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“BRRINGING” RELIEF FOR ID THEFT VICTIMS
A.G. & LEGISLATORS ANNOUNCE NEW CREDIT FREEZE LAW
Utahns now have the fastest credit freeze law in the country. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Senator Carlene Walker announced today that a new state law is now in effect that allows identity theft victims to freeze their credit and protect their credit ratings.
“Utah’s new credit freeze law stops identity thieves cold and quick,” says Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. “Consumers can freeze and thaw their credit in 15 minutes.”
The credit freeze bill would likely have saved Rich Counter four years of aggravation after he was victimized by identity thieves. In 2004, the Roy resident started getting calls from a cell phone company, a San Francisco hospital and eventually a satellite dish company about bills for services he never used. Counter took efforts to straighten out his credit reports but the bills and the bad credit information continued to creep back into his reports.
“The credit bureaus stated they would remove my name from the fraudulent account and remove it from my credit reports but I am once again contacting all of those creditors again,” says Counter. “I am excited about the new credit freeze law and I hope it can keep this awful situation from happening to anyone else.”
The 15 minute thaw period was the key to passing the Credit Freeze Protection law. The original 2005 bill stalled because merchants and auto dealers were troubled by the original three-day thaw period. But Senator Carlene Walker and Representative David Clark continued to work with businesses and credit bureaus to come up with a solution and the software to speed up the thaw cycle. The bill finally passed in 2006 but it gave credit bureaus until September 1, 2008 to get their computers reprogrammed.
“Nearly everybody said it couldn’t be done but now Utah has the nation’s first 15 minute credit thaw cycle,” says Senator Walker. “It is a win-win solution because it protects consumers and businesses.”
Here’s what consumers can do if they suspect their credit information has been compromised:
- Contact the three credit bureaus and give your name, date of birth and Social Security Number
- For a small fee (likely $10) credit bureaus will freeze the consumer’s credit and provide that person with a pin or password
- The consumer can now use the pin to open a new credit account and make purchases
- The freeze prevents anyone from using that credit without the consumer’s knowledge
The freeze does not affect ongoing lines of credit and does not prevent credit companies from keeping track of a person’s credit history. However, some companies like insurance companies are exempt and will still have access to non-credit related
issues.
Assistant Attorney General Rich Hamp prosecutes identity theft and fraud cases and he worked with Senator Walker and other legislators to pass this legislation. “Until now consumers have been sitting ducks for identity thieves,” says Hamp. “This law is a powerful tool to protect a person from these crooks.”
Press Conference Pictures
L to R Senator Carlene Walker, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, ID Theft Victim Rich Counter, Assistant Attorney General Rich Hamp
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