Brice Consultants is a for-profit wholly owned subsidiary of Brice Consultants, Inc. Additionally, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, has a nonprofit division doing business as the iadvocate Foundation. Occasionally, we may outsource or refer other resources such as: Financial Education & Coaching (FEC), Homeownership Promotion & Preservation (HPP), Family Violence Intervention (FVIP), Housing S
tability, and Conservator Services. How would you feel if you were stopped for a traffic violation and suddenly found yourself being handcuffed and taken to jail for a crime you never committed? Or if you got a nasty call from a collection agency for a car loan you never had? Or if your application for a home mortgage was turned down because of information in your credit report about overdue bills on accounts you never opened? These are situations you could face as a victim of identity theft. While ID theft can take many complex forms, the essence of this crime is simple—someone steals personal information about you to use for fraudulent purposes. 53% of victims feel moderate to severe distress from the identity theft. It’s frightening to lose your wallet or discover that someone has used information about you for a fraudulent purpose. You will need to remain calm, cool, and collected as you go through the process of resolving the problem to recovery. Although it's not uncommon for victims to suffer multiple forms of identity theft, but, when a stolen identity is used to apply for additional lines of credit, the victim can spend years trying to resolve bad debt run up by thieves in their names. Over 3 million identity theft victims have experienced issues such as having utilities cut off, being arrested, finding erroneous claims on their health records, having child support garnished for children they never had, and being harassed by collection agencies. Some struggle to borrow money because of the damage to their credit scores. Others have been forced to file bankruptcy and lose their homes. While identity theft often goes unreported, and the crimes that are reported are rarely investigated, most local law enforcement lacks the personnel and expertise to investigate smaller reports of identity theft crimes and the FBI is only interested in massive cases involving hundreds of victims or more. advocates for consumers victimized by financial fraud. Since 2003, our mission is to ensure justice for all consumers, particularly those of low to moderate incomes. The initial stage of working with identity theft victims is much like assisting victims of a violent crime. And often victims of identity theft have feelings similar to victims of violent crimes and can greatly benefit from utilizing the skills, expertise and knowledge our consultants possess by equipping consumers with necessary tools and information needed to rebuild and recover; Saving the consumer thousands of dollars and the aggravation and embarrassment, as a result of being victimized. While maintaining good credit is just as important; having a bad credit history can impact your ability to get loans, housing, or even a job. And while promises to “fix” bad credit may be tempting, they're simply not true – and may leave you in worse financial shape than when you started. Recovering victims spends on average $1,870 in out-of-pocket costs.
