Credit Reports Galore

Kathleen Chester asked:


 

Planning to get a house loan or buy some big-ticket item for home? For all these you will require your credit report. A credit report includes all the relevant information regarding where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued or arrested, or have filed for bankruptcy. Whether you apply for a job or insurance, they refer to your credit card status to evaluate your applications.

If you do not have a credit report then you must order for one now. A credit card report will make your life much simpler and comfortable. It provides financial security and ability to afford things you like.

You can get your free credit report from the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies which includes Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.

Why is getting a credit report important? The information provided in a credit report is sold by credit agencies to organizations that are evaluating whether to offer credit to individuals or companies. In certain cases, in the United States, insurance, housing, and employment can also be denied based on a negative credit rating.

You can get your free credit report ordered online. Here is some of the important information that you may require to provide in order to get a free credit report from the agencies:

· You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. This is to maintain your individual identity.

· If you have changed your place of stay in the last two years then you may have to provide your previous address along with your present one.

· In order to maintain the security of your file, each nationwide consumer reporting company may ask you for some information that only you would know for example, the amount of your monthly mortgage payment.

· You may be asked for different information by each of the companies because the information each has in your file may come from unlike sources.

Whether you order your free credit report online, by phone, or by mail, it may take longer time than usual to receive your report. It is so because the nationwide consumer reporting company needs more information to confirm your identity.

So, what are you waiting for? Make your financial life more stable and secure. If you still do not have a credit report then order for your free credit report today.



HARRIS

Karen B asked:


The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, was made into law by Congress to make sure that the information on your credit report is legitimate. This Act gives you, as the consumer, many rights that you may not be cognizant of. This is key as a homeowner or as a potential home buyer because your credit report will establish whether or not you qualify for a loan. If you are eligible, the information on your credit report will serve as the basis for what interest rate the mortgage lender offers you. If there are mistakes on your credit report, you could be denied for a loan or offered a higher interest rate than you deserve. Mistakes on your credit report can be costly.

Mistakes on Your Credit Report Often Go Unnoticed Until You Buy a Home

A mistake can linger on your credit report for years and may go by unnoticed until you try to make a major purchase like a home. Some mistakes are caused by the sheer volume of paperwork that the three credit reporting agencies deal with each and every month, while other errors are typos or other clerical errors. There may be a mistake with your social security number, your loan application or even a variation of your name that can create havoc on your credit report.

Learn How to Approach and Correct a Mistake on Your Credit Report

The number of mistakes on credit reports led to the formation of FCRA, but unfortunately many home owners do not understand how to tackle the mistakes that are on their reports. Once you discover an error, it is important to learn what the next steps in correcting your credit are.

These are the rights that FCRA guarantees you:

–If you are denied a loan, that financial institution has to tell you if you are refused because of your credit report.

–You have the right to know at any given time what the contents of your credit report are.

–You have the right to dispute misinformation on your credit report with the credit reporting agencies.

–Information on your credit report that is incorrect must be taken off or corrected.

–You have the right to dispute wrong information with the source.

–Your credit report can not have obsolete information.

–Lenders and other institutions must have your permission to access your credit report.

It is essential to realize that credit reporting agencies report and are not accountable for whether the information on your report is right or wrong. That responsibility remains on the consumer’s shoulders. When you begin a dispute with one of the agencies, keep careful records and always make sure you have a copy of the evidence that you submit to them to dispute the item. Also, look into all three agencies for inaccurate information and start a dispute with all three agencies for each item that is incorrect.

Vigilance is the Optimum Way to Guard Your Credit Report and Good Name

Be aware that you may have to dispute information more than once. Maintain records of these disputes and any supporting evidence you use. It is always a good idea to dispute information at all three bureaus at the same time. These companies do not compare notes on reports and there is no other way of ensuring that all inaccuracies are taken care of. Know your rights and specifics about how long particular data may stay on your credit report. Be vigilant, and you will be able to have confidence in your credit score.



OWEN

Helen Hecker asked:


Today having good credit reflected in your credit report is important in every financial situation you find yourself in as you probably know and knowing a few tips about credit repair can solve a lot of your credit problems. In our world credit determines just how much interest you’ll end up paying on your house, car, truck, etc.

Your credit scores, called FICO, are used by your landlords, your employers and the insurance companies to determine whether you can get an apartment and/or job and even what your insurance rates will be. Yes your insurance agent will make use of your credit information. Your credit report and score will indicate whether you have good credit or bad credit and whether you have to pay a deposit for a cell phone.

Assuming you already have a copy of your credit report, here are a few of the best credit repair tips if you’re having credit problems. If you don’t have a copy you can easily get a free credit report online. You won’t be able to get the score along with the free report though. There are other ways to get your FICO score that you would have to pay for but there are ways to get your score for free.

1. Get a copy of the ‘Fair Credit Reporting Act’ from the federal government. It may sound boring but you don’t have to read the entire legal portion, just understand the basics of the Act. You’ll be well-armed if you plan to fix your credit report. But it’s very important that you get it and read it. It won’t take long.

2. Did you know that any information on your credit report can be disputed? That includes any personal information - public records, any accounts you have of course, even any inquiries. You can dispute anything.

3. Consider credit repair to be a gradual process. Look over the information, your credit card accounts and other accounts. Let’s say you have 15 accounts that you’d like to dispute. Pick just 3 or 4 or so to dispute. Otherwise if you dispute them all at one time the credit bureau or credit reporting agency will not consider your requests seriously.

4. You want to keep your letters of dispute on the simple side. You don’t need to go into the laws, procedures any court rulings or even threaten them with lawsuits if they don’t fix your credit report. Just make it simple.

Just dispute the accounts you have decided to start with - those that need to be removed, updated or changed. Now if your letter is too confusing, there is a good chance it will get tossed. You don’t need to go into any personal tales. Just keep it simple and short.

5. Lastly the ‘procedural request’ - asking for the method of verification. If you get some accounts deleted that’s good. But for those that came back “verified” you can ask for a ‘procedural request.’ The credit reporting agencies and credit bureaus are obligated by law to provide you with the exact method your creditors used to verify the information that they are reporting to the agency on your credit report. Requesting this information, forces the credit bureau to provide you with the information they received from your creditor as valid proof.

The creditor needs to have proof of why if they replied to your dispute stating that your account should remain on your credit report. The creditor rarely ever provides the credit reporting agency or credit bureau with this information. So, by doing this you’re putting pressure on them to prove it. Otherwise they will have to remove it.

Make sure to keep records of everything the bureaus and your creditors send to you in case you find some day that you have to sue them for violating your federal rights. If you follow these credit repair tips you should be well on your way to fixing your credit for good!



BRADY

Ryan asked:


If you’ve recently discovered that that you need to dispute credit report errors, you are not alone. Research shows that 75 percent of credit reports have errors on them, and 1 in 4 credit reports include errors that actually have a negative impact on your credit score. This is no surprise considering that credit report agencies have to manage data for millions of people on a daily bases, and rely on lenders and creditors to provide accurate information.

As a consumer, however, your best interest is protected by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which mandates that if you dispute credit report errors, any information that is erroneous must be acknowledged and removed from your credit report within 30 days.

So how do you go about fixing errors on your credit report? The first thing to do is to access copy of all three of your credit reports from each reporting agency, Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. You will want to compare the information on all three reports since it is likely that some information will be included on one report but not the others.

Once you have reviewed your credit report and found the errors, you will want to contact the credit reporting agencies in writing. Highlight each of the errors on your credit report and attach a copy to your dispute letter. Keep a record of everything you send in case you need to refer to it when following up.

The credit reporting agency is then obligated to contact the credit/lender that indicated the negative information to validate your claim. If the creditor/lender is unable to come up with conclusive evidence that supports their claim, the items will be removed from your credit report and your credit score will immediately improve.



ARNULFO

Stuart Hunter asked:


“It is the purpose of this title to require that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner which is fair and equitable to the consumer, with regard to the confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy, and proper utilization of such information in accordance with the requirements of this title.”

In the words of the U.S. Congress, the previous paragraph is the purpose of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In short, the Fair Credit Reporting Act is designed to help protect consumers against unfair practices within the credit reporting system.

While the mission of the FCRA was a noble one, a quick look around today’s credit society shows the results have fallen well short of expectations. What follows is how the FCRA has failed to produce a fair credit system for today’s consumers.

Detailing the Failures of the Credit Reporting System

1) Accuracy – It is well documented that credit reports contain errors but it bears repeating. Recent studies show that almost 80% of all credit reports contain factual errors such as duplicate listings, incorrect dates, tradelines placed on the wrong person’s credit reports, and omitted positive credit accounts.

These studies also indicate that 25% of credit reports containing errors significant enough to result in a credit denial.

How fair is a credit system that can cause a person to get declined for a loan or force them to pay higher interest rates than are necessary based on their actual credit risk? True, you have the right to dispute these inaccurate items with the credit bureaus, but this chore is not necessarily easy or foolproof. Depending on the nature of the erroneous items on your credit reports, credit repair can be a frustrating and time consuming ordeal that you are forced into because of no fault of your own.

2) Relevancy – While they do not say it directly, the credit bureaus’ creation of the VantageScore is evidence enough that the current FICO based credit scoring models are not as relevant as they could be. According to Experian spokesman Donald Girard, the VantageScore is “the most sophisticated, highly predictive scoring model that’s available in the marketplace” and as a consequence the much more popular FICO score is less predictive.

One of the flaws in the FICO score that the VantageScore tried to fix is the impact that very old credit accounts have on the credit score. According to Dr. Bonnie Guiton Hill, advisor to President Bush on consumer affairs, “it is our understanding that computer models that predict credit worthiness find most information that is more than two years old nonessential.” This is why newly created scoring models like the VantageScore are beginning to ignore credit information that is over three years old. It does not serve to accurately determine your credit risk.

So why have lenders been so slow to adopt scoring models such as the VantageScore? They claim it is because FICO is ingrained in the current credit system and has stood the test of time. A more cynical answer is that these lenders are not willing to sacrifice the huge profits they make from charging higher interest rates on loans granted to people who are a relatively low credit risk.

Of course, this cynicism is not simply the result of a general and unfounded grudge. It is born from the observation that seemingly every quirk and inconsistency in the credit reporting system falls in favor of the lenders. For example, when looked at logically, it makes sense to close unused credit cards. Not too long ago, financial experts suggested people do exactly this to make your credit score look better by showing your lack of need for unsecured credit.

But now we know that closing those accounts can actually lower your credit score because FICO rewards you for having multiple accounts and a large amount of credit at your disposal. So while closing accounts seems to be the financially responsible thing to so, it is probably more than an odd coincidence that this behavior which makes you a less profitable consumer for banks and credit card companies it punished by FICO.

The same goes for paying off installment loans early and voluntarily lowering credit limits. Both of these actions seem inline with what we would expect from the ideal consumer, but neither will have a positive impact on your credit score. Early payment of installment loans, another common goal of a financially responsible consumer that diminishes the profits of lenders, is not noted on your credit reports. And contrary to what you would think, lowering credit limits would lower your credit score because as alluded to above, you are rewarded for having multiple credit accounts and lots of credit at your disposal.

But by another quirk of the FICO credit scoring model, you are rewarded for having multiple credit accounts, but you are punished for seeking new credit. Consumers are told that inquiries are added to your credit reports each time you apply for credit so other lenders can see that you may be overextending yourself or crashing. But isn’t it convenient that inquiries will lower your credit score at the exact time when you are looking to qualify for new lines of credit? FICO wants you to have multiple lines of credit, but in trying to appease the scoring model, you will temporarily lower your credit score allowing lenders to charge you higher interest rates.

It seems no matter what you do, the deck is stacked against the consumer.

So while the VantageScore is a step in the right direction, it is still a long way from producing truly relevant results. This is because the VantageScore maintains many of the same scoring quirks exhibited by FICO and still uses the same basic, and very limited, variables for determining your credit score such as payment history, amounts owed, and length of credit history.

Your credit score is found by taking these variables as recorded in your credit reports, plugging them into a predictive model, and calculating a single three digit number. A late payment for example will be entered into the formula and will lower your credit score a set amount based on the amount of time it was late and how long ago the late payment was reported.

The fundamental flaw in this model, however, is that there is no accounting for why the payment was late. Whether you were late in making a payments because the lender did not send you a bill, because the bills were sent to the wrong address, because you wrote the wrong amount on the check, because your checks bounced, or because you blew all your money on illegal drugs; it is all the same in the eyes of the credit scoring model. Even if you have a sloppy lender to blame for your late payments, your credit worthiness in the eyes of lenders will be the same as a person saddled with a serious drug addiction.

3) Proper Utilization – Given how common it is for a credit score to be a gross misrepresentation of a person’s credit worthiness, it could be argued that the pervasiveness of credit scores in the financial market is improper. But in today’s society, the use of credit scores goes well beyond determining loan amounts and interest rates.

Employers, landlords, insurance companies and others may request to see your credit score. In today’s society your ability to get a certain job, rent an apartment, or qualify for reasonable insurance premium can all be dependent on your credit score.

Improper is a subjective term, but being passed over for a job because of completely irrelevant and possibly inaccurate negative credit items in your credit reports that are plugged into a flawed credit scoring model to produce a credit score that is not indicative of your actual credit worthiness fits the bill.

The FCRA Made Improvements, but there is Still a Long Way to Go

The FCRA’s failure to produce a system where the “accuracy, relevancy, and proper utilization” of your information is protected has resulted in a credit reporting system that is hardly “fair and equitable” to you as a consumer. But in defense of Congress, the FCRA has been heavily influenced by deep-pocketed industry lobbyists. In fact, when the FCRA was originally passed in 1971, Senator William Proxmire, one of the bills primary sponsors, felt defeated at what had become of his original intentions for the bill.

Since that time, the FCRA has been amended to become more and more consumer friendly, but there is still a ways to go and as was the case in 1971, those in the credit industry are still keenly interested in maintaining the status quo.

While the credit bureaus are no longer able to record information about you such as your ethnicity and religion, they also are not required to collect other personal information that is relevant to your credit worthiness. If you are a model citizen who has worked with the same company for 10 years, has a perfect criminal record and makes more than enough money to cover your expenses, it is fairly obvious that you are more worthy of credit than a career criminal who is a continual burden on the system. But none of this information is recorded by the credit bureaus or used when calculating your credit score. If you and the career criminal have the same types of accounts on your credit reports, your credit scores will be the same.

Also, while you now have the ability to see what information is contained within your credit reports, you do not have the ability to learn any more than the very basics of how this information is used to formulate your credit score. What impact will paying off a past due debt have on your credit? Which credit cards should be paid down first? What effect will shopping for a new loan have on your credit score? We have vague, observation based answers for these questions, but the exact formula is unknown and is subject to change at any time.

Finally, you have the right to dispute the questionable items in your credit reports, but you don’t have the right for this process to be easy or necessarily effective. Depending on your unique situation, credit repair can be as easy as submitting an online form or as difficult as tracking down creditors, fighting with collections agencies, and possibly involving legal intervention. The very entities who profit most from inaccurate credit reporting are the ones who played such a big role in watering down the FCRA and continue to resist consumer attempts to add equity to the credit system. It is these entities you are forced to contend with when working to enforce your right to a fair and accurate credit report.



RANDY

Sandra Stammberger asked:


Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act the reporting company and the information provider are responsible for correcting any credit report disputes. However, they must first be made aware that you have credit report disputes. A person can report and correct errors in their credit report by following two easy steps.

Step one is to report your error to the consumer reporting company in writing and make them aware that you have a credit report dispute. Make sure you include all your personal information like your name, address, and a list of each credit report dispute that have. Remember to send your letter by certified mail to prove that you have initiated a credit report dispute. The consumer reporting company will then investigate your credit report disputes and respond in 30 days. If they find there is an error and the credit report dispute can be resolved by correcting it then they will forward the information to the other credit bureaus and your credit report will be revised.

After reviewing your credit report dispute the consumer reporting company may decide that they disagree with the items raised in your credit report dispute and decline to pursue the matter any further. They will send you all of the evidence that they have and the reasons for not pursuing your credit report dispute, along with a copy of your credit report.

Another way to handle a credit report dispute is to contact the particular creditor directly. Again, send the creditor a list of your credit report disputes in writing. Be sure to call your creditor and ask for the specific address of where credit report dispute issues need to be sent to ensure that there is no unnecessary delay in the credit report dispute being investigated. Many companies have a separate address for handling credit report disputes and it can take time for it to be forwarded to the correct address if you do not send it there initially. If you are correct in your credit report dispute and there is an error they will report the error to the credit bureaus and send you notification of the change.

Below is a sample credit report dispute letter :

Date

Your Name

Your Address, City, State, Zip Code

Complaint Department

Name of Company

Address

City, State, Zip Code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. I have circled the items I dispute on the attached copy of the report I received.

This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be removed (or request another specific change) to correct the information.

Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Your name

Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing.)



VINCE

justin narin asked:


Have you been turned down for a loan recently? Have you applied for store credit and been refused? Did you really want that car and find out that because of your ‘credit score’ that they would have to require an unreasonable down payment?

Credit reports are designed to help businesses evaluate the risk factor in giving you money or valuable products on a line of credit.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s credit reporting agencies. The act is enforced with regard to the consumer’s rights and requiring new responsibilities for the credit reporting agencies.

For example, a reporting agency must give you a copy of your report and they must provide a list of every inquiry about your credit report within the last year.

The agencies collect data on personal identification (name, address, social security number, current employer, etc), payment histories with all current and closed lines of credit that details how much you owe, when you’ve paid on time and what, if any have been reported to a collection agency.

The final two items are all inquiries that have been made on your credit report as well as anything that is considered a matter of public record such as bankruptcies, foreclosures and tax liens.

To repair or report errors on your credit report, you must obtain a copy of your personal report and score. The reports themselves are not uniform from company to company.

Experian may not list all the data of Equifax and vice versa. So, be sure to obtain credit history reports from the same company as the creditor who turned down your application. In some states, that may require a small fee, but after September 1, 2005 all states will have to be in compliance with providing a free credit report.

Once you have the report, verify the information. Every report is also scored. Scoring is the system that creditors use to determine your credit experience. These scores are valid for all three companies and are uniform in value.

Credit scores range from 375 to 900 points, but those numbers mean little on their own. A score of 650 or better usually indicates a very good credit history. Scores between 620 and 650 are considered average, while scores below 620 may prevent a person from getting a loan. If they do receive one, it is likely one with prohibitive interest attached.

If you look at all the information on your credit report and it’s correct, then you are faced with having to improve either your payment history, lower the number of debts.

If the score is low because you possess very little credit history, investing in a secured credit card can help generate good feedback to your credit report or a co-signer who can provide the creditor with a good credit history as security for your lack of one.

Inaccurate information, however, such as reported late payments that you disagree with or a listing for a debt that is not yours is repairable. Some companies offer debt consolidation or credit repair. Before getting involved with either type, be sure you thoroughly check out the company to avoid scams.

Doing the credit repair on your own is simple enough. Write a letter, detailing the inaccuracy to the reporting company. Send the letter and copies (copies only) of any documents supporting your claim to the credit-reporting agency. Some agencies allow you to do this online through their websites; however, if you need to send them hard data it’s better to use regular postal mail.

The credit agencies are then required by law to investigate the item in question, usually within 30 days. They must forward all information to the reporting creditor and if they cannot verify the veracity of their report or the creditor does not respond, the report will then be changed and updated to reflect the data provided.

The company must then notify you in writing of the change as well as provide you with an updated credit report.

It’s important to note, that if there is an inaccuracy on Experian that there is likely a similar one on Trans Union and Equifax. Each company must be notified, separately for each item.

Also, if you have more than one item you are disputing on your credit report, then you may have to send a separate letter for each instance, to be certain that each item is addressed.

While this can be a time-consuming task at first glance, it is the best way to remove inaccuracies from your credit history and repair misinformation damage to your credit report. If you request it, the reporting agency must also send notices of any corrections to anyone who received your report in the previous six months.

If the negative information reported to your credit history is accurate, then only time can repair the damage of the negative score. Most information rolls off after 7 to 10 years, but felony convictions, information on jobs paying you over $75,000 a year or credit of more than $150,000 has no time limit.

If you had a car repossessed, you’ll have to wait about 8 years to see the repossession removed from your credit history. Open credit lines, whether the information is negative or positive, will remain active on your credit history whether you actively use the credit or not.

Applying for credit is never a fun, even for people who are considered to have good credit. There is always an inherent fear of rejection by the creditor you are applying for. If you are concerned about your credit history, keep an eye on it.

It’s recommended that you check your credit history once a year at least, because in an age of identity theft, negative credit history can be part of the collateral damage.

For more articles and suggestions, visit http://www.bills.com/credit-report-errors-articlebills/



RICHARD

cynthiastewart asked:


The credit report in United States is a document prepared by each of the three main credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This report is absolutely essential to get any kind of loan from banks and other agencies. The credit report determines your credit score which is an indication of your financial health. A lot of misconceptions prevail regarding the credit report and credit score. In this article we try to clear some of these misconceptions.

1. The credit reporting agencies make random guesses for credit score

The credit reporting agencies do not arbitrarily decide on your credit score. In fact every loan, mortgage or credit card you take is closely monitored by the financial institution that provides it. The way you tackle your debt, repayment and interest rates is tracked by the company and sent to the credit rating agencies to calculate your credit score. The software used to calculate your credit score is FICO (Fair Issacs Corporation) after the people who designed it. It is a fairly complicated piece of software that decides on your credit score based on established parameters.

2. The credit reporting agencies are biased

No, not at all. No consideration whatsoever is given to factors like race, gender, nationality, marital status, or religion. It is your finances that matter. The feedback received by credit rating agencies from your banks, lenders etc. are the only things that matter. The idea is to establish your credit trustworthiness.

3. I have to pay heavy fees to credit reporting agencies to get my credit report

This is grossly untrue as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) makes it mandatory for each of the credit reporting agencies to send a free copy of your credit report on your request each year. So, you can have a copy of your credit report absolutely free of cost once a year. If you require more than that you have to pay a small fee to the respective credit reporting agency. In fact, it is advised that you regularly check your credit report. It is indeed one of the best financial practices.

4. My credit report is available to public

Nothing could be more incorrect than this fact. Your credit report is Top Secret information. The lending institutions when they are in a process of giving you some loan can get a glimpse at it and that too with your permission.

5. The credit report prepared by the agencies is final and can’t be altered

If you find any errors in your credit report, you can report it to the credit bureau and get it investigated. If there are errors, your credit report will be corrected and your credit score will reflect the corrections. To make sure that your credit score represents your true credit history it is advised that you regularly check your credit report and scrutinize it correctly. If any discrepancies are noted, immediately contact the issuing agency and get it corrected.

By debunking these misconceptions regarding the credit report a person can get more focused on maintaining a good credit score and healthy financial state.



IRWIN

Robert F. Brennan, Esq. asked:


The Federal Credit Reporting Act ["FCRA"] makes it mandatory for Credit Reporting Agencies such as Experian, Equifax and Trans Union “to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information in the [consumer's credit] report….” A willful and negligent failure to do so is violation number 1 of the FCRA. One wonders then when in fact it turns out that certain Credit Reporting Agency ["CRA"] procedures, or lack thereof, assure maximum possible inaccuracy of information in the consumer’s credit report. Are we to take it that the words of a federal law mean exactly the opposite of what they say? Legally, philosophically, morally, one would think not.

A “trade line” on your credit report provides certain standard items of information about an account you have, such as the name of the company ( say a department store, for example), the company’s address, the account number, the current balance on the account, the terms of the credit, and so forth. Any of this information could in fact turn out to be incorrect, but the item of information we will address in this article is that definite and critical identifier for the CRAs, the account number.

One would think that such a mundane piece of information as an account number couldn’t possibly cause that much trouble, and in a sense that is true. What actually causes the problem is when the account number for the same account gets changed, and sometimes morphed repeatedly, so that the identity of the actual account is greatly obscured. When this is allowed to happen, the CRAs’ super computers, employing simple logic but lacking intelligence, assume that an account is the same, or a match, when it has the same account number, and that it is different when it does not. Therein can lie the source of much headache, aggravation and damages for a consumer, and much denial of responsibility from the CRAs.

A example would be helpful here to illustrate. Let us say that Consumer A is receiving bills for a $600.00 balance on a department store credit card. Consumer A never applied for such a card and therefore the debt cannot be his. He suspects someone stole his identity and opened the account using his social security number and other private information. After numerous phone calls and letters back and forth, the department store agrees that it is not Consumer A’s debt after all and tells Consumer A not to worry about it, that they’ll “take care of it”. Naturally, Consumer A is now relieved and assumes that it will be “taken care of”, i..e., they will stop billing him for the invalid debt and it will be deleted from his credit report. The account number, by the way — let us say it is 1234567890 and that is the way the CRAs are reporting it on Consumer A’s credit reports. Consumer A notifies the CRAs by certified mail of the situation, along with documentation, and they all delete the previously reported trade line within a month.

About four months go by and Consumer A is dismayed to receive in the mail a letter from a Debt Collection Company named “Pit Bull”. Pit Bull, in its letter, states that it is collecting a debt on behalf of the department store (the same one that earlier told Consumer A not to worry about it, that they would take care of it and delete it from

his credit report.) Pit Bull shows the debt now as $850, having tacked on a $50 penalty and a $200 “default charge” or attorney’s fees), but informs Consumer A that, although he owes immediately the full amount of $850, they will take $450 as a full payment. They can’t guarantee Consumer A that the department store will reinstate him in good graces vis-à-vis his credit card (the one that was never his in the first place) but if he pays them the $450 at least they will stop dunning him. The account number on the letter is now 123DEPTSTRE890. A few months later Pit Bull furnishes the account 1234567890 as 123DEPTSTRE890 to the CRAs, showing the account as a “charge off”, amount $850, and a note that the trade line will be reported for the next seven years!

Consumer A is now distraught. He calls the department store and reiterates his story that the department store had earlier investigated, agreed with him that he did not owe the debt and that “they would take care of it” for him. These words come back to haunt Consumer A as the representative now tells him that they are sorry, the account is now with collections, and that they cannot interfere as it is now out of their hands. Consumer A also tries to clarify the situation with Pit Bull but, other than being cursed at and told to “pay the damn bill”, he gets nowhere. He disputes with the CRAs with certified letters, giving a full account of the situation and a statement that he categorically does not, and never did, owe the debt. Two of the three CRAs shortly thereafter delete the trade line from Consumer A’s report, but one of them does not. That one informs our consumer that they checked with the furnisher (Pit Bull) and the furnisher “verified” with them that the information they provided on the debt was valid.

Some more months pass and Consumer A starts feeling frantic. He tries to get refinancing on his home but is told he’ll have to clear up the derogatory trade line showing on one of his credit reports as a first step. He is also denied credit on a couple occasions which he suspects resulted from the same derogatory reporting.

Consumer A starts religiously checking his credit report, and discovers that now the account is being furnished by another collection company, Viper, Inc., and the account number has changed again, this time to “732******”. Our consumer becomes by this point very discouraged. He tries communicating with Viper, Inc. but they are just as nasty and, if anything, more venomous than Pit Bull.

At this point Consumer A finds an attorney firm that will take his case and initiate a lawsuit on his behalf. Among other things, the Complaint accuses the remaining CRA of a “reinsertion violation”. What the CRA had done in this example was “willfully and negligently violated the reinsertion requirements of 15 U.S.C. Section 1681i(a)(5)(B) in reinserting derogatory information onto plaintiff’s credit report after he had previously disputed it, without certification or notice.” (Even though the account number kept changing, it was still the same account being referred to all along. The CRA in question deleted, then reinserted the same account without notifying Consumer A, a no-no.)

After the account is deleted and then reinserted, the CRA fails to notify Consumer A within 5 business days that they are re-inserting the account information. The ironic twist to all this is that the CRA then argues that the “reinsertion” of the account was not their fault because it had a different account number, and how are they supposed to know that it was the same account?

How, indeed! It was the CRA’s own regulations, or lack thereof, that allowed the reinsertion to occur. The CRA argued that if they had known it was the same account, then they wouldn’t have reinserted it, and yet the CRA is the one who allowed Pit Bull, and Viper, Inc., and whichever entities came afterwards, to keep changing the account number on the same account; in short, in effectively disguising it from the CRA’s computer which only matches identities, not similarities or differences.

It is bad enough that the CRAs frequently take the word of disreputable or highly questionable collection entities over that of disputing consumers (See earlier article, The Seamier Side of the Credit Reporting Business) it is unconscionable that the CRAs allow collection entities to in effect cloak the identity of accounts even from themselves, the CRAs, and then blame it on the same system that they helped create! This bungling would be laughable if it didn’t happen to cause consumers so much frustration and pain.



EUGENE

Mel Jensen asked:


Every year consumers have the right to review their credit report for free. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) provide you with your credit report. It is recommended that you take the time at least once a year to review your credit report. You can obtain information regarding the FCRA or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at www.FTC.gov.

The website can provide you with information regarding your rights and your right to obtain your annual credit report for free. A credit report provides information on where you live and your credit history. It also provides information on any legal issues you may have included being sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy.

This information is used to evaluate applications for credit, insurance, employment or renting a home. It is extremely important that you take the time to review your credit report and dispute any information that is not accurate on your report. This is often called disputing and can be done by the individual but is often very tedious and time consuming. A legitimate credit repair company such as Ovation Credit Services can obtain information from you about which items on your credit report is inaccurate and dispute that information for you until the information is correct. Credit repair is a legal way for you to correct information on your credit report that is inaccurate.

You can obtain your FREE credit report by one of three methods:

1. You can go online to annualcreditreport.com (be sure that you spell this accurately since there are many imposter sites).

2. You can phone 1-877-322-8228 and provide them with the necessary information.

3. You can obtain an Annual Credit Report Request Form (generally online at www.ftc.gov) and mail that to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

No matter which way that you choose to obtain your credit report, you will need to provide some information. That information is your name, Social Security Number and date of birth. Sometimes you will need to also provide additional information to verify your identity. That information may include information that only you would know such as your monthly mortgage payment amount.

There are many imposter sites that will offer you a free credit report but only if you purchase one of their products. The authorized site may have some offers or additional products for sale but you are not required to purchase them to obtain your free credit report. That free credit report will have information from the three major credit bureaus.



WILBURN