Goddard, legislators tout credit legislation

PHOENIX - In a rare showing of unanimity, Attorney General Terry Goddard appeared with State Sen. Amanda Aguirre (D-Yuma) and State House Speaker Pro Tempore Bob Robson (R-Chandler) to publicize two bills that will attempt to combat identity theft in Arizona.

"We want to be number one in a lot of things," said Goddard, addressing reporters from the Senate lawn. "This is not one of them."

"If we're going to whip identity theft," he said, "it's going to be a multiple-pronged objective. We're going to have to have arrests and prosecutions, we're going to have to have vigilant consumers and vigilant merchants."

House Bill 2587 makes creditors liable for not verifying the identity of a borrower, while Senate Bill 1185 is designed to make it easier to put a security freeze on credit information.

"Freezing your credit is not for everybody," Goddard said, but "it is particularly appropriate for seniors."

Placing a freeze on credit enjoins credit reporting agencies from responding to requests from potential creditors. Without obtaining that information, a person cannot make long-term payment purchases.  Goddard said that for seniors and others not planning on opening lines of credit, "it is a great source of peace of mind to know that no one will be able to go out and steal your good credit rating."

Lupe Solis, Advocacy Director for the Arizona AARP, which is a strong supporter of the legislation, said the bill is vital for protecting seniors' finances.

"If you are a senior and maybe somebody who is not using credit regularly," said Solis, "there may not be a reason to be checking your credit, and you may not find out your identity has been stolen until much later."

The House Bill is seen as another vital tool in preventing identity theft, but from another angle.

Rep. Robson explained its function in everyday terms.

"Say all these solicitations that come in the mail for credit cards are stolen out of the mailbox. Well the person, what they do now is scratch off the current address and put the new address that they want this to be sent to, and they claim that they're you. This'll require the credit reporting agencies to check on those things."

The House bill was transmitted to the Governor today after passing out of both chambers unanimously. The Senate bill also drew the unanimous support of the House, and now returns to the Senate where it is expected to be passed swiftly.