[privacy] In Rehab? It Could Be On Your Credit Report

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

Via The Red Tape Chronicles.

[snip]

Mike Herwig looked at his credit report recently and saw something even more disturbing than past due accounts.

He saw the words "Starlite Recovery Center."

As the name hints, Starlite is a drug and alcohol treatment clinic in Texas. Herwig, a 36-year-old Boston resident, 
received treatment for alcoholism there two years ago and wanted that to remain secret. But now he fears he's been 
outed as a recovering addict in front of future employers, landlords, insurance companies and any other organization 
that pulls his credit report.

Experian, which issued the credit report, says Herwig's fears are unfounded. Starlite's name is omitted from copies of 
the report given to others and appears only on Herwig's personal report, according to Experian’s Don Girard. In fact, 
federal law prohibits credit bureaus from listing the name of any medical treatment facility on a credit report 
furnished to lenders or employers, he said.

Still, Herwig's story is instructive about the alarming things that can appear on credit reports, and the kind of 
rights consumers have.

[snip]

More:
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/05/are_clinic_visi.html

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

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