Kriss Worthington
Councilmember, City of Berkeley District 7 2180 Milvia Street, 5th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704 PHONE 510-981-7170 FAX 510-981-7177 worthington@ci.berkeley.ca.us
CONSENT CALENDAR February 15, 2005 To: From: Subject: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Councilmember Kriss Worthington SUPPORT CALPIRG’S EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE CREDIT REPORT INFORMATION
RECOMMENDATION: That the Berkeley City Council supports CALPIRG’s educational campaign for free credit report information. BACKGROUND:
from CALPIRG Dear CALPIRG supporter, As consumer advocates, one of the number one tips CALPIRG offers to Californians is "order your credit report at least once a year." Our research shows that 1 in 4 credit reports contain the wrong information. These mistakes could lead to refusal for a loan, apartment, or job. Sometimes, incorrect information is a result of identity theft. Sometimes, it is just plain sloppiness on the credit bureaus part. Either way, you should make sure they are getting it right. Fortunately you can now do that for FREE! Recent changes to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allow consumers to get a FREE copy of their credit report annually. Visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228 to get your free report.
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CALPIRG Urges Consumers to Check Up On Credit Bureaus with Free Credit Reports SACRAMENTO—A leading state consumer organization that has documented credit report errors and identity theft problems for decades, today announced that consumers in California will have new tools to fight these problems under a federal law that takes effect December 1. The most important new provision will allow Californians to receive a free credit report every 12 months. “This is a hard won consumer victory and consumers should take full advantage of free
credit reports,” said CALPIRG’s Consumer Advocate, Jennette Gayer. “When left to their own devices, credit bureaus will too often get consumer’s reports wrong,” explained Gayer who released new research in June that showed 1 in 4 reports will contain serious errors. “Consumers need to make sure the bureaus get it right,” concluded Gayer. Consumers from California and other Western states can log onto the government mandated site www.annualcreditreport.com to get their free credit reports from Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. While credit reports are free under the new law, credit scores, which are mathematical summaries of the report, are not. CALPIRG recommended that consumers also obtain at least one low-priced score, for about $4-7, although they should avoid the high-priced credit monitoring services. “Avoid pricey credit monitoring services that credit bureaus will surely market alongside the free reports,” cautioned Gayer. Research found that consumers should look for common mistakes such as: - Inaccurate demographic information such as incorrect names or addresses; - Accounts that are incorrectly listed as open, delinquent or in collections; - Accounts that do not belong to you, in good standing or not; - Bankruptcies, tax liens or other judgments that do not belong to you; Other provisions of the new law, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) take effect nationwide on December 1. These include many rights already available to Californians, such as the right to place fraud alerts on your credit report and to obtain information from businesses where you do not have an account but an identity thief used your name fraudulently. Despite the new protections, CALPIRG opposed final passage of the FACT Act because it imposed unacceptable permanent limits on most state rights to protect their consumers. “California pioneered many of the protections that were incorporated into the national law,” said Gayer. “Thanks to the FACT Act many of our pioneering days are over.” CALPIRG is a statewide non-profit, non-partisan consumer protection group. More info is available at www.calpirg.org or http://www.pirg.org/consumer/credit. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: NONE CONTACT PERSON: Councilmember Kriss Worthington 981-7170.