Companies continue to violate new “Free Credit Report” Website rules…
Andover, Massachusetts July 28th 2010 – The rise of “free” credit report websites and services has been rapid and almost unregulated. Popular commericals from sites like Freecreditreport.com created a huge buzz for these sites and as a result millions of consumers signed up for their services believing they were getting a free credit report with no strings attached. The truth was in the fine print, like it almost always is. The sites offered a free credit report but only after the consumer signed up for a credit protection service or some other personal finance tool. Most times, this obigation was relegated to the fine print at the bottom of the site which obviously did not help the consumer make smart decisions. After enough complaining, congress acted and passed a law that required sites offering “Free” credit reports to post a link on their site stating….
“You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.”
It was hoped that with that link on each site consumers would not be as confused anymore about the service they were buying and could access their free credit report without paying for any unwanted service. While the law has lowered the number of complaints, 18 companies continue to host sites that violate this law. Today these violaters were given a letter from the FTC demanding they comply. Hopefully the government will become more aggresive at requiring compliance with this law so no more consumer is scammed into a service he/she does not want.
The complete list of violaters can be found at http://consumerist.com/2010/07/a-list-of-18-free-credit-report-websites-warned-by-the-ftc.html
Preferred Financial Services is a debt reduction firm certified by the CFC (Center for Financial Certifications) and accredited by U.S.O.B.A. (United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives). Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Preferred Financial Services has been a leader in the debt reduction industry since 2003. Preferred Financial Services has acquired some of the best experience in the industry over the past 7 years. In 2009 alone Preferred Financial Services reduced over $16.5 million worth of consumer debt for just $6.4 million, for a savings of about 60%- and over 2,900 accounts were settled on behalf of their clients.
For more information, please visit www.pfsdebtrelief.com or follow us on our blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog/ .
Contact:
Stephan Tavernini
Marketing Coordinator
Certified Debt Arbitrator
Preferred Financial Services
stavernini@pfs1.net
