NY Credit Freeze Law Goes into Effect Today

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

In an effort to protect New Yorkers from the threat of identity theft and its messy after-effects, a new state law allows state residents to place a security freeze on their credit files to stop lenders and other parties from obtaining the credit report.

The freeze also stops an identity thief from improperly using an individual’s Social Security number, address and other personal information to fraudulently secure credit cards or loans in the victim’s name.

“The beauty of this law is that New Yorkers for the first time will have the ability to gain a measure of control over their credit information,” Jon Sorensen, a spokesman for the New York State Consumer Protection Board, said in a statement. “It will stop a lot of the flim-flams where people’s identities are stolen.”

New York joins 25 other states in passing credit freeze laws. Such laws took effect earlier this year in New Jersey and Connecticut.