Consumer Protection

[Tom Trail <ttrail@moscow.com>]

Visionaries:

During the last Idaho Legislature we passed a bill that established Victim
Identity Theft as a crime
with corresponding civil and criminal penalities.   In preparation for the
coming session,  the
Attorney General's Office and I are working on a followup bill.   A summary
of the bill is as
follows:

This legislation provides civil remedies for victims of identity theft.
Victims of identity theft
often have their personal credit ruined as a result of the theft.  The
legislation provides that a victim of the crime could block any adverse
credit reports resulting from the crime by filing the police report of the
crime with the credit reporting agency.   The legislation povides legal and
injunctive relief for consumers against reporting agencies who refuse to
clear the credit record of the consumer.

Rep. Randy Hansen of Twin Falls is co-sponsoring the bill with me.   We are
seeking citizen input.
If there is enough interest I can put the bill up on my home page for your
inspection.   Law enforcement agencies are very supportative of the effort,
and I've talked with business groups
and AARP.

Again,   this may not be a major piece of legislation, but to someone who
has been a victim of
identity theft and has tried to restore his/her good name and credit
rating,   there will be a greater
understanding of what we are trying to accomplish.

Rep. Tom Trail/Dist. 5

Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
2039 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail@moscow.com