Q. Can you tell me what information you have to give in order to get a credit report? Do you have to tell them your Social Security number? Then, if you get a credit report on someone, does it include their Socialy Security number?
-- bprairie, of Collinsville
A. As you're probably aware, you hardly can buy a box of Girl Scout cookies without having to provide your Social Security number (SSN) these days. That certainly goes for credit reports, although I suppose you could argue your case against it if you'd like to try.
Everyone should request an annual credit report from the nation's three major credit reporting agencies -- Equifax, Experian and Trans Union -- to make sure the information is accurate and up to date. I certainly do, and, thanks to a relatively new law, it's free and simple.
Just go to www.annualcreditreport.com and fill out a request for your reports. They ask you for your name, date of birth, Social Security number, current address and previous address if you have moved during the past two years. (The reporting agencies argue that your SSN is your unique identification; asking for it is the only way they have to make sure your report doesn't fall into the wrong hands.) You'll also be asked to retype a security code.
Please note: Beware of Web sites with similar addresses, because they'll ask you to buy things you probably don't want, such as insurance against identity theft. (You will have to buy your Fair-Isaac Corp. (FICO) score -- a number between 300 and 850 -- if you want to see it.) Also, consider staggering your report requests through the year, e.g., Experian in January, Equifax in May, Trans Union in September. That way, you'll likely find something amiss with your credit more quickly.
What you get is the typical credit report with four types of information: Your identifying information, including name, aliases, addresses, SSN and employers; information about the credit accounts you have with banks, stores, credit cards, etc.; information on bankruptcy proceedings, tax liens and court judgments; and information about anyone who has obtained your report in the previous year.
So, yes, anyone who requests your report will see your Social Security number, but they would have to know (or guess) your number to get the report in the first place. You just can't ask for credit reports willynilly. According to the Federal Trade Commission, only the following can request your report: those about to grant you credit; employers; insurers; the government; and those with a legitimate business need, such as a potential landlord.
If you're still concerned about giving out your SSN to get a report, you can contact the FTC through the credit report Web site or contact the individual credit reporting agencies at www.experian.com (888-397-3742), www.equifax.com (800-685-1111) and www.transunion.com (877-322-8228).
Q. We have all heard about "signing on the dotted line." What's the origin of the phrase?
-- Alvin Hesse
A. The only explanation that I would put my John Hancock on goes like this:
In the early 20th century, contracts were commonly typed with a broken or dotted line for your signature. It was designed to help draw your eye quickly to where you were supposed to sign by distinguishing it from the bulk of the contract. (Even today, I'm sure you've seen many forms with X's on the signature line to catch your attention.)
Some cynics say it was done to help distract you from reading the contract; instead, you just looked for the place to sign to be done with it. After all, how many of us actually read those ponderous forms they throw in front of us when we buy a car, for example?
But whatever the reason, the phrase apparently sprouted up in the 1920s, and, even though most lines are solid now, it remains a popular idiom used to signify an agreement to a deal.
More yard work
Even though linguistic experts are skeptical, Albert Schmitt, of Columbia, wrote to say that he thinks the phrase "the whole nine yards" does indeed refer to ammunition belts in World War II.
"When I was a young boy, many heroes returning from the war would tell (me) about a German plane trying to sneak into the Allied formation," he wrote. "If the gunner didn't remember to give a short burst with his pair of .50-caliber machine guns and left his finger on the trigger too long, he gave them the whole nine yards. And, he could give 'em the whole nine yards in one or two seconds.
"In later years -- the crazy Cold War '50s -- when I was an assistant crew chief on a B-47E bomber, we lost that saying, because we didn't have belts of ammo, but rather ammo cans attached to our twin 20 mm cannons in the tail of the bombers."
One day, those cans almost canned him, he wrote. While the plane was being loaded, a co-pilot was asked to hold down the trigger on the gun. Schmitt was standing near the guns, but was told not to worry because the ammunition was safety-wired so it could not fall into the guns.
"Well, the safety wire broke and the cannons went boom! boom! boom! just past my head. From then on, this airman went on coffee break in the orderly room during the loading of bombs or cannons."
Send your questions to Roger Schlueter, Belleville News-Democrat, 120 S. Illinois St., P.O. Box 427, Belleville, IL 62222-0427 or rschlueter@bnd.com
