About Your Social Security Number
The only two places in the entire world that has a legal right to your social security number are the Social Security Administration and the IRS. By law no other agency can demand your social security number. This is probably one of the most abused and ignored law in all of American history. For instance, when cashing a check a cashier is only legally able to request your drivers license number. I know that companies have lost lawsuits where they demanded a social security number rather than a drivers license number. I do not know that the law regarding supplying your social security number to creditors has been challenged, but if it was they would surely lose. The law is on the side of the people, your social security number is your personal key to your retirement, and that number is absolutely not required to be divulged to anybody. Legally you could demand that a creditor use your drivers license number instead, but they would probably just accept the application and then deny the credit. Fight the system if you want, but there is a better way. It’s called an Employer Identification Number (E.I.N).
Getting a new number to use for creditors
The Employer Identification Number can be the same number of digits as a social security number (if you get it through the right offices) and once you start using it on credit applications, new blank credit files will be created for you.
Employer Identification Numbers are assigned to businesses or anyone who intends to open a business or employ anyone. The important part is that once you have your E.I.N. it belongs to you for life. Today you could call the IRS center near you and request a number for a business you intend to open. That business doesn’t ever have to open, once they supply the number it is yours for life.
How is getting an E.I.N. better than just making up a number? The E.I.N will be uniquely assigned to you. You will never have to worry about another person with a current credit history already using it or using it in the future. The E.I.N. belongs to you. You have a legal right to use your E.I.N. to identify yourself. Just making up a number could expose you to legal action.
To the best of my knowledge the following centers are currently issuing 9 digit E.I.N. numbers. Fill out the SS-4 form at the end of this document and mail it to the appropriate center.
IRS CENTER
HOLTSVILLE, NY 00501
(516) 477-4955
Serving New Jersey, New York City and counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester
IRS CENTER
ANDOVER, MA 05501
(508) 474-9717
Serving New York (other than counties served by Holtsville), Connecticut, Main, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire.
IRS CENTER
KANSAS CITY, MO 64999
(816) 926-5999
Serving Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin
IRS CENTER
ATLANTA, GA 39901
(770) 455-2360
Serving Florida, South Carolina, Georgia.
IRS CENTER
CINCINNATI, OH 45999
Serving Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan
IRS CENTER
PHILIDELPHIA, PA 19255
(215) 574-2400
Serving Delaware, D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland
When you request an E.I.N. from one of the above centers you must supply an address within one of the states that center serves. If you don’t live within one of those states you can use an address of a friend or family member, or employ a mail forwarding service for a month, or make up a totally bogus address (make sure it exists). As soon as you have the number, write to the IRS and change the address you gave them to your current address so that future correspondence comes to you. The IRS Center will mail a letter to the original address that you supply within two weeks, it contains important information about your new number. If you just make up an address you will not receive that letter.
Creating a new credit report
Once you have your E.I.N. you can use it on credit applications. That application will be sent to the Credit Reporting Agencies. Since this will be the first time you used that ID number, they will find that there is no record for that number and they will start a new blank file. WARNING: If the credit reporting agency can easily determine by name/address/phone/employer that you are the same person that they currently have on file, they may merge the two files and all your bad credit information will follow you. The new information you supply should be different enough to distinguish you from the other person. Enter a new employer and salary range. If you are really paranoid you can change your name somehow, but there are countless households where people have the same name (usually parents and children). If they do merge the files, you can write to them explaining that they have made a mistake and to please correct it. Since they have no way to verify their "error", they are required by law to correct the misinformation within 30 days.
When you begin using your new ID number you will have a completely blank credit file. There will be no good credit and no bad credit. Our goal here is to establish a good credit account for a clean start, leaving the bad behind us. I sincerely hope you will not use this method to abdicate your responsibilities or to defraud anyone.
Creating Good Credit
Now that you have your new credit file, it is very important to fill it with good credit information. The whole reason for creating the new file is because we are trying to put the bad credit behind us. You can create new good credit a variety of ways, all involve getting some low level of credit and making prompt payments.
You can get a secure credit card. You place a deposit with a financial institution and they issue a credit card for some percentage of the deposit, often 100% or more.
You can get other people with good credit to co-sign a credit application for you.
You can have someone with good credit request that their credit card company issue a secondary card to you in your name with your friend or family member as guarantor. You can return this card to your friend or relative they can destroy it if they like. Be sure to activate the card and make at least one small purchase to show that the card is in use (Credit Reporting Agencies track that). In any case you will then have a credit card on your account with no bad credit information.
Find a bank that reports to a Credit Reporting Agency (some don’t). Open a bank account and purchase a CD (Certificate of Deposit, not the music kind). Then request a loan for the same amount as the CD and use the CD as collateral. Make the payments on time. If they ask why you want the loan or why you are doing this, be honest. Tell them you are trying to establish good credit with them and with the Credit Reporting Agencies.
Repeat the credit card and loan processes until you have a good number of good credit items on your report.
Here are the names of a few secured credit card issuers that will report your good credit (and bad) to all three Credit Reporting Agencies.
First Deposit National Bank
1-800-776-5698
Annual Fee $35, Minimum Deposit $300
Farmers State Bank
1-800-544-1654
Annual fee $35, Minimum deposit $350, Application fee $15
Ocean Ind. Bank
1-800-642-3311
Annual fee $50, No minimum deposit
American Pacific Bank
1-800-879-8745
Annual fee $35, Minimum deposit $400
Community Bank
1-800-779-8472
Annual Fee $35, Minimum deposit $300
Capital One
1-800-333-7116
Annual Fee $20, Deposit $200
First Consumer
1-800-876-3262
Annual fee $39, Deposit $100, offers 150% credit limit
First Premier Bank
605-335-6088
Annual fee $69, application fee $48, deposit $200
Sterling Bank and Trust
1-800-603-0600
Minimum deposit $300, offers 150% credit limit
Legality
As long as your intentions are not to defraud, you are well within your legal rights to request and use a new ID number as described above. Of course, if your goals are to gain further credit with no intentions of repaying it, that is fraud and you will probably be prosecuted.
Getting a number by phone
You can call the IRS center for your area and request a number over the phone. You will need to fill out a Form SS-4 "Application For Employer Identification Number" beforehand so that you can answer all the questions they will ask. To get the number over the phone you must have just hired someone or be about to hire someone and don’t have time to wait for the IRS center to process a mailed in form and mail a reply back to you. You must fax or mail the completed Form SS-4 within 24 hours.
Credit Bureaus
Write to these three companies to request your credit reports and dispute information. Remember that these are three separate companies that do not share information. You may have bad credit marks on one and not another. When you dispute credit information it may get removed from one and not from another. Be persistent.
TRW
PO Box 749029
Dallas Texas, 75374
Phone (214) 235-1200
Send certified mail to
12606 Greenfield Avenue
Dallas Texas 75374
Equifax
PO Box 74021
Atlanta Georgia 30374
Phone 404-250-4000
Send certified mail to
5505 Peachtree #600
Atlanta GA 30358
Trans-Union
PO Box 8070
North Olmstead, Ohio 44070-8070
Send certified mail to
208 South Market
Wichita, Kansas 67201
