Ameritech Financial Sees Added Security for Student Loan Borrowers in FTC's New Law Aimed at Thwarting Identity Thieves

News provided by

Aug 17, 2018, 16:30 ET

ROHNERT PARK, Calif., Aug. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A person's credit report is a vital tool for themselves and for the credit industry. With identity theft, a constant issue in today's e-commerce driven economy, people's access to their own credit reports is an important tool. For this reason, the FTC has announced that a new federal law will allow consumers to freeze and unfreeze their credit files without fees or fines. Ameritech Financial, a document preparation company assisting student loan borrowers to apply for and stay current with federal repayment plans, appreciates the new law as one more safeguard against all too common identity theft.

Thanks to this new law, called the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, the three main credit reporting agencies must place a freeze on a consumer's credit file within one business day of a request to do so, and they must do it for free. Previously, this type of action would have been accompanied by any fees imposed at the state level. Requests to unfreeze a credit file must be filled within an hour. Part of the new law also dictates that the FTC and the three credit reporting agencies set up web pages to streamline the process for consumers. All this is working to ensure that a person's identity and financial information is safer and that thieves who do steal such info will face added difficulty in utilizing that information for criminal activity.

The negative financial fallout of having one's identity stolen can be catastrophic. Especially for those with less than stellar debt-to-income ratios, identity theft can be financially debilitating for months or years to come. As student debt has surpassed consumer debt as the second highest form of debt in America (behind only mortgages), this extra defense against identity theft may be especially beneficial to anyone who had to borrow money to get through college. According to the Better Business Bureau, college students are some of the most vulnerable people that thieves can target for identity theft. This is because they have less transaction history, making unusual activity harder to spot, and they are the most likely to be using a public Wi-Fi connection, making their information more accessible to thieves.

Ameritech Financial, as a company concerned with helping those with student loans maneuver through the sometimes confusing world of income-driven repayment plans, hopes this new law gets rid of some of the stress that goes along with identity theft. College is stressful enough, and paying off student loans exasperates the issue. Identity theft is the last thing that students and former students carrying loan burdens need to deal with.

About Ameritech Financial

Ameritech Financial is a private company located in Rohnert Park, California. Ameritech Financial has already helped thousands of consumers with financial analysis and student loan document preparation to apply for federal student loan repayment programs offered through the Department of Education.

Each Ameritech Financial telephone representative has received the Certified Student Loan Professional certification through the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA).

Ameritech Financial prides itself on its exceptional Customer Service.

Ameritech Financial Newsroom

Contact

To learn more about Ameritech Financial, please contact:

Ameritech Financial
5789 State Farm Drive #265
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
1-800-792-8621
[email protected]

Related Images

identity-thief-reaching-for.jpg
Identity Thief Reaching for Sensitive Information
Credit: Mizerek/Bigstock

image2.png

Related Links

Ameritech Financial home page

SOURCE Ameritech Financial