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Freeze Your Credit! Save Yourself Some Heartache!
Posted at 5:21 PM, Sep. 19, 2007
There was an article about "stopping identity theft" in the latest issue of Newsweek. I was not aware that you could do this.Freeze your credit!
Freezing your credit report is relatively new. In fact, you can only do it in 39 states right now, plus the District of Columbia. To find out if your state participates (and what the procedures for your particular state are) visit Consumers Union.
In a nutshell: you simply "freeze" your credit so that identity thieves can not open new credit in your name. Until you lift the freeze, nobody-- not even you-- can file for new credit with your social security number.
This would be ideal for me.
1.) I have no intention of messing with my mortgage right now or anytime soon. I have a good, fixed interest rate and I have no plan to refinance right now.
2.) I have all of the credit cards that I could need. In fact, I have way too many credit cards. I haven't even been "using" my credit. What if somebody else had wanted to? I wouldn't have noticed for a while!
3.) We still owe about 1 - 2 years of payments on each of our cars. Once those are paid off, we plan on driving them to the ground. (My husband and I don't have "car egos".)
Remember: You can "unfreeze" any time you want. I think it would benefit anybody (who isn't currently seeking credit) to freeze their credit report while it sits, unused. Stop identity thieves cold!
The freeze will not change your credit score.
Do you have enough credit cards at this time? No plans to refinance or buy a car for a while? Gail Hillebrand of Consumers Union recommends that every consumer considers this option. Again, here is the link:
http://www.consumersunion.org/securityfreeze.htm
I've had my identy stolen and know how important it is to keep tabs on!
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