Helping You Protect Your Assets, Family and Personal Finances
Posted in Consumer Law, Identity Theft on Mar 26th, 2010
If you have been or fear you could be a victim of identity theft, you should put a fraud alert on your credit report to help prevent further damage to your identity and credit.
What is a Fraud Alert?
Placing a fraud alert on your credit report notifies anyone who pulls your credit report that your personal [...]
Posted in Consumer Law, Identity Theft on Feb 19th, 2010
Child identity theft is a fast growing type of identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), approximately 5% of identity theft cases involve children (about 500,000 per year). However, it is difficult to obtain exact numbers because child identity theft can go undetected for several years.
Children are highly attractive targets for identity thieves [...]
Posted in Consumer Law, Debt Related Issues on Feb 12th, 2010
Dealing with a debt collector can be one of the most stressful experiences of your life. A debt collector will sometimes make harassing calls, threats, use obscene language, or embarrass you by contacting your employer, family or neighbors or sue you. You may even be harassed to pay a debt that is not rightfully yours. [...]
Posted in Consumer Law, Credit Report Errors on Feb 5th, 2010
Your credit score is based on several different aspects of your credit report. However, some aspects are more important than others and will contribute more to your overall credit score. Your credit score is composed of the following factors:
Payment History – 35%
Total Amounts Owed – 30%
Length of Credit History – 15%
New Credit – 10%
Type of [...]
Posted in Consumer Law, Identity Theft on Dec 9th, 2009
Every 3.5 seconds in the United States, someone’s identity is stolen. You can minimize your risk by following these eleven tips:
Shred any bills or documents that contain your address, any account number(s), or other information that can identify you personally.
Never carry more credit cards than you need.
Cancel credit card accounts you no longer use.
Never carry your [...]
Posted in Consumer Law, Credit Report Errors on Sep 9th, 2009
Your credit report contains information that many businesses use to make a decision about you. This includes banks, insurance companies, landlords, mortgage lenders, and even employers. It’s very important that you know what’s in your credit report and that you correct any inaccuracies to prevent negative effects on your financial health and welfare.
Posted in Consumer Law, Identity Theft on May 29th, 2009
According to Judith Collins, Ph.D., an Associate Professor at Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice, between 51 and 70 percent of identity thefts result from work-related incidents, where individuals have access to the private information of employees and customers. The Department of Veterans Affairs experienced such a work-related breach when the personal information (including [...]
Posted in Consumer Law, Credit Report Errors, Debt Related Issues on Apr 7th, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, created a website to educate consumers and to help consumers tackle some money issues head-on.