Protect Your Privacy and Your Credit

These days, when you discuss discuss your financial situation with a broker or banker and they pull a credit report you are opening the door to identity theft! A neat loophole in the Federal Trade commission has created new ways for consumers to be sold down river in the name of consumer choice.

How?  Your newly 'pulled' credit report triggers an alert in the system that you are in the market for credit. The credit reporting bureaus then compile lists and re-sell these reports to other lenders on 'trigger lists'. They are re-selling your actual credit report to complete strangers.

Naturally the buyers of these lists target the top FICO score clients first. You may start getting unsolicited calls. Lots of calls. Some people report being harassed dawn to dusk. The callers may imply they are calling from your bank or processor. They make fantastic offers offering ridiculous teaser rates for huge sums of money. It doesn't seem to matter if you have an unlisted number --the calls just keep coming. If you are listed on the Do Not Call List, you can certainly report the offenders at the Do Not Call Registry www.donotcall.gov.

The biggest concern is not that the list exists (which is bad enough) but that your actual unedited report is being released to telemarketers. If you've seen a credit report you know it contains a great deal of personal information including account numbers, balances and collections. This puts your mortgage lender in a very awkward position as they are not effectively competing for your business with strangers --with whom you did not choose to share your personal financial information.

Brokers are very concerned that the reporting agencies are not properly vetting the credentials of all the lenders they are selling these lists to. Since we are conditioned to think that shopping around for the best deal is a good thing, it's easy to fall for the ploy. The problem with this approach is that your FICO score and your financial information are at risk.

Stop this practice: "Opt Out" on this website: www.optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688

It's free and lasts for 5 years or you can download a paper form for permanent opting out.

I found out the hard way this was happening: recently, a client mentioned speaking with my processor. It turned out the person who had called her was an imposter...extracting more information! I was mystified how they could have known that she was discussing a mortgage until I heard about trigger lists. These days people refinance so often, I guess the odds of someone expecting a call from 'their bank' must be in their favor. Your lender should provide the names of people who will be contacting you about your loan ahead of time so you can be sure with whom you are speaking.

Opt out now and share this link with everyone you know.

copyright 2008 Susan Templeton