FACTA: What Are Your Legal Rights?

Identity theft has become such a rampant problem that the United States government has been making concerted efforts to help protect consumers and put an end to the problem. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) into law. The act, that was amended as recently as June 2008, helps protect you in several ways. Knowing this law could be very helpful to you if you ever discover that you have been a victim of identity theft.

Provisions of the Act

FACTA ensures that:

1. Merchants will not print the last five digits of a credit card number on their store receipts ensuring that even if their customers throw away a receipt without shredding it they are less vulnerable to becoming victims of identity theft. Shredding is still always a good idea whenever possible.

2. Placing a fraud alert on your credit report is only one phone call away. In the past consumers had to contact all three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) individually and repeat the same story over and over again. Now, all you have to do is contact one of the agencies and that agency will contact the other two and will issue a nationwide fraud alert on your credit file. This will prevent thieves from opening any new credit in your name.

3. A free credit report from each agency is made available to each consumer every year at www.annualcreditreport.com. This allows consumers the benefit of evaluating their own credit reports and determining if there is any fraudulent activity. This is encouraged as a general practice, but can also be especially helpful in ensuring that your credit is in the best possible shape before applying for a sizeable loan like a mortgage or home refinance.

4. Provisions will be made for active duty military men and women to flag their credit reports notifying potential creditors that they are overseas and shouldn’t be requesting new credit. This practice, known as an “active duty alert” eliminates the opportunity for identity thieves to open new credit in a soldiers name and rack up huge amounts of debt while he or she is overseas.

5. Information will be made readily available to victims of identity theft who are trying to prove they have been victims of a crime. In the past it has been very difficult for victims to obtain copies of items like the application that the thief used to apply for credit in the victim’s name. Pieces of information like this can be potentially vital to proving your innocence, as simple things like a fraudulent signature can help prove that you weren’t the one who applied for credit.

6. Collections agencies must make all information about a delinquent account in your name available to you. If someone has opened a fraudulent account in your name, and it has gone into collections you have a legal right to access information like when the account was opened, what purchases were made, when delinquent notices were sent, etc…Also, FACTA ensures that if a creditor has been informed that a delinquent debt was accrued as a result of identity theft before it goes to collections, that creditor may not send that debt to collections while it is being investigated.

7. All financial institutions must regularly watch for any “red flags” that may signal fraudulent activity on an account. For instance, if someone submits a change of address form and then immediately requests new debit or credit cards, the bank must ask for legitimate proof of the change of address to ensure that thieves haven’t stolen someone’s identity and are trying to gain access to bank cards.

There are many more benefits provided for your safety through FACTA. Although some of the key elements were mentioned above, you might find it helpful to consult the act in more detail. You can read more about how the United States government is working to protect you here: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6a-facta.htm#2a

Even with these provisions, it’s important to realize that no one else will care as much about your identity as you do. Make every effort to protect yourself.