Credit Card Law Will Curb FreeCreditReport.com Ads

The credit card reform bill signed into law by the president on Friday won't just put a stop to several unfair practices of the credit card industry -- it also targets misleading advertisements for phony "free" credit reports.

The "free credit report" advertised non-stop on cable television, it bears repeating, isn't free at all. The law calls for the Federal Trade Commission to issue new rules that will force free credit report advertisers to inform consumers that the only place for a free credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com.

Television and radio ads will also be required to include a pretty deflating statement: "This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law."

It's hard to see how the FreeCreditReport.com's Renaissance Fair rocker will fit that one into his rhymes about pointy slippers and green wool tights.

Under the Bush administration, the FTC repeatedly fined the folks behind freecreditreport.com for deceptive advertising, since you only get the "free" report after enrolling in a $15-a-month credit monitoring program. But the fines amounted to mere wrist-slaps.

The new rule is good news for consumer advocates.

"For too long, FreeCreditReport.com has taken advantage of a weak consent decree negotiated by the Bush FTC that has let it confuse consumers into buying its over-priced, unneeded subscription credit monitoring product that isn't free," wrote U.S. Public Interest Research Group's Ed Mierzwinski in an email to the Huffington Post. "Consumers have wasted millions buying a service that doesn't prevent identity theft and doesn't raise your credit score, sold by one of the companies whose sloppy practices make identity theft easy and keeping your credit score accurate hard."

Comments

[PinkysBrain]

Did you ever notice that there was a guitar in the music, and the lead singer wore one, but he never actually played it? Just something that caught my attention.....

[Heather Jamieson]

True! The band is not playing and the lead singer is lip-syncing. But he certainly CAN play, and sings quite nicely. Check out Eric Violette on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-WDF1lQrAk

[JLRoberson]

So why is he whoring himself to this scam then?

[SJHS]

I'm still trying to figure out why 3 credit reporting companies are needed ... and also why we are not entitled to view our credit report information at any time online.

[AlsoSarah]

It should be free to consumers.

[Bloggerrogr]

It is FREE, AlsoSarah, but only at AnnualCreditReport.Com.
FYI, here's how I do it:
By law you are entitled to one (1) free credit report, per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies. They are: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Let's take June1 as a starting date.
June 1, I order my free credit report from Experian. Four months hence, 1 October I order my free credit report from TransUnion. Another four months pass and I order my free credit report from Equifax. That would be on 1 Feb. of the next year. I've just gotten three free credit reports in one year's span and I'm ready to begin the cycle all over again on 1 June of the next year. It seems a little complicated, but it is doable. It is true that each credit reporting agency uses slightly different metrics, meaning your score may differ, but the difference is usually by only a small number of points. And, after all, the real reason to do so is to monitor your creditworthiness, isn't it?
Thank you for listening.

[Chardin]

Reform will happen when individual Americans concertedly ‘reform themselves’ and THEN demand that effective reform be legislated. Wall Street knows the populous is fully 'opiated' and will only change if forced at 'tax'point to do so. Effective legislation will only happen if the citizenry is loud enough, informed enough and consistent enough. But where's the reward in that for the new 'immoralist'?
Greed and fraud are the life blood of our social and financial functioning today. Modern life has become a desperate facade fueled by mortal sins. The public has the attention span of a may fly and lacks the motivation to put their ethical nose to the grindstone,because that ‘nose’ has yet to be installed. The public doesn’t want to thwart their pipe dream of the American Idol. Morals and ethics have gone the way of the platypus and citizens careen in a relativistic quagmire of ‘so what’s’ ‘every body does it’ and ‘who cares’-- Deal or NO Deal is on! It’s like one drunk hanging off the bar stool mouthing off to his fellow 'passenger' to ‘Sober up!”. Not likely in the current environmentof intellectual and ethical entropy that we call ‘life in the wannabe fast lane’.

How pathetic, that ‘they’ use our own character defects against us. But then, we get to blame them AND eat the crumbs from their table. It’s a trade off. Works well so far. America is just one big co-dependent,

[AlsoSarah]

The picture you paint is a bleak one if not accurate. Yes, the American public has bought it hook, line and sinker, but the government also has responsibility to protect it citizens from opportunists and scavengers. I agree that all of us need to take a hard look in the mirror and make changes. I know I have.

[Chardin]

Yes. But the infection has become systemic. Government now IS a scavenger and opportunistic. The illness can't, won't treat itself and so far hasn't, albeit, some minute adjustments in course have been made. With whatever feeble resources we have left as individuals, whether in government or out of it, we must demand without ceasing a complete overhaul of our Governmental status quo. Either that or just go back in Plato's cave and cuff ourselves to the wall.

[Joye]

I think these commercials are some of the best I have ever seen. Too bad we will see less of them... Maybe they will win some kind of award... I read somewhere that the head guy lip- syncs..

[Heather Jamieson]

You're right, Eric is lip-syncing. At the time the commercials were filmed, his accent was too thick (he's French Canadian) and his English too broken to do his own singing. That may change on the next round of commercials. Check out Eric Violette on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-WDF1lQrAk

[PaiaGirl]

Wow! this just goes to show that there is a lot of diversity in music taste...I find these commercials actually painful to listen too...a bunch of unpleasant jangling noise...and I am sitting here listening to a bunch of machinery harvest sugar cane so I know what jangling noise can sound like!

[AlsoSarah]

The whole credit industry needs reworking. Credit history to consumers should be free all the time and paid for by the lenders that use it. The credit industry uses fear and extortion to get you to subscribe to these nonsense services. If someone is checking your credit history, you should have the right to know about it, not be charged to find out who is checking it. And the consumer certainly should not be penalized for having their credit checked which is the present practice. If we as consumers were aware of some of their practices, we would never apply for credit of any kind.

[denicci1977]

I agree. They think that someone is desperate for money having alot of inquiries, but duh when shopping for a house or car I'm not just going to settle for the first or second deal. I want to compare several companies and weed out the liars and scammers to get the lowest rate and the best deal.

[Bloggerrogr]

please see my post above

[Chardin]

I agree. Once again, just like Wall Street and off shore tax shelters, it's a complete failure of
Government that there is no regulation on these foul practices. Ultimately the onus rests on society
that we are not storming washington on a daily basis to demand responsibility from egislators and to elect legislatos that are not in bed with these people. The invasion of our privacy and theft of our
identity's property is epidemic. These people would sell their own children to make a buck.

[JGC1010]

In a just world, some guns rights advocates would go out and exercise their Second Amendment rights against these lying crooks.

[lilkunta]

jgc: I agree. But of course many will say that violence is not the way. SIGH .

[EnuffsEnuffAlready]

Jolly good. These irritating commercials were some of my automatic channel switchers. Now, if they could just get rid of those "Male Enhancement" ads....and Billy Mays.

[denicci1977]

LMAO !!! I agree..I noticed these male enhancement ads are showing earlier and earlier while kids are still up. Usually they would come on after 11pm and now I see them at 7pm. Ridiculous. No one cares about pills to make a man bigger, it's not the size that matters anyway if you don't how to work it.

[AlsoSarah]

If it weren't for those ads, Rush wouldn't know what to spend his money on.

[AlsoSarah]

All I said was that Rush needed to know what to buy and it failed to post.

[AlsoSarah]

My comments regarding that "the head of the Republican party" needed to know what product to buy, failed to post.

[AlsoSarah]

Rushhh

[Myshkin57]

I think that secretly those ads were made to sell DVRs.

[mikey970]

this ad is dumb and you get the disclaimer about your 'free' credit report after the jingle is over. the guys in the ad lip sync anyway, get rid of it and the ad.

[RoadCrossingChicken]

Hey, you would think they were trying to trick us by callin' their company "Free" and then chargin' you... do they think the public is that gullible. Heh-heh.. don't answer that.

I once answered the swtichboard for a city hall and a lady called me wanting to report a business that was lying to people by using a mis-leading name. The name of the company was, "Always Available Bail Bonds" . She complained that when she called them to get bail for her husband, she got a recording asking her to leave a message.

[toggan]

Hey, wait just a friggin minute!!! I love those singing ads.

[Physicsmom]

Someone else said that this is the best ad campaign for a scam ever. I agree; I think they're cute and only annoying after about the 25th time.

[neurolux]

Yeah, I used to think they were cute. Now I can't hit the mute button fast enough.

[siegfried]

25th time? That's about a half hour right?

[JoAnnCr]

Ok. I admit it. I'm a subscriber to Free Credit Report. What's the best alternative.

They send me alerts whenever anyone inquires about my credit.

They list the credit cards we have and our outstanding loans.

I've cancelled cards I've forgotten I had.

I also get to see my credit rating whenever I want.

Again. What's the alternative?

[NOOTPOSTSFORISREAL]

It's not a question of whether they offer a valid product. It's the whole "free" thing.

[traveling1]

Try annualcreditreport.com like mentioned above. You are legally entitled to one free credit report from each of the 3 reporting companies. I request one from each on a rolling 4-month basis. Why pay for it??

[LeftRight]

Cause you can get more information at their site than you can at annualcreditreport.com, if you're willing to pay for it.

[AlsoSarah]

Very good advice. Thank You.

[LeftRight]

The point is not that they don't have a great product, but that they call it "free" when they are, in fact, charging people for that product.

[AlsoSarah]

The above should all be free to the consumer, all the time and paid for by the credit card companies or lenders that use the service.

[Bloggerrogr]

true, also D.arth Cheneey should hang by his p.r.i.v.a.t.e.s.

[RoadCrossingChicken]

The companies do have to pay for it. The companies just pass the cost along to the consumer.

[Chandidevi]

FINALLY!!! Those ads are totally misleading. Caveat emptor!!!

[YewNeekId]

About time. The FTC should force these companies to read the fine print aloud.

[RoadCrossingChicken]

And, slowly. Slow enough for you to understand what they are saying. But, then they would need a 30 minute info-mercial just to do this. It would also be handy if a lawyer and a psychologist could be standing by to help with understanding what they were saying as well.

[SaucyB]

I actually like those ads but once I saw 'subscribe' I left the site - simple!

[LeftRight]

Same here. Course I did it back in 2003 when they first introduced the law about annualcreditreport.com....

[DeeW]

Oh happy day.

But I don't think this will stop them, they'll come up with some new annoying jingle. Sigh.

[Heather Jamieson]

Count on it! The new ads are set to air even as we speak. ;-)