Financial Credit Bureaus You Should Know About

So, you thought there were only 3 credit bureaus. Nope, though there are the main 3, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion that report your credit, there are some more that report on your banking activity.  I am sure you have heard of them and you probably have a report with something on at least one of them.

There are 3 main banking credit reporting agencies but, there are more than just those 3, and most of them are related to or share information with at least 1 of the other ones.  I'm talking about the ones the banks use to decide if they will open an account for you.  When you want to open a new checking account, many times they pull your credit from at least one of the big 3 credit bureaus, but they will usually pull your information from the financial reporting agencies as well.  Here is a list of some of them:

• ChexSystems.  This used to be Scan.  They have partnerships or business relationships with a lot of banks and merchants.  It is also now owned by eFunds, which leads the nation in electronic payments and risk management.
• TeleCheck.  They are part of the First Data family.  They work like ChexSystems and many banks and credit unions use their services.
• Early Warning Services (EWS).  They are also now in partnership with eFunds.  Many banks and credit unions use this. Sometimes you can open a bank account and then a week or two later it will be closed or frozen with pending closure because the bank's loss mitigation/risk management department pulled a report from EWS.
• Fidelity National Information Services.  Formerly Certegy, a real pain in the butt company, and now they are partnered with eFunds and Telecheck.
• Cross Check.  They partner with Telecheck.

So you see, there are so many different bureaus that have access to your personal information.  The ones I listed above are all considered Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA)  and have to comply with the FCRA.  This is good for you because the FCRA gives you the right to dispute anything on your report and they, like the big 3 credit bureaus, have to make sure that the information they report is 100% correct.  You are also entitled to a free report every year and a free report if you have been denied an account if it was based on information they supplied to the bank you applied at.

They sometimes can be more difficult to get negative entries removed from and many times they will try to only allow information to be removed if their subscriber, the bank that put the information there, tells them to.  But you can dispute, and you can get those bad reports removed.

I will follow up later with some more information about these financial CRA's at a later date and will give you some tips on disputing on the crap that shows up and makes your banking life a pain.  Hopefully, you will learn what you need to do to be able to open a new account, if that has been a problem for you, so you don't have to keep going to check cashing stores and paying ridiculous fees just to be able to use your hard earned money.  You'll be able to walk into a bank with confidence and sit down to open an account without fear, knowing that when they run your identifying information, you'll receive a handshake and congratulations for your new account!

How Long Does It Take To Fix My Credit?

This is a question I get asked quite often. There is no way to put a date or time period to it. There is a general time line that you can expect, but you see, you are not in control of how soon or how long it takes for the credit bureaus or collectors/creditors to respond to your dispute.

So, here I want to explain a basic time line to give you a general idea.

• You get your credit report - same day usually, unless you request it by mail from the bureaus, then expect 15 - 30 days.
• Review and highlight the negatives on your report. Categorize them into collections, charge offs, and judicial. Usually, collections are 3rd party collectors, charge offs should be original creditors, and judicial will be tax liens, bk's, judgments, etc. Write their correspondence address on your list as you will be using this on your letters and for mailing. This can be done the same day you get your credit report, so you are still at 1 day.
• Start writing letters. You will write one type of letter demanding validation from the 3rd party collectors. You will write a different type of letter to original creditors. Now, you can demand validation from them, or if its something simple like 1 or several late pays, you can be specific and just tell them you want to validate the late pays because you don't recall ever being late. Then you request for them to remove the late pays from your report. Many times they do just that. Instead of the hassle of validating, they just remove them, especially if they are old.
• For the judicial entries, guess what? You can actually demand validation for those baddies! The thing is, courts don't verify or validate, so I would be shocked to hear that someone got validation back from the court. Tax liens are a different story though. Those would be disputed with the IRS. You would demand validation the same as you would of a 3rd party collector. That is what they are. The IRS is a collector and not a government agency. They've done a good job at fooling everyone, haven't they! Writing the letters can take you anywhere from a few hours to 2 days at most. So, I would say, you are now on Day 2.
• Now that you've finished the letters, you will need to mail them. These letters need to go CMRR (Certified Mail, Return Receipt). So, some time before you start your credit repair, or after, just trying to cut time here, pick up some green cards and green and white certified mailing supplies from the post office. They are free! It should take you no more than an hour to get everything addressed - envelope, green card and receipt, and ready to go to the post office. You do need to go to the post office to mail these. Cost is under $6 a letter. Okay, that is still day 2.
• Collectors and creditors will have 30 days to respond to your dispute. But, you should receive your green cards back within a week - 2 weeks, tops.
• Next step is to write your letters of disputes to the credit bureaus. These do not go out before you get the green cards back. You must wait till you get those first. 1 letter to each Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. You can dispute every item on each one at the same time. But, DO NOT DISPUTE THE BK AT THIS TIME!!! So, getting the letters written, envelopes addressed and mailed, 1 day. You're up to about 2 weeks.
• The credit bureaus are to respond to your dispute in 30 days. So, the time line now is about 45 days 

You should see a little improvement at this time. You will repeat this process again and again, to get things off your credit. Each dispute with the credit bureaus needs to attack the negative item differently so that they don't label it frivolous and stop the process for 6 months.

The disputing process is a little more detailed than what I've given here because I'm just giving general info, but figure a 30 - 45 day cycle for each round of disputes till you get most or all of the items off.  Expect 2 to 3 rounds at the least and more like 6 -12 months, sometimes longer when there are BK's and things like that.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or email me. I'll respond as soon as possible, usually within a day or two, many times, the same day!

FTC Warns 18 Websites for Violating New Rules for Free Credit Reports

This is a great article from creditinfocenter.com, written by Meredith Simonds. I'm glad she's letting the public know about this and I'm glad the FTC is actually doing something useful!

Shannon
(This article was originally linked but links have been removed as requested by creditinfocenter.com, due to Google's webmaster guidelines.  I would still like to give credit where credit is due, so you can still find this article there, you'll just have to copy/paste and do a search on their site)

FTC Warns 18 Websites for Violating New Rules for Free Credit Reports

July 28th, 2010 ·

by Meredith Simonds


Of all the advice for protecting your credit, regular monitoring of your credit report is at the top of the list. It’s so important, in fact, that the federal government requires the three main credit reporting agencies to give you a free copy of your report every year. Unfortunately, many consumers are confused by sites offering these “free” credit reports in exchange for other paid services. The government passed a new law to help consumers out, but at least 18 websites are breaking the rules and the feds aren’t standing for it.
Many websites display ads for people to order the free credit report they are entitled to every 12 months from each of the three credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. However, to process your request, some of these sites require the purchase of other services. Complaints by confused consumers finally led to the passage of a law requiring the following verbiage to appear at the top of any page on which an ad appears for a free credit report:

You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.

Obviously, this is a huge deterrent to anyone who was considering requesting their report through said website. Certainly it will cut into the profits of those that have grown accustomed to making money off services attached to the “free” credit report request. But for those sites that were simply offering a link to a free report as a service to its readers, this new law will only serve to increase credibility.
Apparently at least 18 sites were counting on lax enforcement of the new law, as the FTC recently sent warning letters to 18 websites that have yet to post the required text at the top of the page. The Consumerist lists the sites here.
Bottom line, the safest and surest way to request your free credit report is to do so directly through the only government-authorized website. If you have not requested your free credit report within the last 12 months, you may do so now through AnnualCreditReport.com.

If The Credit Bureau Verifies Your Bad Credit Dispute

If you've been working on repairing your credit, it is highly likely that when you get your reports back from the credit bureaus, you will see, or have seen, that they have verified one or several of the disputed negative items. This is actually a common occurrence in the process. There is a simple explanation for this, though, it's not a delightful reason.
 
When you make your dispute, you may explain in detail why the item should be removed from your credit report. The FCRA demands that the bureaus verify the accuracy of what you are disputing with the provider of that information. However, they don't call them or send a copy of your letter, or even electronically question the provider with the same specifics that you presented in your dispute. Instead, they electronically reduce your dispute down to a general 2 digit code that represents the "category" of your dispute. There are no details included, just the code.
 
So, they send this code electronically to the provider of the information, who then has to reply to the bureaus with a code back agreeing that the information was not accurate or they use a code to say, "yep, we verify that our information is correct". The credit bureaus have 30 days to get back to you to inform you of the results of their "investigation". Doesn't really sound like an investigation though, does it?

Now, you have rights under the FCRA to demand from them proof of the investigation and their method of verification. You can request the name of the person they spoke to, their title, and their contact information. What they will then send you is a basic form letter saying that they electronically verified, and that's all they are going to do for you. So, you will have to demand again that they provide the method of verification, but this time, you must do it correctly. Better yet, do it right the first time, when they send the form letter, send the demand again with an intent to sue letter.
 
You are probably wondering how to do this the right way. The way I do it is, I include the definition of verification from Black's Law dictionary in the letter. I include the law from the FCRA that gives me the right to receive their method of verification. I also include case law for each of the bureaus that the courts shot them down for verification that does not meet the standards of the FCRA. I also include an intent to sue for willful non-compliance with the FCRA.

If you have contacted the original creditor regarding the account you are disputing, get the contact name and information of the person that you talked to. If they do not have the information, ask them to put it in writing and send it to you. Once they have sold it to a collection company, 99% of the time, they do not have the information on the alleged account. 

Send a copy of this letter to the bureaus along with your demand for method of validation and intent to sue letters. They are not going to contact them because they don't have time for that. Most likely, at this point, they will remove the negative credit from your report. If not, you should follow through with either a complaint to the attorney general of your state, the better business bureau, and/or sue them in small claims court. You could actually, if the damages add up enough, sue them in Federal Court, because the FCRA is a federal law and they violated it!

One more thing, just because they reduce your dispute down to a 2 digit code, don't skimp on your dispute.  This is going to be proof that they have not even attempted to verify your dispute accurately.  Usually the code they use is so general and it does not come close to expressing the information you gave them. This can be used against them.

What Is Debt Validation?

What is "debt validation"?  You will need to know what this is if you decide you want to repair your credit or get collectors off your back.  I am going to explain it to you based on what the law expects from debt collectors. You will request these things from the collectors in a letter to them, sent CMRR (Certified Mail Return Receipt).  This is what the FDCPA constitutes as Validation:

1. They need to identify the Original Creditor
2. They need to disclose what the money they say is owed, is for
3. They need to explain how they calculated the total they allege is owed
4. They need to send the contract with your authentic signature agreeing to pay them what they say you owe
5. They need to prove that the alleged account is not out of the Statute of Limitations
6. They need to supply their license numbers and registered agent information
7. They need to show they are licensed to collect in your state.

 Number 1 is self explanatory.  Number 2 is possibly a credit card, loan, services rendered, etc.  Number 3 is to make sure they are not adding additional fees.  They are only allowed to go after monies owed to the original creditor, not their added collection charges and junk fees they make up to pad their desired profits.  Number 4 is the contract between you and the original creditor.  They will never send you a contract between you and them because they don't have one, unless you signed an agreement with them ~ which you should NEVER EVER  do! 

Number 5, every state has a statute of limitations. This is the the length of time that the state allows a debt to remain active.  It starts at the date of last activity, the date that you last made a payment.  California is 4 years.  You can look up your state statutes to find out their limit.  The last two items (numbers 6 and 7) do not apply to every state.  Some states do not require collectors to be licensed to conduct business in their state.  These states are: California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

One thing that is great about validation is that Collector's rarely have a copy of the original contract from the original creditor.  But more importantly, they don't have a contract with you!  Why would you agree to pay a company monies that they claim you owe when you never entered into a contract with them?

Validation is a great weapon against third party collection companies.  You see, the law says that until they provide validation when requested, they cannot legally continue collection activity.  Actions that are considered "collection activity" are things like:

• Sending you a bill
• Calling you at work, home or cell
• Contacting people who they think may know you
• Contacting your employer
• Reporting to the credit bureaus after you put them on notice to validate
• And my favorite(!) Verifying with the credit bureaus

Any of these activities by them after you have requested validation from them and have the green card from the post office back, is a violation of the law.  Your follow up letter to them should include that they have violated the law, call them out on each violation and attach a $1000 penalty for each one.  You can demand that they now either provide full validation or remove the item from your credit report and pay you a reduced amount to make you go away.  Let them know you know your rights and advise them that you are reserving the right to sue them for those violations and damages and mental anguish, for which there is no maximum limitation.

It would serve you well also to include a limited cease and desist phrase in your letter.  This tells them that you will only allow communication from them in writing from now on.  It will benefit you to keep everything in writing.  Paper trail.  Evidence you'll need, should you sue or counter sue them.

Collections, Charge Off Required to Approve Short Sale - Part 3

Well, we covered dealing with the original creditors and collectors, now we're going to talk about the credit bureau.  This is what you are going to do to remove the collection entry from your credit report.

This process is what is called the 1 - 2 Punch.  After you send the letter to the collection company, and you will be sending that CMRR, which means Certified Mail, Return Receipt, you are going to wait to get that green card back. When you get that back, you know that the collection company has received your letter.  Now you will send to the credit bureaus, whomever is reporting this collection, sometimes just 1 or 2, usually all 3.  

You will dispute this by telling the bureaus that you do not now, nor have you ever, entered into a contract with scumbag collection company and that they need to see an actual contract signed by you to verify, or remove the entry immediately.  It is at this point that I also insert the definition of "verify" from Black's Law Dictionary into the letter.  What the definition of "verify" says is (and I'm going to paraphrase here) the person who verifies must have 1st hand knowledge (which they don't, they are 3rd party) and  be willing to testify under oath in a court of law.  That's a real simple example of what the law says, but that's the main gist of it.

I also tell them that should they claim to verify, according to the law they must provide verification proof. This means that they are supposed to send you the name, title, and contact information for the person who verified the entry.  The truth is, bureaus break the law here at this point all the time. There is case law against all 3 because of insufficient verification.  It's all done electronically and they can't provide that contact information.  So if you're trying to  prepare for a case against them as well, this is one of the violations they will almost always commit.

Now, the reason this is called the 1 - 2 punch is that the law says that collectors must cease collection activity when they receive a demand for validation.  Verifying with the credit bureaus is considered collection activity, according to the law (FDCPA).  So, many times you will remove this entry on the first shot out, because they can't verify within 30 days with the bureau, as a result of not being able to validate with you.  Oh, how I wish that was always the case.  The  truth is, credit bureaus and collection companies break the law - hard to believe, huh!

The bureaus will play the blame game and collection companies will play stupid.  That doesn't hold up in court though, so always keep copies of everything you send and document, document, document.  Okay, should you have to send a second or 3rd letter to the bureaus, include a Notice of Fraud. You need to put them on notice that they are now a party to fraud by verifying something that cannot be validated because you have no contract with the collector. Put in a self executing contract, that says they realize their actions or in-actions will cause them to be held liable and that you will sue them.

I'm not going to say that everything always comes off this way, but the truth is, most stuff does.  They don't seem to mind threats of being sued. I'm sure they see threats of suit everyday.  But, when you put the law in black and white, incorporated into your letters, there is a human being that is reading it and updating the file.  So, though there may be no decency left at the corporate level, hopefully you will get a data entry person reading your letter with some respect for the law.

I hope this helps many people fight back and improve their credit scores.  I hope that it helps ease the pain of some of the short sale drama lenders put people through.   Remember again, keep copies of everything you receive or send, keep your receipts and green cards from the certified mailings, and always document.  This includes phone calls: name of company, name of person speaking, time, date, what was said.  You may need it some day.  If they ever try to sue you, file a counter suit and show up at court and show your documented proof that you have tried to validate and they have refused to comply with the law. Then, not only should it be removed from your credit report, you'll make some money for your efforts and their lawlessness.

Collections, Charge Off Required to Approve Short Sale - Part 2

Here is where I'm going to show you how to remove the collection account you get after the short sale of your house closes. Timing of your response is important. Hopefully, you won't receive the first contact for about 6 months. If it's sooner, then you just start sooner. I say 6 months because that gives plenty of time for the lender to archive the file and not be able to produce what ever the 3rd party collector might try to get from them to validate.

As soon as you get the first letter in the mail, respond with a letter demanding validation. Do this within the first 30 days of receiving the letter. DO NOT SIGN THE LETTER IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING! Make a copy for your file, send it CMRR and keep the receipt. Look for that green proof of service card to come back to you and keep it in the file.  That's all you will do for now.

If they contact you by phone to collect, you will send them a limited cease and desist letter. This letter tells them that all contact to you must be in writing and not on the phone.  If they call you after you have sent the letter requesting/demanding validation, they have committed one of their first violations worth $1000 to you.  Document the date and time of the call, company name and name of the person, plus title (if they have one) of who called.  Keep this in your file.

Should they send you a bill at this time, they have also committed a violation.  Keep that letter in your file along with the envelope it came in. You want to be able to show that the date you received it is after your demand for validation.  They may attempt to send some kind of validation instead of a typical bill. However, if they claim that you owe it with some kind of print out, it is just a cleverly disguised bill and still  not validation and still a violation.

You next respond to their bill or amateur attempt at validation with another letter. This letter to them will state that though you appreciate their effort, that is not validation and now they have violated the law because what they sent you was collection activity. Let them know that you are documenting everything and that unless they can validate within the next 15 days, they must remove any and all negative reporting and close the account. They must agree that they will not sell the account to any other party and a violation of that will cause them to be liable to a suit you may file.

In order to make this work you will be inserting a self executing contract into the letter.  With this letter, you will include a notice and declaration of fraud against the original creditor. You can actually send this with the first demand for validation you send them.  The reason I like to send it on the second letter is because I like them to rack up the violations, thereby increasing the amount that they will actually owe my clients.

You can actually repeat this process again and tell them last chance, you're feeling a bit generous. Give them another 15 days to respond, on point, hand signed, on letterhead and notarized.  The beauty of this is that you are letting them mount up violations on something they cannot possibly validate!

But this is only half of the plan of action! It gets better. Well better for you, worse for them, and possibly the credit bureaus.  Stay tuned for part 3 where I show you how to get it off your credit report!

Collections, Charge Off Required to Approve Short Sale - Part 1

If you are trying to sell  your home as a short sale and waiting for an approval from a lender, you may get a condition from at least one of them saying that they will approve the short sale but you agree that they will charge off the remaining balance and submit that amount to 3rd party collectors because you are still going to be held liable for what you didn't pay off.  Pretty crappy since the banks got multiple bailouts already.  They are so greedy. 

I have encountered this situation with 2 of my listings already and I'm expecting it with all the new short sale listings I put under contract.  This can be very frustrating for the seller and scary, because, there's already a hardship trying to pay that mortgage. So to be out of a house and still have to pay the dang thing is just ridiculous and unfair. 

I know there are a lot of folks out there that like to say that everyone is responsible to pay their debts.  I only half heartedly agree with that.  I agree when it comes to real services you've received, but I don't when it comes to credit cards and bank loans.

I've stated before in other posts that banks do not lend you their money. They are creating the money and credit out of thin air by monetizing your signature.  This is the first reason I don't agree with having to pay them back, because your signature funded the loan.

When it comes to credit cards, the second reason I don't agree to paying them back is because it is a unilateral contract which is null and void. This is according to the constitution. A unilateral contract means that only 1 party is at risk, and you can bet your last pair of underwear that it ain't the bank or finance company that has the risk. They didn't fund the credit, they have nothing to lose. Your signature did and your peace of mind, wallet and credit standing is at risk. In order to be a valid contract, all parties to the contract have to carry risk. Therefore, a unilateral contract is void and unenforceable.

So how does this relate to what banks are doing to short sellers?  Well, I said it's not fair because they got bailouts and should pass the good will on. Heck, we're funding their bailouts already. But, do you say fine, just foreclose then, because then you can't come after me with collections or do you sign that grimy piece of paper?

I have told my clients that they should go ahead and sign the paper. A short sale is much better on your credit than a foreclosure. Plus, that balance is going where you want it to - to a collection firm. Now, you should know by now that that collector is going to get a file for this account so they can use it against you, report to the bureaus against you and start with the harassing phone calls and letters. 

Why is this a good thing? Because the file they get does not have every thing they need to validate the account when you challenge it.  This means that you will be able to remove that collection account from your credit and get them off your back.  This means that you can start racking up violations against them and if you decide to play the game on your terms, you can make some money.

Collectors violate the law, that's a given. Use the FDCPA and FCRA to track the violations. Most are worth a thousand bucks each. When they rack up enough to satisfy you, you can either use it as a bartering chip or sue them and pocket the winnings. Either way, you will get it off your credit report.

See part 2 for how to beat them in their game!

Bad Credit Repair Advice, and now My Good Advice!

Here is a posting from antagonist.org. I was pretty ticked off when I read it. I commented but it was denied, probably since I'm not a member. I want you to read it and see the bad information that was given. Keep reading past it. I will give my answer to the poor fellow that asked the question and was given some bad advice and no hope!

Q: I have a terrible credit history with bankruptcy, charge offs etc. making it impossible to get or re-establish credit. I used to have good credit but alot of things started happening 3 years ago that I don't want to go into, which caused me to start having the problems which culminated in my credit being destroyed. Anyway I've been reading about ways to have negative things removed from one's credit report. Has anyone ever done this? Can you actually have valid entries removed from your credit report even if they're true, if they don't respond to the dispute in time? Do you have to do this for all 3 credit bureaus? What if one removes an item and the other 2 don't? Could someone take some time and please reply to this post? If I don't have to wait seven years to get a chance to work on getting a good credit rating again if I don't have to.

A: -Our local news did a piece of this just last nite. Basically the only thing that will repair bad credit is time. These companies that say they can "remove" bad ratings are scams. -Be careful; some of those "ways" are illegal. Starting a business and using the business tax ID to create a "blank" credit file, for example, is blatant fraud. And, depending on the circumstances, saying that a particular negative incident didn't happen, when you know perfectly well that it did, could be fraud as well. If you think living with a bad credit record is tough, try living with a bad credit record and a felony conviction... If you dispute an entry, and it's not verified in (I believe) 30 days, then the entry has to be removed from the credit report. However, if the verification comes in later, then the entry goes right back on; there's no law or rule that says that correct information can't be put on a credit report because it was removed once. Then a creditor that only gets your report from that credit bureau won't see the item. However, some creditors get reports from multiple bureaus, or use other companies to get composite reports combining information from all the bureaus. And asking a creditor what credit bureaus they use is bound to raise some eyebrows. It's worth pointing out that credit reports are not just "good" or "bad"; there's all sorts of shades in between. For example, if your credit report shows credit problems two years in the past, but an excellent payment history since then, then a creditor may decide that the recent history is more important. If you feel that some of the entries on the credit report are unjustified, then by all means dispute them. But you should be concentrating on rebuilding a good credit profile in the present by making payments promptly, rather than concentrating on past events that you can't control. And be forthright about your situation. When you apply for a loan, don't wait for the creditor to pull your credit report and see the damage; attach a letter saying "Here's what happened to me, and here's what I'm doing to make sure it doesn't happen again." This sort of honesty can go a long way with some creditors; and the creditors who would reject you on the basis of such a letter would almost certainly reject you on the basis of negative credit report information anyway, so you've got very little to lose.

Okay. Now here is my response. I'm going to pick apart the answer and then help him with the correct information and help anyone else in a similar situation.

First of all, time is not the only thing that will repair bad credit. Removing the bad credit is possible with credit repair. That's why we have the FCRA, FDCPA, FCBA and FACTA on our side.

2nd. All credit repair companies are not scams. Yeah, lots of those law firms and companies that drag it out and do very little for you so they can keep collecting from you month after month are not completely legit, but many of us that do repair credit, do it legally, ethically and with genuine care for our clients.

3rd. The business tax id is fraud. Depends how you do it. Basically, the way they are saying is fraud. But, starting a business and building good business credit is not fraud. You should use the business credit while repairing the personal credit at the same time to really improve your credit. See my friend's blog or get his book on that. Corporate credit is a good thing! Here's a link to his blog. SecretSuperCredit

4th. Saying something isn't so when you know it is, is not fraud - if you say it correctly. This is why I don't tell people to say "it isn't mine", no, pick it apart. Are their dates correct, the type of credit correct, is it a collection account that you have never entered into a contract with that company? I've never seen a perfectly reporting credit report. They all have mistakes on them. Find the mistakes and dispute them, telling them to delete the line because it is not 100% accurate, as it must be according to law! Anything less is a violation of both the FDCPA and the FCRA on the part of the bureaus and the party that submitted the info.

5th. Items not verified in 30 days but come back on later when they do verify. Yep, this does happen, but there are laws to protect you here also. If it comes back, the bureau has to notify you in writing within 5 days that it is going to be put back on your credit report. If they do not, they broke the law. And, if you have demanded validation prior to that from the supplier of the information - the collection company, then they just broke the law too. Why? Because that is collection activity without first validating the account with you. Rack up another $2000 minimum for those violations.

6th. Letter of explanation to lenders. Only give this if they request it. What's better, is before you apply for credit, clean up the "baddies". Don't put 100 word statements on your credit report either, for those negative tradelines. You're basically admitting they are your accounts.

Now, here's my answer and suggestion of how to proceed to the original poster of the question.

Dear poster, yes you can repair your credit and no you don't have to wait 7 years for it to be improved. But let's do this right. First, look at your credit report and make a list of all the collection accounts, charged off accounts, and accounts showing late pays. Ignore the bankruptcy for now.

Write a letter to each of the negative reporting companies requesting validation. Tell them you want a copy of the original contract with your wet ink, authentic signature on it. Then tell them you want a complete accounting of the alleged account. From the date it was issued - where the money came from, every purchase, every payment, every credit, every fee, and accurate interest that was charged to the account. Send these letters CMRR and keep a file with a copy of each letter. When you get the return receipt for the certified mail that you sent them, put that in your file. Now you can send letters to the bureaus regarding each of those accounts after you have received all the green cards back (the return receipts).

You will dispute each one in the letter to the bureaus. The collection accounts, say I do not have an account with this company, please delete. Or I have never entered into any contract, ever, with this company. Please delete immediately. If it is outside of your state's statute of limitations (look that up), California, my state is 4 years. Say this. The date reporting is blatantly outside of the SOL and obsolete. Please delete immediately. Or attack it by saying I did not open an account with this company on this date nor have I ever. Please delete. Maybe it is the wrong type of account. A revolving, not a factoring, or not an installment or a mortgage, whatever. Say "I do not have a factoring account with this company, please delete it."

You see, when you dispute with the bureaus, you dispute their mistakes. Now, they are supposed to verify with the information supplier that what is reporting is accurate. So you have 30 days for them to get back to you. You have just done what is called the "1-2 Punch." The information suppliers are not allowed to verify if you have demanded validation from them and they have not sent you the validation. That would be considered collection activity. So, the ones that follow the law will not respond and it will be deleted. The only thing they are allowed to do is make a statement that the account is disputed.

For the bankruptcy, before you ever dispute that you had a bankruptcy, remove all the tradelines associated with the bankruptcy. Once they are gone, attack the bankruptcy. It will possibly have the wrong court, the wrong date, the wrong amount, the wrong type of bankruptcy being reported. Remember, everything has to be 100% accurate that is on your report. So, your dispute will be that you never filed a bk in whatever court, you did not have a bk on whatever date, you did not have a chapter 13 bk or chapter 7 bk for $0 dollars (I see that a lot). Dispute their mistakes. Demand they delete immediately!

I hope this helps you my poster friend and readers.

Top 8 Complaints and Violations of 3rd Party Collectors

Every year the FTC publishes an annual report of complaints they have received from consumers about 3rd party collectors. The FTC oversees FDCPA, FCRA, FCBA, FACTA and State Statutes compliance. Here are the top complaints. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are the top violations, exactly, it means the ones that have annoyed consumers enough to complain to them about. These facts are from the 2008 annual report.

1. DEMANDING A LARGER PAYMENT THAN IS PERMITTED BY LAW : The FDCPA does not allow debt collectors to misrepresent the character, amount, or legal status of a debt. They cannot tack on extra fees for collecting, report the wrong type of debt or claim to be lawyers when they are not, not state the original creditor, calling it one type of debt when it is another, like saying it is a revolving when it is an installment, or calling it a factoring account when it is not. They are not allowed to collect any amount that is not expressly authorized by the original contract that created the debt or that is unlawful.
   
2. HARASSMENT: Debt collectors are not allowed to harass you by calling outside of inconvenient times, repeatedly calling you or your work or someone who may know you. They may not use profane or abusive language, they may not threaten you with harm or the use of violence. Amazing that such behavior has to have laws created against it, isn't it?
   
3. USE OF THREATS: They are not allowed to threaten certain actions will be taken against you if you don't pay. This includes saying they are going to sue you, when they are not, saying they are going to garnish your wages, repo your property, ruin your credit, throw you in jail or make you lose your job. One thing I've learned over the years, is that the more they threaten you, the more desperate they become, they are exposing that they have no legal standing to collect from you if you claim and use your rights against them.
4. IMPERMISSIBLE CALLS AT A PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: They are allowed to call you at your work. However, if they are told they may not call there, then they legally are required to knock it off. I would like to take this a bit further and say that the law says they can't make that phone call to your work if they have reasonable knowledge that they should not. My thinking on this is that if they have tried to collect from someone else at that workplace, and have been told already not to call at that location, then they should have reasonable knowledge that they should not call you either.
5. REVEALING ALLEGED DEBT TO THIRD PARTIES: The only reason they are allowed to contact someone other than you about your alleged debt is to get your location information. They are not allowed to contact them unless they have reason to believe that the 3rd party knows your location. But, they are not allowed to reveal that they are attempting to collect an alleged debt. Once the 3rd party tells them they don't have any information to give them, they are supposed to never call them or contact them again. They do this to embarrass and intimidate you and it is a violation. They also have many complaints against them for harassing and threatening 3rd parties, another violation that falls in this category and the harassment category. Third party contacts include employers, relatives, children, neighbors, and friends.
   
6. FAILING TO SEND REQUIRED CONSUMER NOTICE: When collectors get a hold of an account they allege is yours, they are required by law to notify you in writing the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed, and a statement that, if within thirty days of receiving the notice the consumer disputes the debt in writing, the collector will obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer. The reason they don't always do this is because they don't want you disputing something that they can't verify or validate.
7. FAILING TO VERIFY DISPUTED DEBTS: This one I believe, is under reported. They are not allowed to resume collection activity until after they verify your dispute. This includes sending back a letter saying, "yep, you owe us, here's the amount, now pay up". That is not verification. That is not validation. What it is, is a violation! They just keep collecting because they can't provide the actual validation that proves you legally owe the alleged debt. What they commonly do, is ignore your dispute and sell the account to another collector, sometimes a sister company of theirs, and then keep attempting to collect.
8. CONTINUING TO CONTACT CONSUMER AFTER RECEIVING “CEASE COMMUNICATION ” NOTICE : If you in writing, tell them to stop contacting you, by law, they must. But, they like to claim they never got the notice. This is why your communication needs to be in writing to them and sent certified, return receipt. That way, you have a copy of the notice to them and the proof that they received it, should you have to go to court against them.
   

So, now that you know many of the common violations that collectors commit, what is your plan of action? Here's what it should be. Dispute, document consistently all communications, keep an accounting of the responses, keep all your proofs of service and copies of letters you send or receive and a phone log of every phone call you or someone else received, along with the company name, employee's name, date and time, if possible. Each violation, and since they usually violate in several ways at one time, because they violate the FCRA and FDCPA many times at the same time, can add up to big bucks for you. They are usually worth $1000 each. You need to document consistently and accurately. That way, it can be a huge bargaining tool for you or great supporting evidence if you end up suing them or counter suing them in a court of law! Repairing your credit can give you a nice fico and good credit report, and make you money at the same time! Sweet!

Should You Pay Off Those Collection Accounts?

So you've decided that this is the year to work on rebuilding your credit. You get a copy of your credit report and there are some collections on it. Or maybe you keep getting calls or letters from collectors - or both, and think that you should finally try to take care of some of them.

Stop! If you're thinking about paying them off, wait just a minute here! If you think it's going to improve your credit, think again. Always remember this. Once a negative, always a negative, when it comes to your credit report. Just because it's paid, does not mean they are going to move it into the positive accounts section. It's still a collection account, which is negative, it is just paid.

So, here are the facts for you to ponder. A collector bought your account. Basically, he paid off your debt for you, voluntarily I may add. If you asked a friend to make a payment on an account for you, does that make him or her a party to the original contract? No! They are voluntarily making a payment for you. You might make a little contract between you and your friend to pay back the money they used to make the payment, but, they are not part of the contract between you and the original creditor. That's a different agreement between the two of you.

It is the same with the collector. You did not enter into a contract with them to pay for this account, they did it on their own and now are trying to make you think that you have some obligation to them. You don't! Unless you signed another contract with them agreeing to pay them, they just took a chance, they gambled that they could coerce you into making them richer.

The best thing to do before giving any collector money, wait let me rephrase that. The best thing to do INSTEAD of giving any collector money, is to demand validation. The law says they have to prove you owe them money. You don't and they can't - prove it, that is. Dispute the debt with the collector. Do not accept a printout of a bill or charges as being validation. That is not validation, it is a bill. It is collection activity AFTER validation of the debt is requested. It is a violation of law.

The law says that when you dispute a debt with a collector, they must cease all collection activity until the debt is validated. Just about anything they do that does not validate is actually considered collection activity and is a violation of law. Keep track of every thing they do. Every letter, every phone call, every update made on your credit report. Every violation they make is worth money to you. Most violations are worth $1000 payable to you. That's a thousand bucks. They start adding up fast, to where they might actually owe you more than any credit line that was originally issued to you!

So here is what you do. Send them a letter, certified, return receipt. (CMRR). You will get a green card back in the mail as your receipt that they received it. The letter should tell them you are not avoiding paying, but you are not going to pay for something that you do not owe, and not to someone you don't owe it to. You are going to request from them several things that are very important.

First, request a copy of the original, wet ink signed, authentic, contract. Now, request that they supply you with the actual accounting of the debt. I mean, where did the money come from that created the credit issued to you? Where did the bank get the money they supposedly loaned to you, or the credit that they issued to you?

You see, the law says that banks cannot lend their own money. It also says they cannot lend their own credit. It also says they must have reserves that are a fraction of what they lend. Those are their member's deposits that are the reserves. So, they are not lending the member's reserves, not their own money, not their own credit. So, where did they get the money to lend you?

They created it out of thin air, basically. Actually, they monetized your signature on the contract and created a ledger for the account. Then they put an amount on the ledger of the value of your signature that they "approved". So, really, you supplied the "money" or "credit" with your signature. Then, they put another entry on the books. This one says that they gave that money to you and now you have to start paying it back. But, why would you pay them back money when they didn't give you the money? Your signature supplied the funds for the money or credit that you received.

Sounds confusing doesn't it? It's supposed to. They don't want you to know or understand it.

Here's another thing about credit. The contract you signed is void because in order for a contract to be legal and binding, all parties have to be at risk. But, who is actually at risk? Only you! It is a unilaterally risked contract and void. Since they really didn't put any money into it, they didn't risk anything. They assign an interest rate for the money that you loaned yourself. That is their profit. But actually, the whole amount and the interest is profit for them. Again, this is because they did not come out of pocket to issue the loan or credit. Your signature did!

Now here's a little more. When you default on this contract, they charge you more and more and more. Then the law says that after 6 months, they must charge off the account. So they do. That puts your balance at $0. All "monies" in the bank are insured. So now we're going to see them commit insurance fraud. They get paid off from the insurance the amount insured. They take a credit to their taxes for a loss - which I must remind you is not an actual loss, but a loss on what they wanted to fraudulently make. Then, here it comes.... they sell the account to a third party collector! Bang! They just made more money on an account they got a tax credit for, for an account they were paid in full by the insurance company, and now the collection company.

Daaanng! Not too bad of a trick for that original creditor, now was it? So, don't feel sorry for them that you can't "pay back" for this credit or money you were "given". The original creditor is out the cost of "managing the books", and from projected future earnings. The collector will be out the money they gambled on forcing you to pay back something you don't really owe, and the insurance company will write off the amount on their taxes.

What did it cost you? Well, hard earned money that you paid them, negative marks on your credit report, stress from worrying how you are going to pay and the harassment you have received from the pain in the butt phone calls and letters they sent you.

Dispute, dispute, dispute. And while you're at it, let them know that you know they didn't front the money, so they can just pay back all the money you sent them in error while not realizing that your signature funded the deal! Don't forget to dispute with the credit bureaus after getting the green card back for the letter you sent to the collector. That will help remove it from your credit report.

Are you feeling better about not paying them now? I hope so. Better to just dispute and get it off your credit and out of your life. Get a great credit report again, get some more credit cards, use them, take cash advances, and wash, rinse repeat! Your signature created the credit, it's your money, enjoy! You're not the one committing the fraud and creating faulty contracts that are void and unenforceable, they are. Who cares what your intention is with your new found knowledge? Play the game, but play it to your advantage!

Myths and Bad Advice Regarding Credit Repair - Part 2

Credit bureaus, as stated before, are in the business of making money. So they don't always tell the whole truth about information that is on your reports, especially negative information, and whether or not it can be removed.

First myth. The tradeline has to stay on your credit for 7 to 10 years. This is false. There is no law that says information has to be there at all.

Second myth. You can't remove accurate negative tradelines. This is tricky, but more false than true. This is because of the word "accurate" in that statement. The truth is that more than likely, though most of what is reported may be "accurate", it can be removed because the law says it has to be 100% accurate. It is very, very rare that it is 100% accurate. Little mistakes like the type of account it is can make it not completely correct. Maybe the amount is off by a few dollars. Maybe the date is not exactly right. It doesn't matter. If it's not a charge off, and being reported as one, then it is not 100% correct. If it is a bankruptcy and the amount is $0, well why the heck would you need to file bankruptcy if the amount was $0. That's a very common mistake.

Third myth. You can't remove personal information from your report. This is false. If it's not exactly right, maybe the street name is misspelled or the numbers or correct apartment is not there, or missing, it's inaccurate. Dispute it. Just remember 100% accuracy is required by law.

Fourth myth. They verify the accuracy with the submitting party as required by law. Nope, false again! They verify, but it is not done the way the law says is sufficient. They verify electronically using codes. The info submitter sends a code back saying it is accurate or not. Well, the courts have upheld against all 3 major bureaus - TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, that electronically verifying is not thorough enough. It's case law. Black's Law Dictionary sums up verification as being Confirmation of correctness, truth, or authenticity, by affidavit, oath, or deposition. This means that the actual person verifying the information as accurate must have first hand knowledge (they don't) willing to state under oath in a court of law, that they know as fact that every bit of information regarding the disputed tradeline is correct. You are the only one who knows first hand everything about the account. Do you think whoever punched in the code back to the bureaus would be able to accurately and honestly testify under oath that the information they have supplied to the bureaus is 100% true? No! They can't and won't, and if forced to, would commit perjury!

Fifth myth. Information removed from your credit report can be re-inserted at a later date. This is true. It sucks, I know. But there is a catch. The law says that if they are going to re-insert something on your credit report, they have to notify you in writing within 5 days. Now, go back to the fourth myth. Supposedly they have verified the information, it just took longer than the 30 days the law gives them. Have they really confirmed the information with someone willing to testify under oath that they have first hand knowledge that what they have just verified is accurate? NOOOOO! If they re-insert and do not notify you, they have violated the law, nothing new. However, that violation is worth $1000 to you. That is the fine that will be imposed on them should you follow through and take them to court. Then, they will have to pay you AND remove the tradeline. Not bad!

Last myth for today. Writing a 100 word statement regarding a negative tradeline is good to do. False. I don't do this because you are kind of admitting that you had an account with whoever. If you don't accept it as being yours, it's easier to dispute. Sure lender's may read it, but it's still a "he said/she said" situation. The tradeline with or without a statement affects your credit score. If it's negative, it's better to keep trying to get it removed than resign yourself to adding a statement. Always remember that like in a court of law, the burden of proof lies on the company or entity that submitted the information. By law, they are supposed to remove what they can't prove.

It is hard to get some of this stuff off. This is because they all think they are above the law. It's "catch me if you can" with them. You need to demand from the bureaus that they give you the name, title and all contact information for the person that verified the information. The law says that if you demand that information from the bureaus they have to supply it to you. But what do they do? They send you a letter stating that they verified electronically. That doesn't meet the burden of proof as required by law. It's a crappy game. So, sometimes, you will have to drag their butts to court. If you prepare and document consistently and take it to court, you can end up getting a monetary judgement against them and have the tradeline removed. Many people have been successful with this. It's not easy, it's not quick, but it does work.

Here's a couple tips for you on your credit repair journey. Dispute with the collectors first - before disputing with the credit bureaus. Always dispute CMRR. Then, when you get the "green card" back saying that the letter was delivered, dispute with the bureaus. This is because the law says when you dispute with the creditor/collector, they have to stop all collection activity until they have validated the debt with you. Verifying with bureaus is considered collection activity. So, if they obey the law, the bureaus will not get a response and will have to remove it.

If you are trying to remove a bankruptcy, don't go after it first. The first steps in that is to dispute and remove the tradelines that are negative that have any association with the bankruptcy. They are not going to remove a bk when there are tradelines stating that it was included in a bk.

Remember also, collectors that report do not have the entire file regarding any account. They buy in bulk and get whatever the creditor forwards to them. They do not have first hand knowledge. They are not a party to the original contract, so they are a voluntary payee and just paid off your account for you at a settled amount. You don't owe them a dime! They took a gamble, stand firm and make them eat their losses!