Congressman Attempts to Dismantle 22 State Id Theft Laws

An Ohio congressman wants to roll back existing
state credit freeze laws to support the American
Bankers Association over your consumer rights.

It seems Congressman LaTourette's bill would override
credit freeze laws available in 22 states which were
designed to allow consumers to block access to
their credit files by prohibiting a lender or any other
third party from running a credit check without getting
the consumer's permission first.

However, in the congressman's bill, consumers would only be
allowed to freeze access to their credit information if they
had filed a police report indicating they had already
become an identity theft victim.

Think of it this way, instead of now being able to lock your
doors to keep a would be identity thief from stealing your
credit information, the good congressman's bill would serve
the opposite end of the problem.

The thief would be able to get unobstructed access
to your credit report, through merchants typically
offering "instant credit" approval.

After you've been robbed, then Congressman
LaTourette's bill would allow you to "lock"
the doors to your credit report.

In other words, this bill would preempt the efforts of
over 22 state's attorney generals who see the identity
theft prevention need the same way as most consumers.

Lock the door upfront and deny identity theft
criminals the opportunity to rob you.

One has to wonder just who Congressman LaTourette really
represents? The good will of the people he represents in his
home state of Ohio as well as across America with this bill?

Or, perhaps the interests of the American Banker's
Association who has been the most vocal
supporter of his bill?

If the good congressman's campaign finances are any
indication of his true interests, the odds are there's an
almost 3 to 1 favorable decision coming from him
on most issue for business over consumers.

Plus, when it comes to his voting record, Congressman
LaTourette has demonstrated his decidedly pro-business
posture of his bill is nothing but more of the same
recent trend:

2004 - Representative LaTourette supported
the interests of the Financial Executives
International "100" percent.

2003 - Representative LaTourette supported
the interests of the Public Citizen's Congress
Watch "0" percent.

2003-2004 - Representative LaTourette
supported the interests of the Business-Industry
Political Action Committee "83" percent.

Stay tuned for updates from us on this latest attempt by a
U.S. congressman to undermine the will of consumers
as the fate of this bill is scheduled to be determined in
September when legislators reconvene from their August break.

So, our tip for today is to not wait for the forces of identity
theft to render you the latest in over 90 million victims the
past 1.5 years.

Get your very own burgular alarm for your credit and banking
relationships. Enroll in a quality credit monitoring service
as well as getting your most current credit report checked out.
Also, it's always a good idea to get your public information
profile (pip) reviewed as well to find the identity theft
alerts which credit reports are not designed to catch
for you.