Hi.. I went bankrupt in 1997. Recently my husband applied for a mortgage and we found out my Sears account was on his credit report as a bankruptcy. He was an AU (authorized user). We didn't have much time or we would have lost the house we wanted. I disputed it quickly with the credit bureaus, but only Trans Union removed it. He ended up having to accept a much higher mortgage interest rate (7.85 vs. 6.99). Since everything moved so quickly, the mortgage company felt bad and offered to waive their fees if we clear things up and refinance. Any suggestions on how to best go about this would be appreciated. I hear that Sears has to remove the info because they are in violation, but I'd love to have the specific law and or verbiage. I'd also need the Sears address for credit disputes. Do I write to Sears and the credit bureaus all at the same time or is there a specific order? Do I have a leg to stand on? Thank you!!
YOU should contact Sears and ask to speak with a supervisior. Don't talk to the gatekeeper who answers the telephone, they can not change anything. Explain the situation and ask that SEARS do an ONLINE update today. Ask that they also send/fax you a letter as proof. If they will not change it, have your husband send a letter to the president of Sears via certified mail/return recp requested. Explain the situation again. But add this time that they are in direct violation of Section 616 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If they fail to correct within xx days you are prepared to seek $$$ [the cost of increased % rate for the life of the mortgage] actual and punitive damages as the court will allow. HE also needs to dispute it with a letter to the CRA saying that he was never an authorized user on the account. If you have it, attach the letter from SEARS as proof. If he doesn't, attach his letter to SEARS as proof.
Re: Sears (boo hiss) Authorized Use If you read the Fair Credit Reporting Act, suppliers of the information are required to maintain a system that automatically updates all national credit reporting agencies when they find a error.... This is the ONLINE system. It allows companies to override the information they provided on their "tape" updates provided to the CRAs.
Well, he actually WAS an authorized user, but that still shouldn't effect his credit as I was solely responsible for the balance.. right? Where can I find section 616 to read it?
Macy's removed an authorized user off of my account. I included it in a 1998 BK. The authorized user is not legally responsible for the account. The rep I dealt with forwarded my call to their bk department. The person received written notification a week latter. Her credit reports reflected the change within two months. I as the (former) account holder called and made the request. They list me twice for bk. Supposedly I had two accounts. One which always carried a zero balance. I Need to address that issue in writing.
