| Free steps towards protecting your ID
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.
10 Tips: Fix credit-report errors
Have you ever been horrified to discover errors on your credit report? Such inaccuracies can and should strike fear into any conscientious consumer's heart because of their punishing consequences. What consequences, you ask? Well, they can result in higher interest rates whenever you borrow money, and they can even affect your ability to qualify for credit, insurance, employment or rental housing. To avoid such ominous scenarios, consider these tips for fixing mistakes on your credit report. .
Federal deficit possible, study says
We get that. There is no point in coming on and using your usual Rhetoric 101 trick of discrediting the source, the reporter, the paper, and anyone else in the partisan drivel supply chain. The source does that. Posted 14/01/08 at 10:02 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .
Tobacco firms face thousands of new suits
Florida lawyers rushed to beat this week's deadline for individual claims after the Florida Supreme Court overturned a $145 billion punitive-damage verdict, the biggest in history, in July 2006. At the same time, the court upheld jury findings that the companies were negligent and sold defective products, which will apply in all the new cases. ''The industry is in a bad position in Florida,'' said Robert Kelley, whose Fort Lauderdale firm represents about 100 clients in the suits. ``There are a lot of really good trial lawyers filing these cases.'' Philip Morris, the biggest U.S. cigarette maker, said it faces new Florida suits filed on behalf of about 1,700 dead and injured smokers so far. Plaintiffs' lawyers said the total number of claims filed against the industry may reach 10,000.
Don't make debt a family affair
What's the right thing to do when your daughter asks you to co-sign on a credit card? It's a question I have been asked more than once. In the case of one reader, the daughter and her husband want to transfer a balance on a credit card with a higher interest rate to a card with zero percent interest for 18 months. The daughter promises she and her husband won't be late on the payments -- but they have a lot of debt. The daughter's husband is doing his internship as a doctor and has another year before he will make more money. I recently discussed this topic with a colleague while preparing to address a large gathering of women. Here are four things that women in particular should be aware of when it comes to credit: 1.) Credit and the glass ceiling are invisible barriers.
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