I am sorry that I have not posted anything in a while. I have been busy as of late. I have a new boss at my place of employment and just recently, he started speaking to me. Yesterday, he took me and a co-worker out to lunch. Strange since the other day, he wouldn’t have five words to say to me. Is he trying make up for something?

Anyway, my Thursday was pleasantly surprising. After a long day with Mr. “Don’t Speak”, I prayed and asked the Lord for a reason to smile again. I had missed smiling and had done much of it in the past few weeks. What He gave me was the best news of the week.

For the last week, I have been trying to work out an arrangement with MTE or Rio Resources or Ten Dollar Payday Loan. A few weeks ago, they offered to settle the loan for 80% of the amount. They have claimed that I have owed them $695.00 for a loan I took out with them ($300 plus the interest rate plus whatever they decided that was “interest”). I am sick to death of payday loans. They are like the plague that haunts all of us. But these diseases can be cured with time, patience and a good consolidation plan. I had all three.

Rio Resources sent me an email asking me to participate in the program whereby I would pay back 80% of the loan that they claimed I owe them (actuality, I had already paid the three hundred back they just kept it as interest). I responded that I was interested in a settlement that I could pay off in two payments. What a mistake I was about to make. They never responded to my email.

Then I went on the website which has been a lifesaver to me in more ways than one (how I wished debtconsolidationcare. com was around in 2000). I read that Rio Resources was not allowed to collect on loans in the state of Oklahoma. While the law affected only loans in the great state of Oklahoma, I demanded that they release me as well, in Louisiana.

So this what I sent to them using one of the DIY sample letters on the board:

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in reference to my account with your company. Recently, your company sent me a letter regarding a settlement offer 80% less than what the balance is due. In light of recent information, I discovered that your company is not licensed to do business in my state and have been charging me an interest rate higher than required by Louisiana law. Thus, I am requesting that my account be labeled as paid in full and no further action be taken on my account by you or ACA Recovery where you sent my account to.
Your company is in violation of Louisiana Stat. Ann. § 3578.1 et seq. which states (in part):“§ 1503 Licensure of Brokers

According to Louisiana law (as shown above) the maximum allowable APR for payday loans is 650%. As you can see from your past records, on other loans I had with your company, I have paid well above the 650% APR allowed by Louisiana law.
Since your company is in violation of Louisiana law, I am offering Ten Dollar Payday Loan  an opportunity to have the account paid in full.Furthermore, at no time will Ten Dollar Payday Loan, any representative, parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate of MTE Financial place any derogatory mark on my credit report with any credit bureau, nor any other check writing database, such as Teletrack or any equivalent database. In addition, Ten Dollar Payday Loan will not pursue any type of wage assignment (voluntary or otherwise) against me now or at any time in the future.

They responded back in their usual method. I was told on the website that they would try a tactic such as this.

We have received and reviewed your correspondence regarding your complaint with the company.

While the information that you have collected may apply to companies that have physical locations in your state, it is our opinion that it does not apply to our internet business model. This is based on sound advice from our legal department. In addition, the Legal Disclosures provided for customer reference at our website state the following:

Due to the fact that you closed your bank account and failed to provide us with new account information, your account was referred to an outside collections agency for handling. The discount that you are referring to in your complaint has nothing to do with our company. This is a discount that was offered to you by a third-party, therefore we cannot honor that discount. However, due to your long history with our company, and in the interest of good customer service, we have agreed to stop collection efforts at this time and waive all finance charges currently due on your loan. We will expect complete payment of the principal amount owed.

The Lender will be prepared to provide you with the information necessary for repaying the $300.00 that remains due on your principal balance. Payment must be received by you in the form of a Cashier’s Check or Money Order payment. We expect this offer will bring us to an amicable resolution.

Please acknowledge your understanding and acceptance of our proposal if you are in agreement with the offer detailed above, and advise which payment method you will use. Once your acknowledgement/agreement is received, we will provide you with the information needed to make the payment. Once we have received this payment, we will mark your account “Paid in Full.”

If your response is not received within seven (7) days of the date of our offer, the offer will become null and void and collection efforts will resume.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Respectfully,

Compliance Department

Noticed that they said that they did not know of any settlement offer and they were the ones who sent it to me.

I responded in this manner:

I have received and reviewed your correspondence regarding my current loan with your company. I also believe that we can come to amicable solution to terminate this loan and have it considered paid in full after all the outstanding customer service that you have provided me. For that, I am so appreciative.

Due to my long history with Ten Dollar Payday Loan, I am thankful that you have so graciously decided to waive all my fees and interest charges and have agreed that I owe only the $300 that was the principal in the loan. I have, however, paid ACA Recovery, the company you have transferred my account to, $75 per month for the last three months, including this month’s payment of $75 on today.

What I am requesting is this. I am asking you for good faith in allowing me to consider that portion that I have paid to my loan as payment toward the principal balance that you are requesting. I am also promising to pay the final $75 on or before March 31, 2007 which will complete the fourth and final payment totaling the amount that I have paid to $300.

I understand that you are company that thrives on assisting those individuals who are unfortunately short funded and need a temporary loan to cover the necessary expenses. I once again appreciate your gesture is securing me during a difficult period. I ask that we end our relationship on good terms with an agreement that is both equitable to you and affordable to myself.

All that I asking for is an opportunity to for you to be rid of an individual such as myself once and for all and for both of us to leave on good terms. I am trying to pay your debt off in full as promised. Please allow me to conclude this matter and leave on better terms with your company.

Please respond to my email in an appropriate and expeditiously matter as I am anticipating to conclude this matter. Like I said, I am more than happy to conclude this matter using the amount that I have paid in full to ACA Recovery. Please help me with this matter.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

ACA Recovery is the company that they transferred my account to who claim that they are a law office. In actuality, ACA REcovery is the law office of Norman Kaline who is RIO RESOURCES. You have to be careful of places like that.

Well, Thursday night, I checked my email and I found a response from them:

We have received and reviewed your most recent correspondence regarding your acceptance of the offer that the company has made to settle your account.

We contacted ACA and were able to verify that they have received three payments from you – two in December 2006, in the amounts of $20.00 and $75.00, and another $75.00 payment in January 2007. They were unable to confirm that a payment was received from you in February. In order to accept the counter-offer that you have made, we will first need proof from you that you made the payment. ACA advised us that you have been making Money Order Payments, therefore we will need your Money Order receipt along with the receipt that you received when you sent the Money Order to them. If this is not possible, we will not be able to accept the offer until we receive notification from them that the payment was received.

Please utilize the fax number provided at the top of this letter to provide the requested information.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Friday morning, the first thing I did was fax over a copy of that money order to them. Since then, I have not heard a peep from them, so I am sending them another letter. I also requested a written copy of the agreement freeing me of this hell. I am so glad that the two of us have come to a compromise and another payday loan gone away.

I phoned Town and Country Acceptance today to find out the current status of my accounts and those dreaded payday loans. A few months ago, I was drowning in debt with nowhere to turn. Now, I am slowly progressing toward payday loan freedom. I can not wait until I pay them all in full.

Here is the status of my accounts (after waiting thirty minutes to speak to a human being with Town and Country):

CashnetUSA: I started out with a $295 balance with CashnetUSA back in September. Now, I have a balance of $209. Recently, I wrote to CashnetUSA requesting a pay off balance. They told me $259, fifty dollars more than what Town and Country said. Not surprising, I opted to keep CashnetUSA in Town and Country until the account is paid in full which it should be in eight months estimated.

Cash Central: Cash Central call each week requesting payments that they contend they have yet to receive from Town and Country. I contacted Town and Country about this and they informed me that they had sent a payment and will send me a statement of activity for my account. In September, the balance with Cash Central was $700. Today my balance is now $416. Cash Central said that I can start sending my payments to them personally by using a debit or credit card. Again, I plan on keeping them in Town and Country which I have four payments left to pay on my account which will conclude them and I can put the money toward paying off Ten Dollar Payday Loan in full.

One Step and United Cash Loans: I can honestly say that neither of these companies have yet to contact me. Each have a balance of $440 after being $325 and $390 with added interest. I will contact them on Tuesday, since Monday is a holiday, to find out what the status is and what I can do to reduce the balance to pay the loans off in full.

Ten Dollar Payday/Rio Resouces/ACA Recovery: I have been paying them faithfully each month and now my balance is down to $495. However, they are now requesting that I don’t send money orders but instead shell out an additional $12.95 to send it Western Union which I think is preposterous. How can they expect me to reach down in my pocket each month and send them money via Western Union because as they say “they have been having problems receiving the money from others.” I have to ask what does that have to do with me?

As for my storefronts, I am on the verge of getting one of them as early as the next payday. I can’t wait until I have paid them off in full which I am working on to be in eight months. This will be a such a relief for me considering all of the trouble I have been going through with these loans.

Man, I have had a rough day! I woke up this morning, late of course. I had only thirty minutes to get dressed to get to work.

As to be expected, my car is almost on E. But some how I make it to the job. My boss acts if he doesn’t want to talk to me today and that’s okay because I am going through premenstrual agony (only a woman would understand).

And then I go online to check my bank statement. This is usually a daily activity of mine which causes me to be alarmed when there appears to be a mistake. Unfortunately, for me the mistake was through no fault of the bank. It was all me.

I did what I normally would do each morning. I turned on the computer, went to the bank’s website, put in my user name and password. Then hit enter.

Before I knew it, I felt my heart dropped. Current balance: -30.00. Available balance: -59.00. Yep. The bank got me. I hadn’t seen that episodic moment in months back when I had to deal with the crunch of payday loans on payday where the majority of my check was already gone before I could get my hands on it. But this was horrible. I tried to remain calm but remember I am experiencing the moments prior to that event that occurs every month. So this was getting to be a problem for me today.

I examined what the problem was. I looked and saw a check for $75 had been posted to my account. Although it had been taken out of my check register, I was coming up $30 short. Plus I have to add the fee for NSF checks. That was half of a hundred.

I decided to vacate the premises called work and headed to the bank. While I have banked at this facility for years, it amazing how each branch can be totally different. I go to the best branch and I am greeted with a smile and people who are willing to help. I go to the main branch and I get smell of stuffiness and a lady who isn’t willing to let any of the banks funds go.

She looked at my account, already determined not to give me any of the hard earned doe even if it wasn’t hers. She examined each and every line and calculated on her adding machine. She couldn’t find a mistake. She then requested to look at my check register which in the midst of all the anger, I left in my purse at the office.

I returned to my office defeated. But I decided that I was going to prove the bank wrong. I went back to my register and I recalculated but then I realized that I was coming up with a totally different amount, the same amount that they came up with. I recalculated again and again I was coming up with the same amount. After recalculating one last time, I was left again disappointed and almost in tears. Because I didn’t have the money to pay for that and pay for my car insurance which is suppose to come out tomorrow.

So I had to think fast at least before 3:00 p.m. (or 5:00 p.m. at the ATM machine). I thought about the funds I had available at a loan company but I didn’t want to start over again. I had to think about family. But I didn’t want to borrow from family members and feel like a failure. So after a few minutes, I picked up the phone and called my uncle and explained my situation. Without hesitation, he let me borrow the money until payday. Wow. I wish I would have went to relatives sooner, well at least this one uncle.

So my problem was solved….today. But I still feel disappointed at the fact that I can’t count. I had a calculator right before me but I messed up on my check register again. And I had to face the horror of borrowing money from family members. This is about as embarassing as going to the dreaded payday loans every two weeks while looking at all of the people who were in the same boat.  But I had to swallow my dreaded pride and take the money graciously.

Still today I feel as if I am a failure. I am in my thirties and I have issues with finances and I want to be independent. That’s what I wanted my whole life was to be independent. But if I can’t even get my check register to register, then how can I be independent? I need to be more careful. I mean, extra careful.

Today was payday. It was bad enough I had to run all over town to pay on the three storefront loans I have and also try to make it back to work on time, I have to encounter others. In one hour, you encounter the payday lender, a person who knows you at the bank, the McDonald’s clerk who really doesn’t want to have to deal with the lunch crowd and of course, a man trying to hit on me.

It happened when I was getting a money order. On my way to make a payment that requires me to have a money order, I meet this guy. To say that he wasn’t the guy that I was expecting to see would be an understandment. He came in and immediately struck a conversation with me.

But here is where Prince Charming turns into that damn frog. First of all, he had yellow teeth. I swear that they were yellow. Next, and I wish that men would not do this, he started talking about his last relationship. Apparently, the last girlfriend he had cheated on him with one of his best friends. He also said that when he calls her, she drops whatever she is doing to talk to him. He also said that her mother tells him all of the time that she doesn’t understand why would she let go of someone so good to her. After all, he was willing to take care of her kids (that wasn’t his of course) and this is the respect that she shows him.

Here is what I intepreted from the conversation. I could be wrong but this is what I got and see if you agree with me on this.

First of all, personal hygiene means a lot to me. If you intend to meet a young lady such as myself who is trying to work hard to keep her credit up and is working hard to become something in her life, you should at least use some oral hygiene products. If that sounds like I am being picky, I am trying not to be. But with this guy and the conversation we were having, I was almost attempting to look past this flaw.

Next, with an individual that you are interested in and you have met for the first time, it would be detrimental that you don’t bring up your last relationship and how it wasn’t your fault. We all have faults in our relationships. Believe me, I am no perfect saint and I don’t expect anyone else to be. I know that many of my relationships have been diminished because my own stupidity and immaturity. But you admit that there was nothing that you did that caused her to cheat with your best friend? Absolutely nothing?

Finally, why would you have any contact with a woman who cheated on you? He didn’t say that he calls to talk to the kids. He didn’t say anything about calling to see where his missing shoes were. He said that he has contact with this woman. For what? Why would you have contact with her? This is not something that you tell a potential mate. And her mother said that you were such a good man? Come on. The only reason, in my opinion, that you would talk to the mama if you only want to say hi and not to have anything further.

Well, to make a long story extremely short, I asked him for his phone number so that I can call him (don’t call us, we’ll call you). He serves me no purpose now. Even when I asked him for the phone number, he thought that I wanted him! He felt like a man to his boys standing around with him but to me he is a prime example of why I am happily single.

Are there any real men out there who don’t think that I am so stupid?

As a PDL junkie who is currently trying to stay clean of the addiction, I am always curious as to what laws or statutes are being passed around the country to finally rid of us of the dreaded payday loans. Recently, in my search, I came across a news story from Kansas City. Finally, government officials at the local and state level are seeing what we are going through as customers to these evil people and are making a difference.

Here is the story:

KC moves against new

payday-loan businesses

By ADJOA ADOFO

The Kansas City Star

A City Council committee moved Wednesday to keep new payday-loan businesses from opening in Kansas City.

The Finance Committee voted for a moratorium on business and occupation licenses until June 30, while a task force investigates industry practices. The moratorium would apply to payday, title and signature loan businesses.

The full council is to consider the measure today. It would not affect loan businesses already open.

Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Brooks said the moratorium was needed to keep loan businesses from moving in from other cities passing similar measures.

Gladstone in October approved a moratorium.

“Other communities on both sides of the state line are considering this,” Brooks said. “We want to certainly support small business, but we have a responsibility to look out for the safety of our citizens.”

Judy Hadley, city revenue commissioner who will lead the task force, said it would look into whether the loan businesses focused on poor areas and whether they followed state and federal laws.

Legislation that would further restrict predatory lending has been introduced in the Missouri General Assembly.

Loan businesses have drawn attention as politicians have accused them of victimizing customers.

Finally, officials are noticing what they have done to people. While there may be some legitimate payday loan business out there, there are also those that have us robbing Peter to pay Paul every payday. I will be so happy when the day comes when I don’t have to pay one more dime to a payday loan.

I have decided to show this article to the State of Louisiana and finally decided to fight with the government to remove these people from our lives. Wish me luck.

As I was driving today, I noticed a few things going on around me. Sadamm is about to be executed for his crimes. People taking off early for the three or four day New Years Weekend. Kids running about because they were out of school.

And an amazingly long line of people awaiting to enter Jackson Hewitt.

Why you ask? Because they are preparing to receive refund anticipation loans up to $2500. One lady on the news said that she was at Jackson Hewitt because they were offering $2000 for a refund while H&R Block was only doing $1900.

People. What seemed like fifty to one hundred. Black, white, male, female, dressed in business suits or Sean John jumpers. Some women are wearing ponytails while holding on to their children hands. Men who have just gotten off a work still wearing clothes collected with tar and sweat. Standing outside the tax office awaiting to get inside to get their income tax refunds early. It was amazing and at the same time, disappointing.

I understand the necessity for cash for unexpected bills or for relieiving yourself of debt. I understand that this would be the easiest alternative instead of taking out a loan. However, what these individuals don’t tell you is what you are doing is essentially taking out a loan.

In actuality, you are not suppose to submit a tax return until January. What these individuals are doing is called receiving a loan on their own money. These amounts for these loans charge interest that is extraordinate. But yet, there is a long line of able bodies awaiting and anticipating. There was a line at nine o’clock this morning. People clinging to their last pay stub of the year trying to get quick money that will be gone within a few weeks. Some, yes some, will use the money for the purpose of a necessary debt, like a utility bill or a phone bill, or a hospital bill. Others, well others you will see them in Wallyworld (Wal-Mart) or Dillards buying things such as expensive clothes, Playstations and purses. Some who have major debts will forget their woes to purchase a Dooney. Those who can barely manage to pay for the lights in their homes will find convenience in IPods.

What has this world come to when these tax facilities can come in and make your money problems essentially disappear before the year is out? Do they let these individuals know that they are going to be getting a loan that have to be paid back as soon as the refund comes in? Yes, these places charge you for those services. You are not getting your refund, you are getting a loan. A loan that you will have to pay back as soon as that check comes in.

Again, there is a line. A long line of men and women waiting to get inside so they can have money for the New Year and possibly be gone by next week. And then what do they do? Some sure will put the money away but some most definitely will spend the money and probably put themselves further and further into a hole. I don’t agree with the policy, although I understand why they do it. But does the consumer understand what they are doing?

I have been with Town and Country Acceptance for three months and to my surprise, I have three more payments to go before I pay off  Cash Central who calls each day. They contend that they have yet to receive my payment from Town and Country Acceptance. I will call them in the morning to see what the problem is.

Cash Central was one of the last payday loans I have signed up for. It was the company that took over Quikpayday, the first internet payday loan I have ever received. It will be nice to finally be through with them completely.

I am also happy to share that I have four payments left with the company from hell, Ten Dollar Payday Loan. Paying them $75 per month, which in a moment, plan to be $75 per payday, I will be payday loan free in a little while. I have faith that is about to happen.

To some people, buying a pair of shoes is an everyday norm. You go to the shoe store, try on a pair of shoes that you like, pull out your cash, check or credit card and walk out of the store with ease.

For me, buying a pair of shoes was a gift from God.

For an entire year, I have dealing with payday loans from hell and was never able to have enough money to buy a decent pair of shoes. I would buy shoes only if I needed them and regretted the decision later when I couldn’t afford to put gasoline in the car. I remember a time when I didn’t have enough money to buy a dollar pair of socks. Or clothes or shoes.

And today, I had enough money to buy a pair of shoes. So many times when I would buy something that I actually wanted, I would take it back because I needed the money after I was depleted thanks to the PDLs. I remember a time when each payday would come and go and almost three hundred dollars would come out of my account to support a PDL I had.

I couldn’t afford to shop on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or the day before Christmas. I was struggling most of the year dealing with debt. I would want to go places and enjoy things, but my debts always came first and I was getting nowhere.

But today, I actually went out and brought me a pair of decent shoes. They aren’t the most expensive pair like Jimmy Choo and Donna Karan but they were shoes that I could actually wear and at a price I could actually afford. It felt good just to buy a pair of shoes. Just like last week, it felt good to have money in my pocket to buy gasoline. Just like it really felt good to have something in my pocket to pay the utility bill.

Things are beginning to look up for me. And it all started because I was able to buy a pair of shoes.

And I do mean annual fees. You know it is amazing how credit card companies want you to get a credit card with them so bad that they send you lovely reminders in the mail, invade your email like a virus and call continously to take advantage of what their credit card can offer you. But no one ever mentions the annual fee. Nope. No one.

The annual fee is placed so nicely in the paperwork, sometimes you see it and then sometimes it jumps out at you. But being that I was bankrupt and thought that I would never see a credit card let alone use one, I thought that I was in heaven and not paying attention to the annual fee.

Folks, what I am trying to say is that the annual fee has snuck up on me and I didn’t expect it. In fact, three of my credit cards have snuck up on me with annual fees.

In June, I was the unfortunate victim of the annual-fee-that-caused-me-to-over-credit-limit bug. Thanks to fine outstanding people at Orchard Bank, they not only allowed my account to go over $59 but added an additional $30 for the overlimit fee and a whooping $15 in finance charges. Due to the fact that they had just charged me an annual fee, they decided to waive the $30 charge. How nice of them considering the charge reappeared the next month.

This month, it felt like Christmas for those other two lovely cards I have, ah, Applied Card Bank and First Premier Bank. With Applied Card, I was lucky. I actually put $50 on my credit card payment. Unfortunately, that $50 was going towards paying the credit bureau for a hospital bill. I am just glad that Applied Card got their money first and the other charge was just pending. So I won’t get charged an overlimit fee.

However, with the outstanding individuals at Premier Bank, I wasn’t as lucky. Premier Bank also decided that I should be charged an annual fee this month of $48 which caused my account to go over. Not only did they charge me the $48 annual fee, but they also charged me $30 for the overlimit fee and $10 for something I have no idea for (the claim it was my participation charge but they had already taken that out). Now I am overlimit by $83 and they are looking $103 payment in December. And to think that I was going to actually buy Christmas present this year.

Since I didn’t want to add another fee for those fine people at Applied Card, I had to go to a finance company, where I had only three more payments with and borrow more money which means for the next nine months, I am having to pay $68 which I was going to use once I was through with them to pay off my PDLs with T&C. How great is that?

So to help anyone else, let me tell you right now. With Orchard Bank, you have $59 annual fee. With Applied Card, it is $50 and with Premier it is $48. Please make note of the month that your card expires each year so that you won’t have the problems that I am having. Like they said, they informed me that I would charged next month and I didn’t see the writing on the paper. I was just interested in paying the bill. And look at where it got me.

Sometimes, I wonder if I will ever get ahead. But having faith and the power of prayer, I will. After all, somehow, the Lord blessed me with eight dollars in my purse today and I have no idea where it came from.

Whenever I first received my first credit card, I noticed that they would always send me emails and letters recommending that I sign with a company that would monitor my credit report. Oh, the credit card companies would send you checks (usually between $5 and $8) that have you signing up for a month free. Then after that it would range from $9 to $12 per month. I use to think first of all, why would a credit card company offer you this deal and second of all, why in the hell do I need to monitor to my credit report considering that I had bad debts and of course, the bankruptcy. Who in their right mind would want open anything in my name and use my credit? My credit was so bad, it was hard for me to get a smile when I would apply for a store credit card.

But to my surprise, you will be surprised at what appears on your credit report. Each year, you are entitled to a copy free of charge from the three reporting agencies. Take a look at your credit report, regardless of whether you have outstanding credit or you have so much bad credit that it would make your head spin.

Pull your Experian, Equifax or Transunion credit report and sit down and analyze it carefully. You might be surprised at the number of errors on your credit report or the number of times there have been inquiries to your credit report. You might even be surprised to find that someone has been opening accounts or at least trying to open accounts in your name.

Millions of Americans each year are targets for identity theft. Millions of americans do not know that they are a victim until they try to apply for a credit card, a loan or try to purchase a car. Identity theft has become one of the highest rated crimes in our country, often times because we, as consumers, do not inquire as to what is on our credit report.

And there are mistakes. Creditors whom you have paid off in full are still listed on your account as debt being owed. A delinquent debt or a debt that is placed in collection can cause your credit score to drop tremendously. Again, millions of Americans suffer from this each year because they fail to acquire their credit reports.

That is why credit monitoring is such a convenient tool for the individual who has A+ Credit or the individual, like myself, whose credit was severely damaged. Credit monitoring services alerts individuals of any activity (and I do mean ANY ACTIVITY) that is occuring or has occurred on your account. I didn’t realize the benefit of a credit monitoring service until I decided to participate in one myself.

A friend of mine from school’s aunt was a victim of identity theft. The aunt had used her credit card online to pay a bill. An individual who lived in Seattle (the aunt lives in Louisiana) had obtained her credit card information and used it to make a $400 purchase at Wal Mart and a $200 purchase at Best Buy within a matter of minutes. The only reason the aunt had found out about this activity was because she went to check her credit card statement online. She immediately placed a fraud alert on her credit report using her credit monitoring service.

There was another incident where someone attempted to obtain a credit card using someone else’s confidential information. To that person’s surprise, the credit monitoring service she used alerted her of this action via email.

I would highly recommend that you invest a few dollars in participating in a credit monitoring program. Regardless of your credit status, it is beneficial to have. It alerts you of possible frauds and errors on your credit report that can hinder you in the long run.