January 2001
Monitoring Your
Credit Reports
By Robert K. Heady
It happens every day that some poor guy gets turned down for a job because he didn’t realize the negative things the prospective employer spotted in his credit record. Another person’s insurance rates go up because the company found a slew of traffic accidents and fines in his automobile history. At another time, a loan applicant is rejected because his credit records show too many inquiries by businesses and individuals, although he has good credit.
This happens because most consumers are completely oblivious of the two threats in their personal financial lives: (a) incorrect information on their credit reports and (b) identity theft, which has skyrocketed in the past years.
The financial “expert” will tell you to “get a copy of your credit report once a year,” but that’s not good enough. Why? Because a lot of things can happen within a year. Fortunately, there are companies such as PrivacyGuard which, for little or no money at all, will give you all the tools you need to manage your credit reports.
Don’t confuse PrivacyGuard with those rip-off, fly-by-night “credit doctors” who advertise that they’ll “fix your credit,” then disappear after grabbing your money and maybe causing you jail time if you get an additional Social Security number. PrivacyGuard is a brand name of the $4 billion Cendant Corp., one of the world’s biggest franchisers of hotels, rental car agencies, tax preparation services and real estate brokerages.
For no money down, then $59.95 per year (soon to be $69.99) payable after three months, the company will send you a complete kit with unlimited access to your personal records, including:
•Credit reports from all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), with all information merged into a simple format and coded for easy understanding. It shows negative things on your credit such as delinquencies, who’s been snooping into your credit and open lines of credit in dollars.
• Medical records on you from the Medical Information Bureau, a nonprofit organization that is funded by big insurance companies. It probably has personal information on you from the time you first applied for insurance plus any claims you’ve made. MIB charges you $8.50 but PrivacyGuard reimburses you.
• Your driving records from current and past states.
• Social Security data showing estimated retirement benefits.
• Most important, you also get quarterly “alerts” from credit bureaus showing who has made recent inquiries into your credit file, correction forms so you can request that inaccuracies on your records be rectified by the credit bureaus; and an “automatic verification service” that sends you a new copy of your record(s) 90 days after you submit a correction form so that you see that the correction was made.
PrivacyGuard has a toll-free advisory hotline in case you need help in understanding your reports. Under federal law, the company can’t help you to dispute any information in your report but it can answer questions.
If you don’t like PrivacyGuard’s service, you can cancel before the three months are up and owe nothing.
If you pay the $59.95 and later change your mind, the company says it will refund the unused portion of your annual fee. You can visit its Web sites at www.privacyonline.com or www.privacyguard.com and sign up for all the benefits for just $1 for three months.
The PrivacyGuard package is also being promoted by more than 40 banks and such chain stores as Sears. The toll-free number is (800) 374-8273.
Is the package worth it? Probably so. With what’s at stake with your job, your credit and your health, 60 bucks isn’t very much, especially when you consider other choices.
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