More Credit Info Could Be Coming Your Way

— Frank and Tandy Kertanis' nightmare began last November when the Honda dealership where they bought their car called Frank's father to tell him the vehicle was going to be repossessed.

Since they had not missed any payments since buying the car eight months earlier, the Oviedo, Fla., couple was shocked at the news. Frank's father, who had co-signed the loan, was taken aback, too.

When they called the dealership to find out what was going on, they made a troubling discovery: Someone had assumed Frank's identity and bought another car in his name.

The situation only got worse from there. When police told the couple to call their credit card companies to put out a fraud alert, they discovered that numerous credit card accounts had been opened in Frank's name — some with as much as $17,000 charged on them. Including the delinquent payments for the Honda, the people who stole Frank's identity managed to rack up more than $50,000 in debt.

Identity theft is a growing and costly problem in the United States.Treasury Secretary John Snow recently testified before Congress that nearly 12 million Americans have become victims of identity theft.

It takes victims an average of two years to resolve their cases, spending an average of 175 hours and $808 in out-of-pocket costs, not including lawyers' fees, trying to fix their problem, according to a report from the California Public Interest Research Group and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based consumer rights advocacy group.

To combat the problem, the Bush administration and Congress have proposed some changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that attempt to crack down on identity theft and provide consumers with free access to their credit reports.

While consumer groups applaud some of the proposed changes, others say more needs to be done to help consumers.

Free Credit Reports Proposed

Credit reports are key to a consumer's financial health. Banks, lenders, merchants, credit card companies and even prospective employers can request a person's credit report to make decisions ranging from what kind of interest rate to charge to whether or not to the person is a good credit risk.