How To Know If A Debt Collector Has Sent You Validation

 When a debt collection company sends you a letter telling you that you owe them for some alleged debt or you see a collection account on your credit reports, you should immediately fire off a letter to them exercising your right to dispute their claim and demand validation, What this means is you are telling them that they have to prove you owe them money and until they do, you have no obligation to pay them anything and until they validate (prove their claim), the law requires them to stop all collection activity.

Collection activity means phone calls to you or people they may think know you, letters to you claiming you owe them, furnishing, updating or verifying information on your credit reports, and even filing a lawsuit against you. This is why it is so important to demand validation from 3rd party collectors.

In your validation letter you need to tell them to send you certain items that will prove that you owe them money. It doesn't have to be a long list. It doesn't have to include outrageous things like proof that they complied with GAAP or items required under the Patriot Act, though you can actually request those items. But the most important items to request are things that prove there is a contract and proof of what they lent you and proof that they have the right to take the place of the alleged original creditor and even proof they have the right to furnish information on your credit reports.

Once you've demanded validation all collection activity should stop. I say "should" but that's not usually the case. Some will just notate the credit reports that the information they furnished is being disputed. Sometimes they add more nonsense like "resolved, consumer disagrees" or "dispute resolved, meets FCRA requirements" or something similar to that. Utter nonsense because they put that on there before they even send you something they claim to be validation.

So if they respond, do you know what qualifies as validation? Validation means the documentary evidence or proof. If you receive a copy of a contract you need to review the contract closely. It won't be a contract between you and their company because in most cases you haven't agreed to do business with them. I say "most cases" because some people sign payment plans with collection companies so they end up having a contract with them. But usually if they send a copy of a contract, it's between you and the alleged original creditor. This is what you need to read carefully. 

When you read any contract that they send you, look for their company name on that contract. You will see your name and maybe the alleged original company name and maybe another company name of  possibly a servicer or guarantor. You won't find the collection company name 99% of the time. So, this contract is not validation. 

The collection company may send you a bunch of monthly billing statements. You won't find the collection company's name on these billing statements. So whether they send you one billing statement or thirty or more billing statements, they aren't validation, They don't prove that they collection company lent anything to you or that you agreed to pay them money.

For medical collections, they may send you the admissions paper that has your signature on it. That form may say that you agree to be responsible and that if you don't pay the medical facility it may go to a collection company, If they don't specifically name the collection company that is claiming you owe them something, it is not validation. YOU have the right to choose who you do business with, If an alleged original creditor decides to sell your information to a 3rd party collection company, in order for it to be enforceable they have to get your permission In Writing PRIOR to the alleged original creditor releasing any of your personal identifying information or account information to them.  If they do this without your consent, it voids the alleged contract. (There's actually a lot going on behind the scenes that voids the alleged contract but this is a big obvious unlawful action),

So, when you get their claim that they Validated, which usually they wrongly claim they "Verified", you need to be all over that and respond to them claiming that you reject their attempt to validate because they neither verified their claim nor did they send the documented proof that shows you contracted to do business with them nor that they lent you anything, Reject their claim, remind them that the law requires them to stop all collection activity unless or until they actually validate (which they absolutely cannot do), and that they need to Cease & Desist until they validate and verify (sworn testimony - they can't do that either because they have no 1st hand knowledge), and make sure to remind them that anything other than removing their lies and slander from your credit reports is collection activity, and is a violation of the FDCPA and the FCRA and is actionable in a court of law. 

Good luck and go get 'em.

By the way, if you can or feel led to, please help support my family with funeral expenses for 4 of our family members. They all died one after the other in less than 30 days and we are not able to pay for all the expenses out of our own pockets.  We have to pay for all the funeral and burial costs before we can hold the services. So, we are grateful for any help you can give us. Please also share the information on your social media. I really thank all of you and appreciate your help and prayers at this time. 

Here is the link to the information about my family's situation right now. 

https://givesendgo.com/lopezfamilyfunerals

3 Common Errors On Credit Reports That Consumers Often Miss

 Many people attempt to repair their credit by mainly disputing negative information on their credit reports with the credit reporting agencies. I believe everyone that is trying to repair their credit needs to dispute with the credit bureaus/credit reporting agencies (CRA's). I also believe that disputes need to be sent directly to the furnishers of that negative information, that would be the alleged creditors and 3rd party collection agencies.  

Now when disputing with the CRA's, I hear and read that a lot of you are disputing "no contract" or something similar to that.  That is an honest, true, and factual claim or reason for the dispute but if you keep disputing like that, you're going to end up getting the dreaded "frivolous" letter. CRA's can send you that and tell you that they are no longer going to entertain any challenge from you on that disputed item. I believe they can ignore your dispute for the following 6 months. That will delay your progress if you get yourself into that situation.

What you need to do is to pick apart the information that is furnished and find every error you can because that is what you use to dispute and that's how you keep from getting the "frivolous" letter. You can dispute that you have no contract with the company but when they respond that it is verified, you shouldn't dispute the same thing again immediately afterwards.  To continue the dispute and keep fighting, you have to bring up another error you found on your credit report. 

Here are some things that maybe you forget to dispute or maybe didn't even realize you could dispute:  

*    Is there a notation on your report that you have disputed that information? Well, how long has that been on your credit report? It should only be on your report for up to 30 days because the courts have determined that 30 days is a reasonable amount of time to "verify" the accuracy and get back to you. So, if it says consumer disputes and then it says "consumer disagrees", well then contact them and say, if you provide the proof that it's been verified, send me the documentation. If it's proven that they are reporting accurately, then I'll agree.  I haven't received proof of diddly squat yet. You can't just say consumer disagrees and leave the "disputed" notation on my credit report, and you claim its "resolved" without sending me the proof.  Either you prove it or remove it! They can't say it meets FCRA guidelines either. The FCRA says they have to have it accurate, complete and verifiable or else it has to be removed. If it meets the requirements in the FCRA, then they should have sent you the proof, or corrected it, or sent you the sworn verification. Remind them of the definition of "Verification" from Black's Law Dictionary including the accompanying case law.

*    Do you have a charge off that shows a balance and also shows a past due amount? I have no doubt that there are multiple errors on this furnished information but the thing that stands out quite a bit to me is that on a charge off, there is not a "Past Due" amount, It's been charged off. It's no longer late. They can claim there's a balance but believe me, that is another error that they need to prove in order to force you to pay them. That's a topic for another time but for this post, don't forget to dispute this with the CRA's. This furnisher is claiming there is a past due amount on this alleged account but the law states that a charge off cannot have a past due amount. Correct or delete this immediately pursuant to the requirements in the FCRA.

*    This last one is a whammy that they all violate probably 95% or more of the time. The FCRA Requires that every alleged account that if furnished to a credit report also includes the DFD, or you can say the DLA. What do those acronyms stand for? Date of First Delinquency and Date of Last Activity. So, the DLA is the date you last made a payment on that account. The DFD is the first month that you missed a payment on the account prior to the account being charged off,  Why are these dates important? Because they are the key to knowing when the Statute of Limitations runs out for collecting and for reporting it on your credit reports. It should be no problem for an alleged original creditor to furnish accurate dates on your credit reports. You can look at your credit reports, all 3 bureaus side by side and you will see that each CRA report usually differs on each one.  I don't know that I've ever seen an accurate DLA or DFD on an alleged account furnished by a 3rd party collector. I will reiterate that this is a very important requirement stated right in the FCRA and also, there are FTC Staff opinion letters written about this common error and requirement.

Please take this information and apply it to your CRA disputes to hopefully start seeing some better results. It will protect you from getting slapped with a "Frivolous" violation and suspension of your ability to dispute, It will also help you find multiple errors to dispute and use against the furnishers and CRA's to make your credit reports pretty again,

If you've found this information useful, please consider donating through the "DONATE" button on the right hand side of this page. Also, please see the post I'm placing right below here. It has a link to GiveSendGo which is similar to GoFundMe but they don't steal people's money.  My family is going through a very rough time right now and we need all the help we can get. I really appreciate any help you can give whether it be financial, or sharing the link on your social media or your prayers. All of it is appreciated,

One more thing. I have been very busy the last couple of years, Busy with credit repair, busy with assisting clients with lawsuits, and health problems that landed me in the hospital for quite a while. After that, I decided that I would be scaling back my credit repair services and concentrate much more on teaching others how to fix their own credit and also training credit repair companies how to have more successes for their clients.

I have been working hard on this training and will be posting some more information about it soon. I'm almost ready to launch it so if you're interested in learning even more that what you can find here on my blog, come back often and when I announce it, you can sign up at that time. Thank you and best wishes on your credit repair success,

Here is the link to the information about my family's situation right now. 

https://givesendgo.com/lopezfamilyfunerals

Please help by donating and/or sharing. We have 4 funerals that we need to pay for before we can hold the services. Thank you so much for helping us. Here is the link to donate. https://givesendgo.com/lopezfamilyfunerals

Shannon Lopez

ttiFebr4uary S24 una1oi2ti 211a:53 frelPMd  · 

Shared with Public

As some of you may know, we recently lost 4 of my husband's family members. We are comforted knowing that they loved our Lord Jesus Christ and are no longer suffering with pain or struggling to breathe. They are in Heaven worshiping and praising God now.

However, now we need some assistance covering the costs of burying our loved ones. I am asking for help both financially and/or by sharing the link to GiveSendGo as we cannot hold our funeral and burial services for them without everything being fully paid.

I'm including the link below and really appreciate any help you can give. Thank you for your prayers and support.

https://givesendgo.com/lopezfamilyfunerals

Using the Section 609 Credit Repair Process

This is a subject that I have wanted to write about for some time now.  Many of you have heard about this method to repair your credit. Probably some of you have done it.  I'm not a big fan. I heard a lot of reports about people who have used it.  There have been some that have experienced success with this method and most of those were people who used it way back when it first came out.  I have heard of many more people that have used it and not had near the results they were expecting or were assured that they would have.  I too have used the method a couple of times for my clients but had to go back to using the methods I have used successfully for over 3 decades.

My first problem with this method is that it is only disputing with the credit bureaus. When you are going after 3rd party collections, I believe you need to protect yourself with validation demands so that you have it in place in case the collector decides to sue you.  If you have demanded validation, they cannot sue unless they have validated - a task they cannot actually and lawfully succeed at because they do not have first-hand knowledge, they have no contract, and they do not have your permission to collect information and make communications about you and the alleged account.  They have to get that authorization from you, in writing.

This method, the Section 609 method is bureau disputing only.  It is based on a good concept that requires the credit reporting agencies to prove  the verification they claim. This is a task that they NEVER do. They don't have the ability to do because they don't conduct reasonable investigations, they don't collect the documents to support the information furnished, they don't get authentic verification because verification requires sworn testimony (affidavit) accompanied with that supporting documentation. All they have is hearsay, which the courts have deemed as incompetent and inadmissible.

So, here is how it works:

You write a letter to each bureau telling them to provide the documents used to verify or that validate the following accounts.  You  are demanding that the send you the verifiable proof (copy of the original contract between the furnisher and you) that the FCRA requires them to have in your file. The word "file" is very important because they try to convince you that a "file" is the same thing as a credit report, but it is not.

Next, most templates have a table that has the furnisher name (creditor/collector) then the account number, then the dispute says "unverified account" in the final box of the table. One of the requirements under both Section 609 and 611 requires that information that is incomplete, inaccurate, or unverifiable be corrected or deleted. So, just above the table you tell them provide the proof for each account within 30 days or delete it as required by law.

The bottom of the letter tells them to remove all promotional non-account related inquiries and to suppress your information from promotional services - in other words, opting out.  After that is the signature though some variations of this credit repair process has you get each letter notarized.

So that is the method.  There are letters 2, 3 and 4.  Each letter is basically the same, but the language in each consecutive letter gets stronger. The second letter tells them that it's the 2nd written request and they claim to have verified but didn't provide any documentation. You are demanding they provide you the documentation along with the name, title, contact information with the persons who they spoke to or communicated with in their "re-investigation" in order to prove to you that an actual reasonable investigation was done and they acquired the documentation proving the account was verified.

The letter reminds them again that they are required to delete unverified accounts and if they cannot provide that documentation, then it is not verified and must be removed according to Sections 609 and 611.  It also reminds them of their civil liability (meaning you have the right to sue them) under FCRA  617 for willful negligence.

Once again the 3 column table is there with creditor/collection company name, account number and unverified account. You of course remove any accounts that have been removed from the report from the first dispute.

Round 3, letter 3. Almost the exact same as round 2 letter but it says it's the 3rd written request and then above the table you demand that they send the documentation or delete immediately. Again you make sure that you don't dispute any of the accounts that were removed from the first and second disputes.

Round 4. This letter is again slightly different.  It has a header on it that says its a Notice of Pending Litigation Seeking Relief and Monetary Damages pursuant to FCRA Sections 616 and 617. It calls them out for not investigating, not providing documents, falsely claiming the accounts are verified but never sending the proof.  It tells them the 3 previous letters they received disputing the items will be used as exhibits and evidence if they proceed to litigation as will the credit reports showing they have been disputed and claimed to verify.  

This 4th letter is definitely notarized. Also, with each round of disputes you are expected to provide copies of your ID and SS card.  I'm not big on that at all but for this process, it's recommended.  You don't want to give the CRA's any loophole for not doing their job and following the law.

So, that is the process.  I however think that you need to send validation letters to collectors and proof of claim letters to original creditors. You need to demand that they provide you with the documents used to supposedly verify the information that the furnished to the credit bureaus. You let them know that a response letter that provides a summary of the account is NOT verification, is NOT validation, is hearsay and it will be rejected because you agree with the courts that hearsay is incompetent and inadmissible.

In my follow up letters to these collectors and creditors, I call them out for not sending certified copies of original documents, sending a slew of billing statements that are NOT proof of a full accounting, not sending proof of how the account was funded and where those funds came from, proof that the account is still within the statute of limitations, proof of license and bonding to collect in the consumer's state, proof of a Power of Attorney document or written authorization showing that consumer gave their consent to collect information and make communications about the alleged account, and proof that the 3rd party collector was specifically named on any original contract showing they are entitled to collect by having an interest to protect.

I like to write bureau letters that do include Section 609, but I use many other sections of the FCRA, federal acts, code of federal regulations, case law, state statutes, UCC, and other legal ammunition.  I don't like relying on just 1 main section of the FCRA.  I do the same thing with my direct to creditor/collector letters. Demanding proof of claim or validation is important to protect yourself and including laws and the above legal ammunition, proper wording is important to see a higher rate of success in your credit repair journey.

I hope you will find this information helpful.  If you are in need of credit repair assistance and don't feel like taking it on yourself, please contact me at futurefico@gmail.com. I may be able to assist you.

How To Write Bureau Dispute Letters - Part 2

I am very late at getting out this post and I am truly sorry.  I have been swamped with my own clients' letters and real estate duties and just haven't had the time to get to this.  Please accept my apologies for the long delay.

Let's get to the bureau disputes.  We will cover charge off's collections, repo's, foreclosures, settled accounts, accounts included in bankruptcy (IIB), and public records.  One thing that is important for you to know about some derogatory accounts is that some are not worth disputing.  Take charge off's for example.  If they are reporting a $0 balance, I don't bother with them.  I'm telling you that in more cases than not, if you remove them, your score will likely drop.

Accounts with $0 balances, even though derogatory, usually have more positive attributes that affect the score than the negative aspects, so they offset the damage that is being done.  Deleting them removes the good factors and the bad factors but because the good outweighed the bad, your score will drop.  We see this time and time again for clients that are adamant about removing old charge offs and settled accounts with $0 balances.  We warn them, we advise against it, but if they insist, we go after them and when we start seeing them removed, we see the score drop pretty much every time. I personally think that a higher score is more important than a totally pretty credit report.

Collections:  Always negative and I don't care if the balance is $0, I'm going to go after deletions on these.  Typical disputes are as follows:

• (Round 1) I do not have any account with this company, have never heard of them and this needs to be deleted. 
• (Round 2) You told me to contact this company and I have done so. FDCPA 809b requires this to be deleted until they validate.  I have requested validation and they have not produced it. Delete this now.
• (Round 2/3/4...) Please produce the contract used to verify this account because I have none with them and the information you have is inaccurate.
• Please provide the sworn affidavit used to verify and the accompanying documentation as required pursuant to Black's Law Dictionary which defines what "verification" actually is.  ~ then I copy/paste the definition of  "verification" to the letter.

Charge Off's:  This is only for accounts showing a balance, past due or both.  Typical disputes are as follows  - Do not dispute all the errors at one time. Dispute them 1 at a time, round after round:

• (Round 1) The balance (and past due/or past due) on this account is incorrect. It should say $0. I do not owe any monies to this company for this account. Please correct or delete this.
• (Round 1 or subsequent) You are allowing an inaccurate history of this account to be reported.  Please investigate, gather documentation proving accuracy, or delete this from my credit report.
• (Round 1 or subsequent) This company does not have any information to verify as they have reported over and over in the history that they have "No Data (ND)".  As this is unverifiable, FCRA Sect. 611 REQUIRES you to delete this.
• (Round 2 or subsequent) This is not verified. I contacted the furnisher as you told me to do and they have either refused to provide any documentation or they are unable to provide documentation proving the claim or the accuracy.  This remains inaccurate, incomplete and not verified. You are REQUIRED to delete this immediately according to FCRA Sect. 611.

Repos:  Many times you will have a repo auto loan account that has a balance because of a "deficiency" remaining after they sell the car.  I treat these as charge offs and dispute the same way but some times add a little twist.

• (Round 1) You are allowing this company to furnish an incorrect balance.  The balance needs to show $0 because this account was paid in full by the asset protection insurance attached to it. Please correct to $0 or delete this account immediately.
• (Round 1 or subsequent) Please investigate the history reported on this account. It is absolutely inaccurate. Correct or delete this immediately as anything inaccurate about the information they have furnished requires correction or deletion according to FCRA Sect. 611. Take care of this immediately.
• For Repo accounts with a $0 balance I suggest that you send the company a notice to Cease & Desist ALL communications regarding the account. Advise them that furnishing or verifying information with credit bureaus is considered a "communication" according to the courts and a violation of your C&D notice.  For these types of repo accounts, once you have issued your notice to them your dispute should be as follows:
• (Round 1) I do not have any account with this company and they have been issued a notice to Cease and Desist all communications with you.  Please delete this account immediately!

Foreclosures:  Sometimes foreclosure accounts will have a balance.  This is an obvious error. Dispute this as follows:

• (Round 1) This account is inaccurately and erroneously reporting a balance that they know should be $0. Their intentional and willful furnishing of inaccurate information is a violation of FCRA Section 623 and according to FCRA Section 611 you MUST correct or delete this immediately.
• (Round 2) I have contacted this company and requested the proof that they are reporting accurately.  They have failed to provide it within the 30 days the law allows them. This is inaccurate and unverified and you are required to delete this according to the FCRA. I expect you to comply with the law and remove this slander immediately!

Settled Accounts: For all settled accounts that are original creditors (except for repos), leave it alone!  For collections, send them a full Cease and Desist (C&D).  Then follow up with a bureau dispute that says:

• (Round 1) I have no account with this company nor have I ever signed any contract to do business with them. They have neither lent me anything nor have they provided services to me for which I requested.  They are under an order to Cease and Desist and accordingly, this must be removed from my credit report immediately.

IIB Accounts:  Because a bankruptcy obliterates all debt, you no longer have any account with the creditor. It has been eliminated. If you had a bk that was dismissed, no account was in a bankruptcy because according to the courts, a dismissed bk is the same as never ita bk at all. Sometimes they erroneously report a balance as well. Dispute as follows:

• (Round 1) I do not have any account with this company. Please delete this.
• (Round 1) This account claims it was included in a bk. If that were true, which it is not, this would be violating the federal bk stay. Delete this immediately.
• (Round 1) This account is erroneously claiming I owe them money, which I do not. This is an error and according to the FCRA, inaccurate information must be deleted.

Public Records:  Hopefully before you dispute these you have removed any addresses associated with it, especially bankruptcies. Do not send the court clerk or county recorder letter yet.  You may send the FTC staff opinion letter with the first round if you would like.

• Bankruptcy (Round 1):  Your information is inaccurate. I do not recall having a bankruptcy on the dates you are reporting and there are blank fields making your information incomplete as well. The FTC has publicly stated that your public record information is often inaccurate, which is the case in what you are allowing on my credit report.  Delete this immediately!
• Bankruptcy (Round 2): You are big, fat liars!  You claimed that you verified this and told me to contact the furnisher. You claim that the court furnished and verified the information. I did as instructed and they gave me a letter claiming that they neither furnished the information nor verified the information. They are the only ones qualified to make a verification regarding this alleged bankruptcy and they did not verify. You are allowing slander on my credit report.  See the attached letter from the court proving that you are allowing erroneous information on my credit report and are falsely claiming that it is verified. Your butts need to be sued if you do not remove this from my credit report. It is inaccurate, incomplete and NOT VERIFIED! Delete this immediately!

• Tax Liens (Round 1):  I have NEVER had a valid tax lien. Further, according to my state statutes/the IRS (pick one), taxpayer information is confidential and not allowed to be on any taxpayer's credit report. (if you know your state statute, insert it in your dispute). You need to get this crap off my credit report immediately as it is inaccurate and damaging to me and may be actionable for statutory damages, actual damages, and punitive damages. Delete this NOW!
• (Round 2): Please see the attached information from the county recorder which you claim furnished and verified this tax lien.  It proves you are huge liars. How do you get away with this stuff and how on earth do you sleep at night? You should be in jail for causing injury to consumers. This was neither furnished nor verified by the county recorder. Get your false information off of my credit report now!

• Judgments: Even if you have had a judgment, you can demand that they verify it and since they are accusing, the burden of proof lies with them. If you have a default judgment, it is not a valid judgment, it is a "Void" judgment and carries with it the right to challenge it at any time. In order for a judgment to be valid, the case must have at the trial a plaintiff, a defendant, subject matter jurisdiction (which can be challenged at any time) and a competent witness (sworn affidavit by a witness with first-hand information that testifies and produces the accompanying documentation to back up the testimony).
• (Round 1): I am not aware of any judgment against me for $XXXX. I do not believe you are furnishing accurate information and I need you to investigate this and provide the documented proof that your information is 100% correct. Otherwise, please delete this immediately.
• (Round 1):  I do not have a valid judgment against me. You are allowing false information on my credit report. Delete this immediately.
• (Round 2): I have proof that you have lied about verifying this bogus judgment. The only persons qualified to verify it is the court or me, and I can't verify it and they claim they didn't verify it. See the attached from from the court proving that you have lied and that this remains unverified. The FCRA requires that this be deleted until you get proof from the court exclusively that this is mine - which obviously it is not!  Delete your inaccurate, incomplete, and unverified information immediately!

Okay, this should provide you with a really good start to cleaning up your credit report.  I cannot guarantee that any or all of these disputes will work every time because you are relying on two other parties per account to obey the law. Unfortunately, creditors, collectors and credit reporting agencies have notorious reputations for ignoring the law and doing whatever they please.  I do hope that you will see more success using some of these disputes than you have been getting or that most people get using boiler plate disputes.

Please remember never, ever to admit anything to a credit bureau.  It is THEIR JOB to get the proof and it is the furnisher's job to provide you with the proof (which is why I dispute with both the bureaus and creditors/collectors). I never, ever advise sending proof of a paid tax lien, paid judgment, or bankruptcy paperwork to the CRA's. If you do, you are giving them what they need to keep these public record items on your credit report for a full 7 years after that event.

If you decide you don't want to do this on your own, I would love to assist you with your credit repair. Also, if you have trouble removing tax liens or judgments, paid or not, we have an escalated proprietary process that can help.  By law, we are not allowed to guarantee any results, however, we do have a 100% success rate removing them.  We would love to assist you with removing them if you would like us to.

Best wishes for your credit repair venture. You can be successful so don't believe the naysayers that claim ugly credit has to stay on your reports for 7 years or more. That's an ignorant statement and totally untrue. Whether it's accurate or not, the furnisher has the responsibility to prove it and the bureaus have a responsibility to maintain maximum accuracy.  If it can't be proven, a claim of accuracy should not be made by anyone.  Also, you may think it's accurate and you may think you owe monies, but I'm here to tell you that you that you have been deceived.  Your contracts with creditors were never truly valid and no 3rd party collector has a lawful claim against you.

Stand up for your rights.  Fight hard for your credit to be repaired. You are to be congratulated for taking the steps needed to get your life and credit back!

If you have found this blog helpful to you, please consider donating as a sign of your appreciation for information I have freely given to you.  The "Donate" button is on the right side bar.  Thank you for your generosity.

Why You Can Remove Liens, Judgments And BK's From Your Credit Report

It is always so frustrating when you are trying to build, re-establish your credit or get financing and you keep getting turned down because your credit doesn't meet the criteria needed.  I think one of the most frustrating things is when you go to buy a house and you find out that you have a judgment on your credit, many times that you had no idea was even there.

Sure, you expect to see that bankruptcy, but sometimes you aren't even aware that you have tax liens and judgments on your credit.  It feels like you're doomed and will never get that loan. Its frustrating because if you spend money on paying them off, you're cutting into the money you need for your down payment and closing costs.  And if its a bankruptcy that's killing your score, you can't even pay to resolve that.

But what if I told you that you can legally remove them?  Would that make a difference?  I hope so because I'm telling you, you really can LEGALLY remove them. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that they are ILLEGALLY being reported on your credit report. The bureaus have  a responsibility and a duty to remove them. But you have to know the game in order to beat them.

I want to be clear that just because you remove them from your credit reports does not mean that they are also deleted from the public records.  The credit bureaus and the county records are two completely separate entities. Your bankruptcy will still be recorded in the public records and you can't remove it from there. Judgments and liens will still be recorded in the public records but those are things you can actually remove from public records as well as your credit reports.  I'm not going into that today.

I've been very, very successful removing these from both the public records and credit reports. This is because my idea of a fun night, is one spent reading laws and case law and researching and developing strategies to tackle these issues successfully.  I'll tell you that it's way faster and a bit easier to remove them from credit reports than public records. 

So today, I'm going to teach you why you can legally get them off your credit reports and why I believe the law is clear that bureaus need to remove them.  If you've read my earlier posts about 3rd party collectors and removing collections, you'll see that its the same laws that affect the public record information that shows up on your credit reports. These same laws are part of what I use to remove them from credit reports.

When you look at your credit report, it tells you the name of the furnisher of the information. That may be a credit card company, auto lender, mortgage lender and sometimes collectors. When you look at the public records, you'll see that they claim it is the bankruptcy court or the superior court or the county recorder. Sometimes it says a magistrate or recorder of deeds. Whatever place it shows, they are saying that that court house or recorder, or whatever, is furnishing the information.

That's a bold faced lie.  Then the bureaus go so far as to claim that they have verified the information when you send them a letter disputing the information. That's an even bigger, fatter lie. Do you actually think that the courts have hired people to furnish details about the hundreds or thousands of cases and about the losing party, to the credit bureaus? Do you think courts and county recorders have time to verify the thousands of disputes bureaus get every day? That's just one issue.

The big issue is, do they have the legal right to furnish or verify information?  Ahh, now that's where we look to the law and that's where we find the answer that the bureaus don't want you to know!  Before we even look at the law though, let's look at the legal definition of "verify" or "verification."  Now, I did a post on this word a while back. Its really important that you understand this definition.  Its part of the, um, I can't think of the word I want but , sort of the strategy of what ties everything together. Let me take a bit of that post from last year and show you here how it ties things together.

Verification according to Black's Law Dictionary is "... averment that the party pleading is ready to establish the truth of what he has set forth." Also, it goes on to say, "The examination of a writing for the purpose of ascertaining its truth; or a certificate or affidavit that it is true." 

The court said "Confirmation of the correctness, truth, or authenticity of a pleading, account, or other paper, by an affidavit, oath, or deposition." McDonald v. Rosengarten, 134 111. 126, 25 N. E. ; and Summerfield v. Phoenix Assur. Co. (C. C-) 65 Fed. 296; and Patterson v. Brooklyn, 6 App. Div. 127, 40 N.Y. Supp. 581.

To break it down into language you can understand, verification is sworn testimony. It can be testimony in a deposition or in court or an affidavit. The only testimony that is admissible is testimony from a witness with First Hand knowledge. A court clerk does not have first hand knowledge nor does the county recorder, nor does anyone at the credit bureaus, nor does Lexis Nexis, the main public records source for the credit bureaus.  If someone verifies but they don't have first hand knowledge, then its not verification, its Hearsay. And hearsay is inadmissible and the court says its incompetent. 

This is a major puzzle piece in figuring out how to go at the bureaus and get your public records removed.  The next major piece is based upon a law that applies to 3rd party collectors.  This has been discussed in a previous post as well. The law I'm referring to is FCRA § 603(o)(5)(A)(i; iii). This law in fact, applies to more than just 3rd party collectors. It applies to every single entity that furnishes information to the credit bureaus.  Here's what this law says:

FCRA § 603 
(o) Excluded communications. A communication is described in this subsection if it is a communication 
(5) with respect to which 
(A) the consumer who is the subject of the communication 
(i) consents orally or in writing to the nature and scope of the communication, before the collection of any information for the purpose of making the communication;
(iii) in the case of consent under clause (i) or (ii) given orally, is provided written confirmation of that consent by the person making the communication, not later than 3 business days after the receipt of the consent by that person;

So, even if the courts or recorder's office was furnishing the information, other than getting a court order to furnish the information, they are not allowed to furnish or verify squat on your credit report without your authorization. If you have one of these public records on your credit, did you give the bk trustee your authorization to furnish information about your bankruptcy? (not that he/she would have the time to do that). Did you authorize Lexis Nexis? The courts? The county recorder's office? Anybody?  Did you authorize anyone to put negative public record information on your credit reports?

Yeah, I doubt you authorized anyone to furnish that information and I doubt there was ever a court order to have it on there either.  Hopefully now you'll believe me, or at the very least, understand why I say that you can legally remove these items from your credit reports and why I believe they are illegally being furnished and verified when you try to get them off.

I'm not one to brag, but I have to say here that I am extremely good at what I do. I'm not saying that I get everything off in one shot, and actually, removing public records is a multi-step process. But, I'm saying that I consistently and successfully remove these items from people's credit reports all the time.  I can't remember when I haven't been able to remove them. The power to do this is in the laws, in the definitions, and in the way you word things, and the way you follow up everything with enforcement. 

Hopefully I've given you enough information that if you choose to pursue the removal of these items on your own, you too will see success.  But, if you want someone to help you that has a proven track record, almost 3 decades of experience, I would like it if you'd get a hold of me. My contact information is up at the top right hand side of this page. 

These days, prospective home buyers have a hard enough time getting qualified for a loan with decent credit, you can imagine the hurdles they must face when the credit report has these types of negative items on it.  I want to help you if this is your situation.  I want to help you if you need to buy a new car. I want to help you if you want to get some new credit cards or you just want to clean up your credit. I love what I do. It is my passion and I'm good at it. 

I love seeing clients' credit reports go from awful to spectacular. I love the fight. I love sparring with collectors, creditors, and bureaus. Most importantly, I love to win.  When I win, its Your win. When I win, your ugly credit report becomes a pretty credit report. That's what I love to do. I love to help consumers have pretty credit reports that allow them to get the loans and credit they need at interest rates that don't choke the life out of you. I love  to help consumers save money on their insurance, their utility deposits, their ability to rent a car, to be able to get that new job or keep the job that scrutinizes their credit.

I love this so much that right now I'm running a special. From now until September 5, 2014 or the next 25 people, whichever comes first, I will go after the removal of a public record for half price.  I would say that I will remove it, but the law does not allow me to promise or guarantee results.  I know what I'm able to do, but I won't break the law in my processes nor in my claims. Bureaus, creditors, and collectors may lie, but I won't. So, again, I will go after the removal of a public record item at half the regular price, for the next 25 people or September 5, 2014, whichever comes first.

Please don't hesitate if you want to save some money on this. I fill up my client rotations quickly.  The sooner you contact me, the sooner we get started and the sooner you can expect to see a prettier credit report! Please call or email me today.

PS: If you are a loan officer, real estate agent, insurance agent or someone who has clients that need my services, anywhere in the country, please contact me. I want your turn downs. I'm willing to earn your business and send you back clients who are able to qualify and get better rates. My services will help you close more deals.  If you are a real estate agent or broker, I offer an airtight non-compete that I believe will put any of your worries about that issue to rest. I'm not looking to act as your clients' real estate agent. I'm looking to get their credit where it needs to be so you can close deals.

PPS:  I also do lunch & learns and workshops for your potential buyers and agents in Southern California. My partner and I come and show how we can help your clients become homeowners and how we can help your office close more deals!  Please contact me today!

If you have found this blog helpful to you, please consider donating as a sign of your appreciation for information I have freely given to you.  The "Donate" button is on the right side bar.  Thank you for your generosity.