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Most people these days are at least somewhat aware of the recent law passed by Congress (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, also called FACTA or the FACT Act) that allows each consumer to obtain one free credit report once a year from each of the big three credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. Perhaps most people, however, don’t exactly know where to obtain those reports.

The website to obtain your free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies is annualcreditreport.com. I did it recently, and checked all three of my reports. The site didn’t work flawlessly, but it wasn’t a major hassle either. I got my reports for free. If you want your credit scores, you have to pay a fee (approx. $6-10) for them or join a service offered by the credit reporting agency (and you then have the option to cancel within 30 days for no charge).

Some choose to obtain one free credit report every four months or so. This makes sense if you are willing to take the time to do that.

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Ever wonder what it would take to have a PERFECT credit score? Actually, Fair Isaac Corporation, creator of the FICO credit scoring system (maximum score = 850), is on record stating that a perfect score is impossible. Apparently the best you can reasonably hope for is 820 to 840. Approximately 1% of the population is in the 840 range. Who are these people and what does their credit look like? Here’s what their credit history generally looks like:

* a very long history of credit use (something like 30 years!)

* a few accounts with about 20 years of positive credit use

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A Warsaw couple was recently charged with multiple counts of theft, odometer fraud and forgery arising out of the purchase and sale of luxury automobiles over the Internet. Police say that Chad and Karen Gottshalk would buy high mileage high-end cars off of E-Bay, replace or roll back the odometer, and sell the vehicles for $10-15,000 or more. Most of the vehicles were apparently sold to out-of-state Internet purchasers.

The couple attracted law enforcement attention a year ago because of paperwork submitted to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. An investigation spanned the past year.

Interestingly, Chad Gottshalk was arrested several years ago for doing the same thing at a Warsaw dealership he owned.

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Automobile repair fraud consistently remains one of the top five consumer complaints in many states, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Older Americans are often targets of this illegal behavior because they are perceived as more wealthy and more concerned about safety and liability.

What can you do to avoid being a victim? Several things.

* Find someone you can trust before major repairs are needed. Shop around while having minor repair work or routine maintenance done on your vehicle. Hopefully you will find someone you can trust, and, even better, establish a relationship with.

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As 2006 comes to a close, I thought I would take a look back at Indiana’s courts of appeal opinions on the Indiana Motor Vehicle Protection Act, also known as Indiana’s lemon law. Actually, there wasn’t much. There was only one published opinion dealing with Indiana’s lemon law.

On November 2, 2006, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Walker v. DaimlerChrysler Corporation. William Walker, though not apparently an employee of DaimlerChrysler, purchased the truck at a discount under DaimlerChrysler’s Employee New Vehicle Purchase/Lease Program (remember the “buy at the price our employees pay” advertising?). In exchange for the employee discount, Mr. Walker signed an agreement giving up the right to file a lawsuit and instead submit to binding arbitration.

After the trial court dismissed his lawsuit, Mr. Walker appealed. Whether the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Indiana’s lemon law allowed sellers to make mandatory binding arbitration part of sale was an issue of first impression in Indiana. The Indiana Court of Appeals, following the majority of states but going against the Federal Trade Commission’s explicit opinion, first found that the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act does not prohibit mandatory binding arbitration.
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