Dear Ohio PIRG supporter, Identity theft is a growing crime affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans. Mistakes in credit reports leave consumers with deflated credit scores and inflated interest rates on their mortgages and credit cards, unfairly costing them thousands of dollars. For years, Congress has known about identity theft and credit accuracy problems, but these problems have been ignored because the powerful financial lobby - including nearly every bank, department store, credit card company and credit bureau in the country â?? has successfully urged Congress not to impose regulations on them, even though their sloppy practices aid identity thieves and cause the mistakes. Now, Congress is considering eliminating state privacy laws that are stronger than federal law and preventing states from enacting stronger laws in the future through a process known as preemption. Congress should pass federal laws to fight identity theft and improve the accuracy of credit reports and it should let states pass their own even stronger laws, instead of preempting the right of states to pass privacy legislation. Please take a moment to help prevent identity theft and protect financial privacy by urging your U.S. Representative to support the right of states to pass strong privacy laws. Then, ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them. To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=337&id4=ES Identity theft is a growing crime affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans. Mistakes in credit reports leave consumers with deflated credit scores and inflated interest rates on their mortgages and credit cards, unfairly costing them thousands of dollars. These problems are finally being debated in Congress this year, but only because the financial industry wants Congress to extend a temporary limit on the authority of states to pass stronger credit accuracy and identity theft laws that will expire at the end of the year. The 1970 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates credit bureaus. In 1996, Congress amended the law to make it easier to fix mistakes and added new provisions intended to ensure that department stores, banks and credit card companies protected the accuracy and privacy of consumer records. At the same time, Congress enacted a temporary limit that preempted states from taking most actions to strengthen the law until January 1st, 2004. Unfortunately, the reforms haven't worked to stop mistakes, and identity theft has skyrocketed. Identity theft led all consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) each of the last three years. Worse, complaints doubled in 2002. An astonishing 380,000 citizens contacted the FTC in 2002, reporting fraud losses of over $343 million. According to a recent report, the average victim spends 175 hours and $808 out-of-pocket removing an average of $17,000 in fraudulent accounts from their credit report. Identity theft is a simple, low-risk crime, but it is made easier by sloppy credit granting practices. Although Congress made identity theft a felony in 1998, since then it's done nothing else. And banks and credit card companies oppose laws that hold them responsible when they make mistakes. A recent major study of 500,000 consumers by the Consumer Federation of America found that nearly one-third had differences in their credit reports held by the three leading credit bureaus that would cause a 50-point different in their credit scores. The Consumer Federation of America conservatively estimates that up to 8 million Americans would wrongly be classified into the expensive, sub-prime credit markets. In our view, the states are "laboratories of democracy" that can react more quickly to solve problems. Time after time, several states act to solve a problem, and then industry voluntarily adopts state reforms nationwide, and then Congress raises the federal standard. But if states aren't allowed to pass their own laws, it is rare that Congress acts to protect consumers. Recognizing this, the financial industry prefers that federal law preempt state law. In an effort to guarantee passage of a permanent extension of the law preempting states' rights, the financial industry has agreed to support token reforms that are designed to comfort victims but are not adequate to stop in the first place sloppy creditor practices that lead to both identity theft and credit report errors. Please take a moment to help prevent identity theft and protect financial privacy by urging your U.S. Representative to support states' rights and pass strong privacy laws. Then, ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them. To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=337&id4=ES Sincerely, Erin Bowser Ohio PIRG Advocate ErinB@ohiopirg.org http://www.OhioPIRG.org http://uspirg.org/uspirg.asp?id=337&id3=USPIRG&id4=ES& THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """""""""```~~~```'"""""""""
http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=358792#post358792 http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=358918#post358918
