Hello all, This is my first post. I came here in utter frustration prompted by the fact that recently a Credit Card company, using an Equifax report to justify it, tried to raise their rates on me and lower my credit limit to below it's balance. After a two week flurry of letters and documentation I received their letter today rescinding that action. To tell that story would take up a lot of this message and I'll probably tell the epic tale in another post soon. The experience left me tense, angry and absolutely outraged at the practices of Credit Card Companies, Credit Reporting Agencies, and the lack of restitution or consequences when items are misreported. The same company that tried to use the report against me to justify their own action was actually one of the companies to misreport! I've had so much bad stuff on my credit report that I first discovered in 1998 when I found that two women with the same name as I were being reported to my credit report. One was born 30 yrs before I was and lived 1500 miles away and the other was born who knows when but didn't have a SS# at all so she was lopped onto mine and she also lived about 1300 miles away. I managed to get all of that cleaned up but when I checked back a year latter there were newer items, again, not belonging to me. I fought again and then lost interest and never followed up as I should have. I just didn't care enough. Now, however, after this latest incident I'm almost obsessed. It's not just these imposters either. There are several lates recorded that are wrong. There are inquiries I didn't authorize, my personal information is not recorded correctly, and my mortgages (we have two homes) are recorded such that I believe it looks to creditors (or the creditscoring software) that one is an original mortgage and the other must be a home equity when in fact one is our primary residence and the other is our secondary residence. With respect to scoring, I don't think I'm getting any credit either, for the length of time I've had the first residence because that is now secondary and the newer home is our primary. The whole thing, the scoring, the misreporting, the credit card company practices to raise their rates, just has me fighting mad. I want them to pay for their mistakes and correct those, particularly the scoring model, that ruin a financial reputation. I'm looking to join or start any organized campaign to right this wrong.
If your story is well-documented and you find somebody to tell it to the world, the offfenders may pay you to shut up.
Well, my problem grows. I had just posted the above message and then decided to see what was going on today with my Equifax report - I have outstanding disputes with others - but in particular, I wanted to see if the company who started this most recent problem had corrected anything yet. The answer is no, although I have my 13.99% back and my credit limit is restored. What I found today, however, was that this company had, in the course of my dispute with them over the last two weeks, pulled TWO more HARD inquiries. Can they do this? Why didn't they just pull an AR (account review)? After all, I have an account with them. Now I have THREE hard inquiries from this company all within less than a month.
I like Greg's idea. Our local NBC affiliate has a news segment called "10 On Your Side" - why don't you call a local station with a similar news segment, and see if they wouldn't be interested in taking on the credit establishment. I bet they would love it. Just have all your ducks in a row Who knows where it would go from there? breeze
Can anyone at all answer this? Can they pull the hard inquiries in the course of the dispute thus lowering my score? I never gave authorization and besides they can do AR's anytime. What gives? I'm sure they know I'm going to abandon them and do a transfer - seems they want to try to pre-empt me.
Well, I sure wish I had some solid answers for you, but I don't. I haven't even seen any posts anywhere that suggest that anyone has any answers to the problem either. I'll bet there is one out there if one really tries to research the issue. I don't have any problems when I find an actual error by the credit bureaus, because they can be forced to take things like that off, but the inquiries thing is another issue entirely. I guess I will have to find a case on my own credit report and go for it just to figure out how to fight it. Lord only knows I have enough inquiries on my report to choke a horse.
All that a creditor needs in order to access your report is "permissible purpose". The definition of permissible purpose is quite broad. It sucks. The only way to protect ourselves from these situations is to stay away from scumbags like Fleet, First USA etc. Stick with the AMEX and Citi of the world.
Ok, but "permissable purpose" has to have a legal definition somewhere that one can find. Once you know what the legal definition of permissible purpose is, you just might have a little more to go on. I think I've seen some defintions over on the FTC website or somewhere, but surely that's not the whole ball of wax.
Again, obtain documents that prove your case. No, they can't make the type of inquiry that would appear to lenders as the result of a request for credit (and which affects the credit score). I believe there is a lot of confusion by lenders over this. I questioned an account with a MAJOR (I mean MAJOR) credit card company earlier this year. They blew it by putting MULTIPLE inquiries in my report-- PLUS, as a result, their computer generated a letter the gave the disposition of the "credit application" (an of course, there was none). Just more of the usual incompetance I'm adding to the files. I'll write them a few letters, they'll deny wrongdoing at first, then probably correct the inquiries to the right kind. And that's the way the FCRA is: Wrist slapping. Recently, a friend of mine received a settlement from a company who reported incorrect credit information (late payments) on multiple consumers. It was a mortgage company that was sold to another and the payment receipt system transition didn't wuite come together. There was a class-action and my buddy gets a big check. Power in numbers.
G. Fisher: Please don't take my comments here as any kind of a slam, because that's not where I'm coming form. I've read in another forum where many banks will deliberately put adverse comments against you with Telecheck and other hot check networks with the sole purpose in mind to discredit you so that you can't get another account opened at another bank. That way they force you to accept their miserable service whether you like it or not. Now then, I have no idea if any bank would stoop to such tactics or not. All I know is that such is reported on another website here on the internet which deals with battles with telecheck and the rest. I'm willing to take their word for it because I hate the banks we have here in Oklahoma City, and it was only when I got away from them and went to online banks that I found out that there are some decent ones out there. So my question to you is: Do you think these credit card companies might do the same thing with the same purpose in mind? I'd like to think they wouldn't because they would be too afraid they would get sued over it. I don't know. I'm asking you for your opinion
I am fighting this and will go as far as it takes, particularly since I saw how much damage the extra two inquiries can do to push one into a higher risk category. Check out this link: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/creditscoring/present/sld031.htm
Here's one about Previous Credit Performance - geez this is a good site. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/creditscoring/present/sld027.htm
WOW! That is absolutely awesome. And not just the slide you referenced. The whole thing is awesome. Thanks a mil for posting that one.
There is an attorney in Washington State that has several class action suits in progress. I accessed the case "Phillips v TransUnion" that another poster listed in this forum but I can't find the thread it was on. Anyway the attorney has a home site at http://lawyerphillips.com/cases.html scrolling down to the end of the page he has an Alert Form if you have a complaint about big business. He also lists an e-mail address if you wish to contact him. In his current case list he also has an action against one of the other CRA's located in Mississippi. I hope this is useful, if nothing else maybe he will give you some answers...
The case site http://lawyerphillips.com/phillips% was posted by Breeze, Re: ID theft-Household doesn't respond. Parts of the case, maybe page two and three may be of help to you.
