Free Credit Repair Assistance

Thank you to all my blog readers and newcomers for all the compliments on my blog.  I enjoy helping you learn how to fight back and fix your credit.  I have done this for many years and love hearing about the many successes people all across the country, and sometimes people from other countries, have had because of the information I have freely shared.

I respond to many, many emails, many, many phone calls and tons of comments here on the blog.  I don't hold back and help give the best information I can.  I have done credit repair for  over  30 years and have been very successful for my clients.  I've shared tactics and strategies and legal information that almost no-one else shares, and certainly no one, as in credit repair professionals, ever shared the amount of information, knowledge, and secret strategies with others back when I began on my mission to educate others, and still to this day. 

I've had plenty of professionals contact me and tell me I should stop sharing so much information because then too many people will try to do for themselves what we do for our clients and it affects our income.  (I admit that I've shared so much information that it has cut into my income too).

Anyhow, it feels good to be able to have helped so many people, including other credit repair professionals that have needed guidance on how to proceed with their clients.  I have a favor to ask of all of you now.  I am feeling a bit awkward asking this but I feel I need to.

If you have learned anything valuable from my blog; if you have experienced success with your credit repair because of information I have shared; if you have made comments and I have responded with information that was useful to you and to others; if I have helped you through emails or phone calls, I'm asking that you please show your appreciation by making a donation.

I would also like you to make a comment on here to let me know what areas of fixing your credit you need me to write about.  Your comments and your donations will help me keep this blog active with relevant and needed information.  I appreciate you and I thank you in advance for your generosity. 

Credit Bureaus Break The Law And Fight Your Credit Repair Efforts

I've been wanting to talk about this for a long time now.  I have been very successful in my efforts to help people clean up their credit reports for many, many years now.  I tell people that it used to be fairly easy.  I would examine the credit reports, find the errors, find the information that was negative, write letters to the collectors, creditors, and bureaus, and within a couple months, most of the items would be removed.  I could look at a credit report and tell the client, this will easily come off, this will take a few letters, this might give you some trouble, and this might not ever come off. I knew how to remove pretty much anything negative on credit reports, and any inquiries or personal information that the client wanted off.  You see, I know for a fact that no company has to leave any information on anyone's credit report for 7-10 years.  In fact, none of it has to ever be reported at all.  There's no law that requires any company furnish information about a consumer to any credit bureau.  But, that's not what they will tell you!  And its not so easy to get good results all the time anymore.

When I say "they", I mean the credit bureaus, creditors, collectors, the FTC, and plenty of website owners, bloggers, article and editorial writers, any of them that just regurgitate the lie that bad credit has to stay on your credit  report for years and years and only time will heal.  They love to say if it belongs to you, even if its negative, it has to stay on.  Now, I can give a pass to the writers that are just incompetent egomaniacs striving to justify their self acclaimed "expert" status.  They're lazy and haven't bothered to really research the laws on the subject, but the rest of them "in the business", they are flat out, just BIG FAT LIARS!  They know full well or should know full well, that these claims are a load of crap.

In recent years, the industry folks that we must communicate with, have made it so much more difficult to clean up the credit reports.  There is a push back against obeying the law by these lawbreakers. They don't seem to care that they have no proof, they've committed fraud, they've allowed errors or false information to make their way onto consumer credit reports and stay there.  They have found that they can make so much money even while breaking the law, its more profitable to keep breaking the law and hope that the consumer gives up.  In fact, they are so twisted in their games, that collectors and creditors are coming out of the woodwork and suing consumers a lot more often now and issuing 1099-C's without proving squat, that my mind is boggled.  They sue just because most people won't or don't know how to respond and they get default judgments.

Credit repair is not as simple anymore as just writing letters and stuff comes off the credit report.  Credit bureaus are in flagrant opposition of the law and they know it, but they seem to think that if they keep spewing lies, and bloggers and self proclaimed "experts" keep repeating it enough, the consumer is stupid enough to believe it and accept that their reports are just going to have to stay bad for 7-10 years.  Consumers aren't stupid!  Some may be lazy. Some may not have very good research skills or access to a computer to study and learn, or a library with relevant information, but my readers aren't stupid and they're consumers.  You aren't stupid because you kept looking for answers. You're on this blog learning the truth. You didn't just accept their lies. You knew in your gut that what you've been told is not the truth. You kept looking till you found someone who would confirm it to you.

I want to share a segment that 60 Minutes did on credit bureaus. After the video, I've got a link to Experian's response.  What a crock!  I'll make a few comments after the video about the video and about their response.

First I have a comment about some claims made in the video.  There is No Way I believe only 40% of consumers have errors on their reports. Maybe more like 94% would be closer to the truth. I find it funny that the FTC claims there is only 1 out of 5 consumers with "an" "error" on their report.  I think the operative words in his statement are "an" and "error".  He could have dropped the word "an" and said "errors" instead of "error" and then it would have been more than his claimed "1 out of 5".  This is complete spin.  He could have also used the phrase "obvious errors" and been more accurate, because without actual investigations, they cannot "accurately" determine how many errors there actually are.

Now, here is a rebuttal by Experian. (Read my comments before you click on the link so you can see what I'm talking about). http://www.experian.com/blogs/news/2013/02/11/60-minutes/

This is comical.  They falsely claim they are 100% in compliance with the FCRA. What a big load of BS! Even worse, I think every single person and company doing credit repair should join together and file a huge class action lawsuit for their slander.  They have the gall to insinuate that we are all scammers and commit fraud with their statement, "...the result of dispute requests from fraudulent credit repair companies who attempt to scam consumers into disputing accurate data..." which clearly shows how much they hate consumers who attempt to clean up their credit and anyone who attempts to help them or hold the bureaus accountable and compliant with the law.

You can also see by their statement, the itty bitty section I quoted, that they continue to spew the lie about negative information if accurate, needing to remain on the credit reports.  Well, I'm no dummy and I don't think any of you are either. They're not going to fool us by trying to phrase their false claims into a sentence that has the potential to sound factual. I'd rather research the law and rely on what that says, any day, over what any bureau rep or one of their lobbyists, tries to force me to believe.

So, though its harder now and takes longer, credit repair does work. We need to use laws against them. We must continue to hold their feet to the fire. They tell the truth that you can repair your credit yourself but that's about the extent of their honesty. Sometimes people don't want to handle that burden all by themselves.  Most of us who help others fix their credit do so with a good heart and a desire to help others.  If you would like help with your credit, I would love to help you. You will see that I do have a heart for helping others.  You can call me and talk to me or email me and I'll respond.  My contact info is up on the top right corner under my picture.  You can also leave a comment below if you like this post or I've helped you with your credit.  If you have questions, please email me as well as posting a comment.  That way, others with the same question will get the benefit of my answer but in your email, I can be a lot more specific for your needs.

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.

Challenging Chaudhry v. Gallerizzo From A Collection Agency

If you have been working on repairing your credit and you have sent validation letters to collection agencies, you probably have received or will receive a semi-form letter back saying that they have verified the account and they are correct.  Then they will put in a little modified excerpt from the Chaudrhy v. Gallerizzo case decision to justify their laziness and to deceive you into just accepting their false claim against you.  The modified excerpt looks like this:

"verification of a debt involves nothing more than the debt collector confirming in writing that the debt being demanded is what the creditor is claiming is owed. The debt collector is not required to keep or provide detailed evidence of the alleged debt."

When I see this in a response for one of my clients, I crack up because it just blares out to me that they don't have anything.  You see, the Chaudrhy decision is not about validation with a collection agency!!  They take a small piece of the decision and quote it, but they fail to tell you that it has nothing to do with them, has nothing to do with validation, and further, you didn't request "verification", you requested "Validation" and that is something different.  

Just so you know, the Chaudrhy decision was about legal fees.  The verification of the legal fees was being challenged and the court said that the law firm just had to confirm in writing that the fees they were claiming were the fees that were owed.  Legal fees are not collections, unless it has been assigned or sold to a collector.  Legal fees are fees that the attorney charges for services rendered.  Since when do collectors render services that you "hired" them to perform for you?  I'll answer that for you --> NEVER!!

The best way to challenge this type of letter is to send a follow up letter letting them know that you are not an uninformed idiot and that their feeble attempt at validation doesn't even come close to the legal requirements set forth in the FDCPA and appropriate case law.  I usually use some of that language in my response letters and then I follow up with laws to defend my demand for validation and what is required.  They are in the business of collecting and they are supposed to know the law, yet they are usually fairly ignorant, deceptive to consumers and flagrantly in violation of the law.

Here is a sample of what I put in my letters that you can modify and use against these obnoxious criminals. (Yes, I consider them criminals because they consistently break the law and commit extortion, mail fraud, violation of the RICO Act (racketeering, etc.), and violating both the FDCPA  and FCRA, among other illegal acts.)

 Dear Sirs, (you can put in the name that they may put on their letter or say To Whom it May Concern, what ever is your fancy)

I am in receipt of your letter dated 01/01/13 in which you claim you have verified the account which I am disputing and in which you attempt to quote a portion of the Chaudrhy case decision to justify your response or to attempt to deceive me, or both.  Please understand, your feeble attempt at validation is a joke.  In fact, you claim you verified when I didn't request verification, as we both know that verification is merely requesting that you have the right name, address, account number and original creditor.  Further, your verification doesn't meet the criteria as defined in Black's Law Dictionary which includes being able to testify to the verification under oath.  I Demanded Validation, which you did not provide.

Since  you are supposedly professional collectors, you should be aware that if you fail to validate, you are barred from "verifying" with the bureaus as that is collection activity, which is barred until full validation has been accomplished.  The Chaudrhy case is not about debt collectors and validation, it is about attorneys' fees.  Maybe your incompetence and laziness has prevented you from actually reading the entire case and the entire court decision.

I am requesting from you AGAIN, Validation.  Here is what I want from you:  The alleged contract with both my wet ink signature and your employee's signature establishing that we have agreed to do business together.  Provide proof that at least the four main elements of a contract have been met.  Provide me with the alleged contract between the alleged original creditor and me, and proof that at least the four main elements of a contract have been met.  Provide me with proof that you have the legal right to collect this alleged debt.  Provide a full accounting for the alleged account - all charges, payments, interest accrued, all fees, and the corresponding dates for which every event occurred.  (Spears v. Brennan).  Prove also that this alleged debt is not time barred, or in simpler terms for feeble minds, outside of my state's statute of limitations.

Please be aware that because you put on the bottom of your letter that it was an attempt to collect a debt, you are already in violation of the FDCPA, and until you validate, you are guilty of mail fraud, racketeering, extortion, and a slew of other felony violations of the law.  So, until you fully and legally validate as I have requested, or rather, have demanded from you, you are required by law to cease all collection activity.  Should you fail to validate within ____ days, you are to delete any and all references and reportings of this fraudulent and alleged debt from every credit bureau and or repository to which you have reported it to and you are banned from ever selling or assigning this alleged debt to another collector, as that would be another violation of law by conspiring to harass and extort again, along with other violations of law.

I then go on to quote some samples of collection activity, give them a certain number of days in which to comply with my demand for validation and usually put in a limited cease and desist.  Sometimes I add some more case law to back up my requirements for validation.  I also usually put in there that I am not requesting verification but am demanding validation pursuant to the FDCPA 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b).  Then I end it with a Sincerely, and my client's name.

So, don't be afraid to send another letter challenging their arrogance and deception.  You don't have to be sweet and nice, because, when are they?  And why would you be nice to law breakers?  I don't care if the original debt was actually yours. It doesn't matter anymore.  You don't owe it to the original creditor anymore because they charged it off and got tax credits, got reimbursed from the insurance that they had on it, and they made profit by selling it.  They made money 3 times just in those ways, but they also made money from every dime you paid on it since it was created out of thin air and they never actually lent any real money to you in the first place.

So, fight, fight, fight, and challenge, dispute and challenge some more.  Its your legal right and like I always say,  "just like when you're a defendant in court, the burden of proof is not on you, it is on them."  Make them prove it.  Oh, one last thing.  They can't legally prove it!  If you want to know why, read some of my other posts regarding AmJur and "Subrogation."  You will be pleased with what you learn!

If you have any questions or comments, please hit the comment button below. (I love questions and comments).   I will respond to you.  If you have questions that you don't want to post on here, you can email me.  The link to that is up at the top right of this blog!

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.

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!