By Jeff Wentworth
State Senator District 25
Published: 09-10-07
Texans being required to wait until their identities are stolen in order to freeze their credit reports makes as much sense as shutting the barn door after the horse is gone.
State Senator District 25
Published: 09-10-07
Texans being required to wait until their identities are stolen in order to freeze their credit reports makes as much sense as shutting the barn door after the horse is gone. A new law that became effective September 1 allows consumers to close the barn door before the horse gets out or before their identities have been stolen.
Senate Bill 222 is one of the bills we passed during this year’s regular legislative session to help Texans combat identity theft. This bill allows consumers to obtain a freeze on their credit report simply to protect themselves from identity theft.
Previously Texans could not freeze their credit reports until they were victims of identity theft because doing so required a police report.
Credit bureaus may charge up to $10 for the security freeze; however identity theft victims are not charged. Under the provisions of Senate Bill 222 credit reports stay frozen until consumers authorize them to be lifted.
Consumers may lift the freeze temporarily if they are seeking loans for a house or for other reasons. Texans also may allow only certain creditors to view their credit reports. Credit bureaus may charge consumers up to $12 each time the freeze is lifted.
To take advantage of the new law Texans must notify each of the three national credit bureaus -- Experian Equifax and TransUnion -- by certified mail and include proof of their identities in the letter.
Texans who need instant credit or who use a number of credit cards may not want to take advantage of the new law; however there are many Texans particularly senior citizens who will find that putting a security freeze on their credit reports gives them some peace of mind in a world where identity thieves always seem to be a step ahead of law-abiding citizens.
A security or credit freeze is not the same thing as a fraud alert. A fraud alert stays on a credit report for 90 days. It may be extended up to seven years if a person is a victim of identity theft. A fraud alert is far less restrictive than a credit freeze and does not prevent businesses from viewing a credit report.
Fraud alerts just let credit issuers know that there may be some fraud involved such as a stolen credit card and to contact the consumer before issuing credit in his or her name.
During the legislative session we also passed House Bill 887 which increases the statute of limitations for credit card or debit card abuse or identity theft from three to seven years.
In addition to these two bills the Legislature passed House Bill 2002. This bill requires a bank to offer a customer the option of having the bank notify the check verification services that the customer has become a victim of identity theft.
While I believe these laws will help Texans both protect themselves against identity thieves and expedite efforts to assist identity theft victims the first line of defense in protecting your identity is you the consumer.
