What an Identity Theft Attorney Can Do For You
You know that feeling. You think something is wrong, but you can't put your finger on it. Maybe one of your credit cards is declined, and you forget to check up on it because you had enough cash on you to cover the charge. Or you get a piece of mystery mail - something about a car loan in your name, except that you didn't apply for a car loan.
When you get that feeling, think of it as your intuition telling you that you have been a victim of identity theft. Fortunately, an attorney can help minimize the financial and emotional damage that identity theft can wreak on a person's reputation and credit rating. You may need an identity theft attorney to help you deal with the paperwork and legal complexities of dealing with identity theft.
What an Identity Theft Attorney Can Do For You
First, let's be clear on one thing: a typical identity theft attorney cannot criminally prosecute the person who stole your identity. Only a district attorney or federal attorney general can do that.
What an identity theft attorney can do is to place a virtual wall between you and the person who stole your identity, putting prospective lenders, creditors and credit bureaus on notice that you are not the deadbeat in question. An identity theft attorney can also pursue a lawsuit so you can get a judgment against the identity thief for your damages; however, these people are always had to catch, and chasing them down may be not be the best way to spend your hard-earned money.
Sometimes just a letter from an identity theft attorney is sufficient to persuade a credit card company from trying to enforce a bill for something charged by an identity thief. Similarly, credit reporting agencies may delete entries from your credit report that resulted from identity theft if an identity theft attorney asks them to do so.
Self Help - Is It Effective?
You may be thinking that you can write letters yourself, so why should you pay an identity theft attorney to do that for you. In fact, whether it is right or wrong, companies pay more attention to a letter that comes from an attorney. When receiving such a letter, companies know that you are serious about putting an end to the abuse and that they are just one step away from being named in an identity theft lawsuit.
