect.

Notifying the Credit Reporting Service

If you discover an error, make a copy of the credit report and circle in red what you believe to be wrong information. Then, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s site and copy their sample dispute letter and change it accordingly. You’ll be sending the letter and your credit report to the service.

The credit reporting service must launch an investigation within thirty days, contacting the creditor on your behalf. Please note that the credit reporting service can come to any number of conclusions based on their investigation:

• Information that you dispute which cannot be verified will be deleted from your file.

• Erroneous information must be corrected.

• Incomplete information must be completed.

• Information belonging to another consumer must be removed from your file.

Not all investigations will be ruled in your favor. Perhaps you overlooked an account or after correcting certain information you could still have negative, but accurate details on your report. You do have the right to attach a letter of explanation to your credit file which can help explain your position. Send a copy to the business in question too so that they have your dispute on file.

Wrong information on a credit report isn’t the end of the world, but not responding can be a problem — take control of your credit today and order your credit reports and obtain your credit score (which is an extra charge).

Resources

Check Your Credit

Federal Trade Commission

Financing Tips