Make New Year's Resolution to Get Free Credit Report

According to The Washington Post the Federal Trade Commission has estimated that 8.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2005, the most recent data available. But the crown jewel in identity theft, the Social Security number, can be mined easily in the government's own records, creating a measure of social insecurity for millions. Social Security numbers are readily available in many courthouses, in land records and criminal and civil case files, as well as on many government web sites that serve up public documents with a few clicks of a mouse. From state to state, and even within states, there is little uniformity in how access to the private information in these records is controlled. A recent spot-check found the nine-digit numbers, introduced in 1936 to track employee earnings and benefits, in hundreds of land deeds, death certificates, traffic tickets, creditors' filings, and other documents related to civil and criminal court cases.

Meanwhile according to the Wall Street Journal online the company that cooks up credit scores for millions of Americans is changing its recipe -- and that could affect how easily you get credit in the future.

Fair Isaac Corp., maker of the popular FICO credit score used by most lenders, says its new scoring model will do a better job predicting the likelihood of a borrower defaulting on a loan. For one thing, the new model, dubbed FICO 08, will be more forgiving of occasional slips by consumers, but will take a harder line on repeat offenders. Fair Isaac predicts its new system will help lenders reduce default rates on their consumer credit by between 5% and 15%.

How it works

Bill McCollum

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a consumer advisory encouraging Floridians to make a New Year's resolution to get their free annual credit report at the only official source for free annual reports, http://www.annualcreditreport.com . The website works in conjunction with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three national credit reporting companies. Because identity theft is a significant problem threatening Florida, many citizens seek credit reports to monitor their personal information and ensure that they have not been unknowingly victimized by identity theft. Consumers have the option of ordering one comprehensive report or one report from each company, although authorities recommend spacing the reports out every four months.