Something bothers me

Some people, including myself, view "credit restoration" as business with no real moral or ethical implications. That is not to say that I will lie for someone b/c that is illegal for us (not for consumers) but, we will do everything short of it.

There are two perceptions or ideologies if you will. Do anything and everything or admit what is yours and what is accurate. I'm not saying on is better than the other.

To answer your questions though, people challenge the bankrupcty and items included therein b/c they want prime credit. That is hard to come by if the bankruptcy is recent. It is a simple business decision.

 

They don't have to do any of that. All they have to do is check on line for your name and social and your BK will always show up.

Some loan applications will ask if you have filed a BK in the last two years and others will ask if you have ever filed BK. If they ask either you will have to answer truthfully or you can be charged with lying on a credit app and that usually means you do a couple of years as a guest of your Uncle Sammy who will gladly put you up in one of his Iron Hotels for a while.

You will have a great sense of security while vacationing in Club Fed but the fringe benefits are simply horrible.

 

The above is true. Credit reports are only one way to find public records.

 

Nice topic.

As far as I am concerned I look at the BK and or any other item on your credit report as yours, its your report, your life if you will look at it that way can be changed dramatically with what is on your report.
With that in mind, being your report, then it is your responsibility to assure it's accuracy. You job is to make sure what is reported is 100% accurate and nothing less, both good and bad. So, what is their job? There job is to report nothing less then 100% accuracy. With 1 year under my belt of credit repair and rebuild and I have seen a ton of credit reports trying to help others, I have yet to find a perfect credit report, I am no credit report guru or anything but I can spot errors when I see them.

Since it is your report and effects your life, you should be in charge of such a thing that controls allot of your life. No CSR sitting behind a desk should be in control of that. We have laws, laws that protect us, the consumer and laws that allow them to report something on your report. If we didnt have laws for both sides could you imagine what it would be like?

We all know who breaks the laws, over and over and over. They have no care in what they stick on your report, they put items they know are wrong and inaccurate on your report anyway, in the case of the evil EXP, they love to screw you over and do a happy dance to be able to put a bad mark on your report. No CRA, CA, JDB or consumer is above the law, so with that in mind, what do us the consumer have? well, it's to force 100% accuracy on OUR reports, nothing at all less and to be able to use the laws and means to do so.

Sure, BK is not a fun thing, but the law states how it is suppose to be reported along with all the TL's as well. I have yet to see a single report that had the BK 100% accurate as well as the TL's associated with them.

I look at it this way, if the CRAs would report nothing less then 100% accurate info on "your" report always, many of us wouldn't need to spend hours per day doing this. It is a known fact that they dont care how they report it and in my case with EQ, for every baddie I got wiped off, they took any goodies they could find off as well to balance it.

Now, I feel that if you did file BK and have worked hard to do things differently after the BK and have taken steps to ensure financial smarts along the way and have the knowledge and skills it takes to build your credit file from scrap back up again, then you should be rewarding for doing so.

Your reward---- 100% accurate information !! Nothing less.

Many of the people whom I have got to know over the past year in credit repair have been able to shake their BKs off... why.... they were not 100% accurate. It's your right to have it reported accurately. Its their job to report it accurately, they fail to do so and they have failed the system themselves and the consumer has done nothing wrong by addressing what is on YOUR report. If they cannot get something simple like BK numbers, case no, names etc correct, that is their fault, not yours.

Sure info is available to them just like us, we can all find out who did or didnt file BK, but for them to just toss it on YOUR report without any care whatsoever of how it effects you, then I say its game time.

You have the absolute right to insure YOUR credit report is accurate... They have the absolute right toi report anything that is within the law and nothing less then 100% accurate. We all know they fail to do so, but yet they still cannot get it right.

No one at all should ever feel bad about making sure YOUR report is correct.
Whether it is a million dollar BK or a 5.00 medical TL, it is YOUR report and they must report it correctly, if not, remove it !

No matter if it is BK or that medical bill, they owe it to US to report whatever it is accurately on OUR report.

The credit world has been shaken up in the last few years thanks to sights just like this helping consumers learn about credit and credit reporting etc.
All of the CRA, CA, OC and JDB are aware of us and they don't know what to do with a well informed consumer. For the first time in thier history they are being forced to do what the law asked them to do, but yet they cannot get it right.

Remember, the credit report is YOURS and it is a huge part of YOUR life and for me I will be damned if they are going to control my life with the purposely reporting of inaccurate information on MY REPORT.

 

My opinion is that it all comes down to personal values, and what matters the most to each person.

You touch upon a deep moral question here, there is the "letter of the law", and then there is the "spirit of the law". These can be two vastly different approaches to the same issue.

The credit reporting system can be looked at similar to the judicial system, where everyone is entitled to the best defense. The credit reporting system has procedures and rights which allow certain actions, and if a person elects to avail themselves of these procedures, and then benefits due to some fault in the reporting system, it can be said that this is just the workings of the system.

In our world there is tremendous value in having a "good credit report", there is the obvious value in financial terms, lower expenses, access to goods otherwise unavailable, credit for emergencies, etc. There is also the psychological/emotional value of a good credit report. It effects how we view, and feel, about ourselves, and perhaps more importantly how others view us as to the quality of us as a person.

So, there is strong motivation to do whatever it takes to get a "good credit report". It takes a strong conviction in one's own morals and values to override the "cost" of living with bad credit. I am certain many good people view this arena as a "dog eat dog" setting, and only place value on doing whatever it takes to clean their credit reports. I am certian others look at it as no one is getting hurt by their credit repair, and therefore there is no moral "wrong" here. For many others, I am certian this is looked at as "pure business", that morals or values have no place in this process, and it is solely the process, and a matter of how well you utilize the process and procedures.

In the end it is all about personal choice and values; if it is more valuable to a person to maintain their character and integrity, then they will elect the choices that promote that. If the "business" approach is more valuable, they will choose the path of pure procedural benefit.

I am certain a great majority are in the "grey zone", and get battered back and forth. Many people making the best efforts to "do the right things" get discouraged and ask themselves "what's the use", and move to placing less value on the "right thing".

As a student of economics, my belief is that each person will do what gives them the most personal benefit, based upon their own value system. This "benefit" can be moral or charachter based, or it can be quantifiable rewards. There is also the "value equation" of whether the benefits of a "good fight" outweigh the potential rewards. I am certain many people fall into this category as well.

But, to the other aspect of your question, it is easy to see why people would want a "BK" off their credit reports, and perhaps why they would go to the legal limits of the process to remove it. I am fairly certain many of these people truly believe that the BK on their credit reports in not a "fair and accurate" portrayal of them and their charachter.

Those that do elect to "take what is theirs", must be commended for their character and integrity. It takes a very strong person of convictions to carry this mark.

I am also interested to see the views expressed in response to this question.

 

Good post above . . .

 

cap1 if what you posted was true the jails would be busting at the seams.People lie on their credit applications all the time.Most of them enlarge their household income way above the real income they receive.They do this to get a larger credit line.They lie about the time they spent working at their job.They lie about their dependent status etc.Credit companies go by whats on your credit report and not what you put down on your credit application.How many people do you know who are spending time in jail for not being truthful on their credit application.