FACTA Annual Credit Report
sponsorIn the past 12 months, 260,000 consumers reported that they first learned they were victims of ID THEFT
when they applied for credit.
FTC “Free Credit Report” Regulation
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). FACTA, which was enacted on December 4, 2003, requires, that nationwide consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) provide to consumers, upon request, a free copy of their credit reports once every 12 months.
There are currently three nationwide CRAs – i.e., Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The centralized source enables consumers to order all three reports at one time. The FTC’s rule requires that the centralized source for free credit report requests to the three nationwide CRAs be available to consumers through an Internet Web site, a toll-free telephone number, and a postal address.
The rule provides that in operating the centralized source, nationwide CRAs must:
- Have adequate capacity to accept requests from the reasonably anticipated volume of consumers making requests;
- Collect only as much information as necessary to process requests;
- Provide clear and easily understandable information and instructions on how to make requests;
- Comply with the FTC Safeguards Rule for Information Security; and
- Ensure that any communications made through the centralized source, including any advertising or marketing, does not interfere with, detract from, contradict, or undermine the centralized source.
The rule gives nationwide CRAs relief from the requirement that they have adequate capacity to provide consumers free reports during times when there is an extraordinary volume of requests. In those circumstances, the proposed rule would permit nationwide CRAs to ask consumers to return to the centralized source at a reasonable later time, or to place the request in a queue for later processing.
FACTA similarly requires nationwide specialty CRAs to provide consumers, upon request, a free copy of their file disclosures once every 12 months. Nationwide specialty CRAs are CRAs that maintain specific types of files on consumers, such as employment history, tenant history, medical records, and insurance claims. The FTC’s proposed rule establishes a “streamlined process” by which consumers may request free file disclosures from nationwide specialty CRAs. Under the proposed rule, each nationwide specialty CRA is required to maintain a toll-free telephone number for such consumer requests.
Is once a year enough?
FACTA is great for consumers but is checking your credit once a year enough?
If you are like most consumers you have been hearing, reading and discovering that identity theft is become a serious problem in our society, in fact 5 million consumers in the U.S. had there identity stolen last year. Having your identity stolen can have serious affects on your credit, for not just weeks or months but for years.
On top of that you have also probably heard that many Credit Reporting Agencies and companies that report your credit are terribly inaccurate! Did you know that 79% of credit reports have a mistake of some kind! This is one scary statistic.
Take a look at a few more facts and you can decide if it is a FATAL MISTAKE to just look at your credit report once a year….
The Top Five Identity Theft Facts & StatisticsFACT #1: 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, including 9.9 million people in the last year alone. FACT #2: Last year’s identity theft losses to victims was an average of $1,180. FACT #3: 52% of all ID theft victims, approximately 5 million people in the last year, discovered that they were all victims of identity theft by monitoring their accounts. FACT #4: Nearly one-quarter of all victims – roughly 2.5 million people in the last year. Stolen mail was the source of information for identity thieves in 4 percent of all victims – 400,000 in the last year. FACT #5: In the past 12 months 260,000 consumers reported that they first learned they had victims of ID THEFT when they applied for credit and were turned down. |
The Top Five Identity Theft Facts & Statistics
FACT #1: 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, including 9.9 million people in the last year alone.
FACT #2: Last year’s identity theft losses to victims was an average of $1,180.
FACT #3: 52% of all ID theft victims, approximately 5 million people in the last year, discovered that they were all victims of identity theft by monitoring their accounts.
FACT #4: Nearly one-quarter of all victims – roughly 2.5 million people in the last year. Stolen mail was the source of information for identity thieves in 4 percent of all victims – 400,000 in the last year.
FACT #5: In the past 12 months 260,000 consumers reported that they first learned they had victims of ID THEFT when they applied for credit and were turned down.