"Cleaning up" credit repair........

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by bingo, Aug 8, 2001.

  1. bingo

    bingo Member

    Here is a good article I'd like to share. This was published in a newsletter that our local credit bureau send to the lenders.

    "Advertisements everywhere - newspapers, radio, TV and now the Internet - blaring offer to "clean up" a consumer's credit file......for a fee. These ads are loaded with false promises and many offer techniques that are illegal. There is not a legal way to remove accurate negative information from a consumer's credit report.

    The most common type of credit repair firm offers (for a fee) to clean up a consumer's report by challenging all the contents of the report.

    According to the FTC, the typical dialogue used by the "traditional" credit repair outfits is easy to spot:

    *"We can remove bankruptcies, liens, judgements, and bad loans from your credit file forever!"
    "We can erase your bad credit"
    "Bad Credit? No Credit? No problem!"

    The technique they employ is to challenge over and over again the truthful information contained in the consumer report until it is removed. These claims are blunderbuss challenges typically without supporting documentation or verification. They claim the CRA's get "tired" of reverifying information, however, CRA's have procedures in place to identify frivolous disputes. The FCRA also counters this tactic by not requiring a reverification on information that has been verified within the previous two years.

    A consumer may spend hundreds of dollars, when the fact is if there are errors, CRA's will fix them through the FCRA reinvestigation process at no cost to the consumer."

    I thought that was an interesting article so I'm just passing it on.

    Bingo
     
  2. Lionel

    Lionel Well-Known Member

    that's interesting because it seems the newsletter is just pointing out the least effective method of credit repair...
     
  3. bbauer

    bbauer Banned

    Good information for the unwary and the newbies. Good information because it's totally true.
    Even the biggest of the credit repair firms all do it the same way and it's what I have called "spamming" the credit bureaus to death. That's a pretty apt term, I think, because it is descriptive of what they do. Send "unwanted" mail to the credit bureaus in vast bulk amounts.
    Nothing but the same old roll of film shot over and over ad infinitium ad nauseum.

    And it is also why I deveoped the techniques that I have. Simply because both the debtor and the credit bureaus need a break from all the spam.

    And that's also why I advocate that one only needs to send one single letter to the credit bureaus in order to get an adverse listing removed if they have gone to the source of the problem and "put the fix" in place there first. Saves lots of grief for all except those who actively engage in breaking the law, those who resort to "criminal" activities against those less fortunates who fall victim to their unscrupulous practices. cause the break up of homes and families, leaving children fatherless or motherless and generally wreaking havoc on others.

    While it is absolutely true that one does have a moral obligation to pay ones just debts, one does not have any obligation once the other party becomes an outlaw, either through design or through ignorance of the law. it is their business to know the law as it applies to them and if they shirk that responsibility to be good law abiding citizens then the deserve what they get.

    Those who live and work within the law have no fear nor reason to fear. Those who choose to do otherwise have no right to expect any compassion from those who do. That goes for both debtor and creditor alike for all must live within the law and none are above the law.

    Sorry if I seem to be in a preaching mode here. But your article speaks the truth and I am simply trying to show that there are better ways to get the job done than bombarding the credit bureaus with spam.
     
  4. Hal

    Hal Well-Known Member

    Bill, I agree with most of your points regarding "spamming" the CRA's.

    I take exception however in whether this should or should not be done based on the fact that it has been evidenced over and over, even recently by members of this board, that the CRA's are NOT verifying information, despite indicating that they are.

    I just acquired evidence of this in my case yesterday. I had an account with a major credit card issuer that was reported as charged off, which was not a valid reporting. I challenged this with Experian and asked they verify it. Yesterday I received a reply in the mail from my letter directly to the creditor indicating that no account could be located with my information.....when I checked Experian, they indicated the account was verified 8/5/2001.

    I called the creditor and was advised again NO account information could be located with my information (i.e. name, ssn, dob, address) and as the account was older I was told it had likely been purged from their system as they only keep records for 4 years on closed accounts. I then inquried if any record of the CRA verifying this information was noted - I was told it would have been impossible to verify as the information did not exist.

    I am very suspicious any time the CRA says they have verified an item, and don't believe they actually do this most of the time.

    I do agree starting with the creditor may be a better step to take first, but I think the CRA's should be investigated for this.

    I am going to not only file a suit if they don't remove this unverifiable account, I am writing a very angry letter to my congressional representatives and the FTC - I think that they should place someone in each of the CRA's to see what they do and do not do, sort of an "undercover" type operation.
     
  5. texastrini

    texastrini Well-Known Member

    BBaur,

    So what is your opinion of the services that Junum and Lexington offer.?
     
  6. bbauer

    bbauer Banned

    Hal:
    Your points are well taken.
    ______________________
    I take exception however in whether this should or should not be done based on the fact that it has been evidenced over and over, even recently by members of this board, that the CRA's are NOT verifying information, despite indicating that they are.

    Then my question is that if they do not bother to verify or we think that they do not bother to verify why waste time fooling with them when we can simply force the creditor/ca to delete the account reference completely and totally and then take the evidence that the creditor/ca demands removal of the item and send that to the CRA and leave them 2 choices which would be remove or be sued? Just eliminate the foolishness and be done with it.
    --------------------------
    I just acquired evidence of this in my case yesterday. I had an account with a major credit card issuer that was reported as charged off, which was not a valid reporting. I challenged this with Experian and asked they verify it. Yesterday I received a reply in the mail from my letter directly to the creditor indicating that no account could be located with information.....when I checked Experian, they indicated the account was verified 8/5/2001.
    .
    I called the creditor and was advised again NO account information could be located with my information (i.e. name, ssn, dob, address) and as the account was older I was told it had likely been purged from their system as they only keep records for 4 years on closed accounts. I then inquried if any record of the CRA verifying this information was noted - I was told it would have been impossible to verify as the information did not exist.
    Again, Hal, if you had forced the creditor/ca to delete the report entirely in the first place you would not be having to fiddle with all of this.

    I am very suspicious any time the CRA says they have verified an item, and don't believe they actually do this most of the time.

    I do agree starting with the creditor may be a better step to take first, but I think the CRA's should be investigated for this.

    I am going to not only file a suit if they don't remove this unverifiable account, I am writing a very angry letter to my congressional representatives and the FTC - I think that they should place someone in each of the CRA's to see what they do and do not do, sort of an "undercover" type

    Hal, anytime we ask government to do anything at all it simply means that we shoulder a greater burden of illegal taxation from which there is in actuality no escape. I do not mind that government demands payment in the form of taxation because they must have money with which to perform the tasks and demands placed upon them by the constitution and the citizens. I only object to the illegal and deceptive practices implemented in their collection and the fact that government does not generally have answers to our problems but rather only create more problems which must also be later resolved.

    Investigation of the CRAs would be totally unnecessary in your example if they had noting to report in the first place. So if the report you object to is not in their records in the first place you would have nothing to object to.

    It is really simple. Get rid of the item by going to it's source and eliminating the source of the problem first then the CRA has nothing to report and so there is nothing to complain about.

    I must admit that this cannot be done in 100% of all situations. One cannot expunge criminal records if one spent 20 years in the pokey for rape and murder or whatever.

    One cannot expunge child support records if one has run out on his family and left starving children behind to depend upon the public dole as their sole source of support.

    One cannot expunge the record of having asked the government to provide him with a doctorate in nuclear physics and then skip out without paying. Even a rocket scientist knows this.

    One cannot easily voluntarily agree to give up his civil rights by signing a 1040 or other tax document in which he illegally assesses himself a tax and then fail to pay what he already agreed to do in writing and then expect to skip out on the tax collector. And if he does so, he may well find his domicile surrounded by tanks with their guns separated by about 20 degrees and all pointing in his direction.

    One cannot expect to pay a debt and thereby give up all his protections under FDCPA, thereby publicly admitting his culpability and expect to easily get the public record expunged.

    There are probably other examples of acting under the influence of ignorance, stupidity, gullibility or other disability which produce less than desireable results, but I think the point is sufficiently illustrated for now.

    So, I submit that the only logical answer is to cease and desist from spamming the CRAs and pursue some other more practical plan of action. The only other plan of action my admittedly insufficient intellectual capacity can devise is to first force the creditor/ca to demand that the item they put there be removed, then go t the CRA with one and only letter also demanding removal. That would eliminate both the problem and the need for demanding the intervention and implementation of more government action to force others to do what you should have been able to do for yourself.

    Do I make sense?

    If so, raise your right hand and...................................???????
     
  7. bingo

    bingo Member

    Bill,

    I don't think you sounded like you were preaching - your response was very good :)
     
  8. dlo64

    dlo64 Well-Known Member

    Hey Hal,

    I have an old account that disappeared from my Experian around 95 or 96. It is in dispute now. Just by chance would that old creditor happen to be Discover? I contacted Discover the day I received my updated report from my last round of disputes. This account was not on the old report, but for some reason showed up on the updated report. When I contacted Discover, they tried to find my account every which way. Married name, maiden name, SSN$\#, address and zip code of where I resided when I had the account and addresses since. They could not find me. They told me to just dispute it with Experian and it should be deleted since they cannot find it. I check my Experian dispute status each day and so far it is pending. Just curious since you are having this problem with Experian if it to is Discover you are battling them on?
     
  9. Hal

    Hal Well-Known Member

    Actually it is another credit card. But if they can't find it DISPUTE it.
     
  10. dlo64

    dlo64 Well-Known Member

    That is what I have done. It will be interesting and perhaps infuriating depending on the outcome. Thanks for letting me know.
     
  11. Mike

    Mike Well-Known Member

    Re: "Cleaning up" credit repair....

    Sorry Bill but this was the last straw. Please take your crap elsewhere or give it away for free like everybody else here.

    I'm shocked that PBM even allows you to continue posting.

    To everybody but Bill please tell me if I'm out of line in getting REALLY tired of seeing Bills Creditwrench thinly veiled advertisements?

    Mike
     
  12. Lionel

    Lionel Well-Known Member

    Re: "Cleaning up" credit repair....

    Mike -

    Nope, you don't sound out of line to me.
     

Share This Page