Client Services Int'l - St. Charles MO

[GoingDown]

The identity theft issue is a very reasonable card to play. There is a large amount of personal (non-public) information that gets passed around.

And, there are the real red flag rules that some folks are attempting to bring into focus. Part of these is the requirement that the creditor must have a written policy related to identity theft protection. I have had several CA's back off when it was clear they received personal information about me via some other third party. I also requested identity theft procedures from the original creditor related to the OC passing on personal information. It was very flagrant, as the local CA received a collection account from another out-of-state CA who was assigned to collect by the OC. The out-of-state CA sent the local CA a copy of the alleged contract with my complete SSN, birth-date, etc readable. I screamed identity theft at the local CA. One week later they sent me a letter stating they had returned the account to the first CA. They also wanted to make it clear that they would never compromise one's identity (ha.) I also called the OC and told them that one of their CA's was sharing non-public personal information about me with other companies. I have never heard another peep out of the original creditor or the out-of-state CA. I somehow hit a nerve. Interestingly, I never did receive a written ID theft policy/procedure from the original creditor. I often wonder if the OC had the collection agency back off.

I apologize for all the OC and CA acronyms. I am lazy this morning.

Yes, very good info!

Do you put this in writing? In other words, how would you write this in a letter to the collection agency and the original creditor?



Another thing I suggest is OPT OUT whenever your original creditor sends you opt-out forms and also when your account gets sold to a junk debt buyer, they will always send you an opt-out privacy notice, and you just need to respond in writing that you want to opt-out. It makes your account more of a hassle for them, and they are then on notice that you want your privacy rights respected.