SEATTLE—Starting today,
consumers in Washington will a have new tool to fight identity theft and protect
their privacy due to a new federal law that allows consumers to order one free
credit report per year. Residents of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming are also
eligible to order free credit reports. The law will be rolled out to the rest
of the states over the next nine months.
“Our research has shown that 1 in 4 credit reports have serious mistakes that
could potentially cost consumers thousands of dollars, so it is critically important
for Washington citizens to take advantage of the opportunity to order one free
credit report per year from all three credit bureaus” said WashPIRG Executive
Director Robert Pregulman. “They should also check their reports for signs of
identity theft by watching for any unauthorized activity.”
Consumers from Washington can order their free credit report from all three
credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union —by doing one of the following:
- Log onto www.annualcreditreport.com
- Call 1-877-322-8228
- Send a written request to: Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
Consumers can also ask the three credit bureaus from sharing their financial
information from companies who request it for marketing purposes by calling
1-888-50PTOUT.
"With identity theft at near epidemic levels and an ever-increasing reliance
on credit, knowing about our personal credit record has never been as important
as it is today, and everyone should know about and take advantage of this opportunity
to protect their personal credit record,” said Representative Shay Schual-Berke,
Chair of the Washington House Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.
“Women especially can learn to establish credit in their own name and a level
of financial independence too many women today lack."
While credit reports are free under the new law, credit scores, which are mathematical
summaries of the report, are not. WashPIRG recommended that consumers also obtain
at least one low-priced score, for about $4-7. Consumers should avoid the high-priced
credit monitoring services.
“Identity theft can happen to anyone, anytime,” said Debbie Carspensen, a Sammamish
resident and an identity theft victim. “One of the most important things you
can do to prevent it is to check your credit report regularly.”
“Just as you need to get an annual physical to ensure that you are healthy and
identify any potential problems, you need to check your credit report every
year to ensure your fiscal health,” added Pregulman.
The other provisions of the law that allows free credit reports, the Fair and
Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act), take effect nationwide today. These
include the right to place fraud alerts on your credit report, to complain directly
to your bank about mistakes on your credit report and to obtain information
from businesses where you do not have an account but an identity thief used
your name fraudulently. Despite the new protections, WashPIRG opposed final
passage of the FACT Act because it imposed unacceptable permanent limits on
most state rights to protect their consumers.
WashPIRG is a statewide non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy
organization. To get more extensive information on how to order and check credit
reports, go to www.washpirg.org.
