Get A Free Credit Report

Thanks to a new law in Maryland, you can now request the three major credit reporting agencies not give out your credit report. It is just the newest way to protect you from identity theft. It will cost you $15, a five dollar fee from each credit reporting agencies. But there are two other steps you can take to guard your good name and they are both free.You see ads all the time promising you a free credit report. Those ads are all too familiar to Angie Barnett, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland. “It is all over the internet, we find them everywhere, I'm listening to the radio, you hear it constantly." But Barnett warns buyers beware. She says, “that you can get these free credit reports but what they are going to do is give you something you can already get for free then secondly they are going to try to sell you a bundle or package of services that are directly related to protecting you from identity theft." She goes on to say that those services are steps you can take on your own without paying.The federal government requires all three of the major credit reporting agencies, Transunion, Experian and Equifax, to give you a free copy of your report once a year. There is only one place on the internet where you can do that and it is http://www.annualcreditreport.com“We encourage people to be sure you stagger it," says Barnett.

Radical Shift for MLA — on Meeting Date

The slight shift in dates should have little impact on the hiring cycle, Feal said, and likely will not result in an increase in costs, and might in fact result in a decrease for many members. Although the December dates were long advocated because of presumably cheaper hotel prices, the committee studying the issue found that the price of hotels for the January dates were comparable, and pointed out that flight costs are typically much higher the week between Christmas and New Year's, and airline miles often are unusable during that time. “Like often in academia," David Damrosch, a committee member from Columbia University, said in reference to the presumed lower cost of holding the convention around Christmastime, “something that may have been true in the 1800s is no longer the case."

The Delegate Assembly approved every motion and resolution that came before it Friday by a fairly large margin, with the closest vote being on a resolution that the MLA should urge the replacement of the term “illegal aliens" with “undocumented workers," and that undocumented workers should be eligible for in-state tuition in the states where they reside.

'20% row with family over debts'

Nearly one in five people have fallen out with loved ones over family debts, a survey has shown.

Meanwhile, 6% of respondents said they believed their money had been used unwisely, with 7% adding that family members had made no attempt to repay them at all.

8 smart ways to insure your home insurance

Hurricane Katrina swept away all the old rules about homeowner's insurance. These days, filing a single small claim, switching insurers to save a few bucks, or assuming your coverage hasn't changed can expose you to huge financial hardships.

Matt Skelton keen to get job done

The Bedford fighter avenged his solitary loss against Danny Williams in July 2006 before outpointing old opponent Michael Sprott in a dreadful Commonwealth title clash at London's O2 Arena on his last outing in July. Skelton may not be pretty to watch, but he is very hard to beat.