Hey all, First of all, I am very happy for everyone who has gotten wonderful deletions and corrections from Junum and Lex. I wish I could say the same for myself. However, I have been getting really bad news from the results our first round of disputes. Here it is: Experian-Spouse: 0 deletions out of 4 disputes. Mine 0 out of 4 disputes some â??previously investigatedâ?, some â??remainsâ?. TransUnion-Spouse: 0 deletions out of 4 disputes; Mine 0 deletions out of 4 disputes-they all said â??see new info belowâ?, account info was the same. Equifax-Spouse: 0 out of 3 disputes. Equifax deleted 2 derogs that were not disputed (go figure-at least I donâ??t have to pay $8.00). Equifax-Mine-still waiting. These items were mostly credit card accounts that were included in a ch 7 BK from 1999. The public record of the BK was challenged on both Experians and my Equifax. So, aside from being bummed about such bad newsâ?¦ I have some questions for you Junumites and Lexicans. Has anybody using Junum or Lex had any luck getting items removed in subsequent disputes, after those items were initially verified or not deleted in the first round? It seems like so many people have had such good luck getting 50% or so deleted on the first try. Iâ??m wondering if at this point Iâ??m just wasting my time with Junum? Maybe I would be better off in the long run going with Ross Bradley or another attorney? I would love to hear advice from Junum or Lex clients or Junum or Lex reps (Steve or Jason). My question to the reps, does Junum or Lex do something different in the 2nd or 3rd round of disputes that can get results? Or, do they have any more firepower than what Iâ??ve already seen? Any advice appreciated. Cricket
Re: Depressed about Junum resu Sorry to hear about your not so good results. As for me, I personally disputed a repo from 1995 that was transferred to another bank and thus was being reported twice. I had no luck with any of the cra's. Junum disputed those in the first round and got both deleted from my Transunion report. I haven't heard back from equifax or experian yet even thought it is now just over 30 days. Junum also got 2 charge offs removed and a few other piddly items that I couldn't get removed. I think if you stick through another round you'll have some luck. Everybody else seems to be having good luck. If you don't get these items removed, then maybe it will be time to change. Personally, I have faith in Junum after seeing what they have done for me and others that post here. Good luck!
Re: Depressed about Junum resu Wow. I agree. They are disappointing results. I can't speak for Junum, but Lexington steps up the pressure in subsequent disputes, due to added urgency in the letters. However, the science is anything but exact. While the first round of disputes tends to show exaggerated results (in the 50% range,) second, third and fourth rounds yield around 30% results as well (in Lexington's experience.) As you've already discovered, this is a client-wide average of participating clients and NOT the situation in all cases. (Since no credit repair company can honestly guarantee results of any kind.) My guess is: Lexington has a more deliberate, scientific approach to disputing than all other credit repair companies (except, maybe, Bradley Ross) and that Lexington makes its long experience in credit repair pay off.
Re: Depressed about Junum resu First, if you only had 3 or 4 derrogatory accounts on each CRA, you are not in that bad of shape. Next, people think Junum and the others can have anything deleted. Wrong. Your accounts were recent and will most likely be verified for some time. Everyone of my accounts from one particular bank were verified on all 3 CRAs. They are accurate accounts, and I don't expect them to get deleted. It would be nice though Look at it from that aspect, and you won't be as depressed. I do and I am not depressed at all. I am pissed off instead...lol..j/k. Time will heal all wounds. Don't give up. If you keep disputing, and the creditor fails to respond on time, or gets tired of messing with it, you might get lucky. Good Luck.
Re: Depressed about Junum resu Hi Jason, Recently I've heards quite a bit about credit files getting flagged for use of CR firms. I've been told that subsequent rounds of dispute are being used to flag files these days. Could you shed some light on this. Thanks.
Re: Depressed about Junum resu I used Lexington for 1 entire year in 1996, and got nothing but a flagged file and smaller bank account. The CRA's stopped responding except to say they had already verified, and after the 4th round of disputes, they wrote saying the disputes were frivolous. When I started disputing the entries myself (after waiting a while), things began to come off. I didn't start trying to rebuild until 2 years ago. My beacon score (when I finally got it) was 650. (Their reason codes, except for the public records, didn't make any sense.) I'm way better off than I was, and it is getting better. I got AmEx about 6 months ago, and my Citi card came in the mail this week. I did take AmEx's Credit Aware service, but guess what??? Now I have to dispute because it showed up as a hard inquiry when they got my credit files for me. Duh. It's a little bit of work, and you have to learn how to do it, but after a while it is more like a game, and you get more confident each time you win one. Public Records are a bitch, but I know it can be done. breeze
Re: Depressed about Junum resu I don't know if this will help..but I got back a report on my first cycle of Junum disputes that showed only some changes, no deletions. I thought that was it. I think it was 8 or 9 days later, I got another report from the same CR showing deletions. Maybe, just maybe, this will happen to you? Crossing my fingers
Re: Depressed about Junum resu In our experience, files are not "flagged" by the credit bureaus to indicate that the consumer is working with a credit repair firm. Take into consideration what the bureaus experience: They receive tens of thousands of disputes each week. The breakdown is probably something like this (if truth be known 25% disputes from credit repair companies 25% disputes from consumers who are following credit repair instructions from a kit or a book (and their bad credit is accurate) 35% disputes from consumers doing their own credit repair because they heard that it can be done (and their bad credit is accurate) 15% disputes from consumers with inaccurate listings who are only challenging the inaccurate listings Based on that guess (and I bet that the bureaus would agree,) 85% of disputes are credit repair and have the hallmarks of credit repair (form letters, repeat disputes, etc..) There's no way under the sun that the bureaus can "flag" a credit repair company's letters because they look so similar to all other dispute letters. And, if they flag a thousand consumers and refuse to conduct investigations because they believe that they are conducting credit repair, the bureaus run the certain likelihood of flagging regualar consumers (and generating the lawsuits that will follow.) Furthermore, it's just not our experience that this happens. We just don't see evidence of any program of "red flagging" amongst Lexington clients. Taking, for example, breeze's post: if he was flagged, why was he able to get deletions later? If he was truly flagged, he'd never get anywhere with disputes (and it's silly to think that all three bureaus simulataneously came up with idea that a single consumer should be "red flagged.") Every dispute is turned down if it comes in before the credit bureaus' "coded period" expires (the period after a dispute where they will not allow another dispute to be started) regardless of what form of credit repair is being practiced. Since coded periods vary between bureaus and shift with changes in bureau policy, Lexington watches them very closely to ensure maximum effectiveness of disputes. I don't have trouble believing that the disputes performed for breeze met with some denial letters, because Lexington wasn't tracking or utilizing coded period timed disputes back when he or she was a client. (In fact, Lexington's about twice as good as what it does since then.) Hope this answers Jugnoo's question.
Re: Depressed about Junum resu From this sentence, I am assuming you work for Lexington? If so, I have a question for you. I'd like to know if the people who actually handle the individual cases are contractors working from their homes. The reason I am asking is I just joined, and all of the email I am getting from individuals (rather than automated responses) are coming from dialup internet accounts.
Re: Depressed about Junum resu Oops.. nevermind. When I look a little further I answer my own question: Johnson & Associates (NETBLK-ERMS-8193441) 634 S 400 W suite 200 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 US Netname: ERMS-8193441 Netblock: 199.174.130.184 - 199.174.130.191 Coordinator: Spendlove, Sam (SS1382-ARIN) spendlove@creditrights.com 8015969867 Record last updated on 30-Jan-2001. Database last updated on 24-Mar-2001 22:50:23 EDT. > server 192.168.123.254 Default Server: [192.168.123.254] Address: 192.168.123.254 > 199.174.130.184 Server: [192.168.123.254] Address: 192.168.123.254 Name: user-33qt0lo.dialup.mindspring.com Address: 199.174.130.184 > You should get your ISP to fix your reverse lookup for your assigned IP range. It looks like you actually have an assigned block of 7 and they should be able to do that for you with no problem. Having your reverse lookup messed up like this makes buisness style ISDN or DSL access look like a 56k dialup account to the outside world.
Re: Depressed about Junum resu BTW: Sam Spendlove is a WONDERFUL name for someone involved with a credit repair firm. I love it.
Firepower? Don't make me laugh Those credit repair firms don't have anywhere near as much firepower as you think they do. On top of that, they have the potential of doing far more harm than good. Believe the US Government when they say that credit repair firms can do nothing that you can't do for yourself and a whole lot cheaper. Worse yet, there is also the potential for them to get you thrown in jail by making false statement in your behalf. It's against the law to make any statement to a credit bureau knowing it to be false or for the purpose of improving your credit. Just because nobody knows of anyone having been prosecuted under 15 USC 1681 doesn't mean it can't happen to you. Learn how to do it yourself and save yourself a lot of grief. Start off by learning how to do it without ever making any statement whatsoever to the CRAs. If you don't make any statements to them, how could you be prosecuted for making false statements? Can't be done! If they don't want to investigate and validate (using specific legal language you specify) without your giving them a reason, they have violated your 5th amendment rights, so you can sue them in US Federal District Court for civil rights violations instead of putting around with some hole in the wall small claims court where the most you can get is usually a $1000. Learn how to play hardball with them. Bill Bauer http://creditwrench.hypermart.net/index.html bbauer1@netzero.net
Re: Firepower? Don't make me l Bill, How many people do you know who've played "hardball" against the credit bureaus and pulled down significant damages against a "violation of your 5th amendment rights?" Pardon me, but that sounds like a non-attorney dreaming about what "might" or "should" be possible. In the half-dozen-or-so credit bureau lawsuits that I've been privy to, it all boiled down to damages. The court said, basically, "OK, so you have a violation of the FCRA and you're suing for damages plus punitive damages. So, what are your damages?" The credit bureaus responded, "The negative items were truly accurate, so this person did not miss any financing opportunities due to our errors so the damages are nothing." And, so, the suits settled for minor amounts of money and had no real effect on the consumer's credit report (the credit bureaus didn't seem to be any more vigilant than before about accuracy.) Bill, if you have personally witnessed lawsuits against the CRAs going any different from this, I'm open to learning from you. Otherwise, what you're saying sounds pretty hypothetical (forgive me if I'm wrong.)
