Credit Card Blog & Article Area
Blog Post Date: Oct 18, 2005
ARE CREDIT REPAIR COMPANIES FAKE OR REAL?
I've read a few blogs which talk about how credit repair is a fake service. I love/hate uneducated blogs that don't have a clue what they're talking about.
The problems people have with credit repair companies is that it's not understood what a credit repair company is supposed to do.
DELETE ALL THE NEGATIVE ITEMS ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?
Some credit repair companies claim to delete all the negative items on your credit reports with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian leaving your credit scores nice and clean and perfect.
I know a company that has pretty good success at doing just that, even though I don't necessarily agree with the tactics. This guy uses every loophole in the book to erase people's bad credit. He's very aggressive and forceful, but he gets the job done.
FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
The U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act which is a Federal act states (paraphrased) that all items on your credit reports, with all credit reporting agencies, must be accurate complete and verified within 30 days or they must be deleted from your credit report."
Being that I do credit repair in Canada, I have seen several credit reports which have items that are not complete, not verifiable, and not accurate. I have seen many bankruptcy reportings that were completely inaccurate, and that's based on the system of how creditors report bankrutpcy items to the credit bureaus.
There are far more things reported in the U.S. on people's credit reports. Medical bills are one that come to the top of mind. Canadians don't see medical bills on their credit reports.
PERSONAL EXAMPLE - GOOD CREDIT REPORT HAS INACCURACIES
I have perfect credit, meaning no late payments etc.
I started my personal credit repair process over two years ago. At the time, TransUnion had duplicate records on my credit report which were costing me 100 points at the time. I didn't understand it until these items were removed.
So... my credit score went from 620 to 720 on my TransUnion Canada report because the creditors had incorrectly put duplicate accounts on my reports. Go Figure.
Not only that, they were showing incorrect previous addresses and credit history going back to 1985!! I am only interested in having credit shown on my report that is within my agreements and within the law.
Equifax had my name misspelled on my Equifax Canada credit report. It took nearly a year before they fixed it. I had to complain to Consumer Protection - Justice department for about 4 months before I got my name fixed properly.
SEX 900 NUMBER ON MY CREDIT REPORT AND OTHER PROBLEMS
There was a contact number on one of my credit items on my Equifax credit report. This is the contact number to get a hold of the creditor to discuss the credit reporting of my account. When I called the number, the recording said, please call 900-555-1212 (i can't remember the exact number). The toll free 800 number sent me to an adult sex line!!
I was feeling disputive and thought I would see what it takes to get this 900 number fiasco cleared up with Equifax. It took two days of rangling with the creditors LEGAL DEPARTMENT and Equifax's LEGAL DEPARTMENT to get the number fixed. Needless to say that I complained about this to Consumer Protection.
Another creditor contact number was a toll free 800 number that was out of service. This was with the TD Bank. I had checked this 3 years earlier and the same number was out of service. I then went through the same process to get the number fixed in their database.
There were about 5 examples of wrong phone numbers and obsolete contact information for creditors on my personal credit report.
INQUIRIES MISREPORTING
For inquiries on my Equifax credit report, there were either no phone numbers, or they had the contact phone numbers listed as 999-999-9999 literally. Or the phone numbers didn't work properly.
I made so much noise with the regulatory bodies and Equifax Canada and the creditors that Equifax cleaned up their whole database in Canada! I had to expose their problems with Saskatchewan Justice and the Canadian Federal Government.
Within a few months, I noticed that contact information was much better updated on my clients' credit reports.
These are the kinds of problems that I've had in Canada with credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion. I have hundreds of stories that I could tell.
CREDIT REPORTS MUST BE ACCURATE COMPLETE AND VERIFIABLE
The point is that all items on your credit reports must be accurate, complete and verifiable. They should be. You wouldn't want anything else reported on you.
When you sign up for a credit card or credit line, or mortgage etc, you authorize the creditor to disclose your information to the credit bureaus. It is the responsibility of the creditors to accurately report your information to each credit bureaus.
There are countless things that can go wrong in the course of many years through out your credit life or personal credit history. You may switch credit cards with the same creditor. You may sign up for two accounts with the same creditor. You may have made late payments that you didn't know about. Somebody may have stolen your wallet or purse and gotten a hold of your identity. This is identity theft.
Declaring bankruptcy or doing credit counseling or debt settlement are usually poorly reported on your credit report. Not only is bankruptcy hard on your credit, but the creditors don't usually report the credit properly on your report.
NOT SURE WHAT'S ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?
I hope I have created a little doubt in your mind if you haven't seen your credit reports yet. As part of being in touch with your finances, you need to see your credit reports at least once per year. This should be a mandatory part of your plan.
FINALLY
There are inaccuracies on most people's credit reports, if just small ones.
Credit Repair - Is it real or a fake service?
The credit repair business is for people who don't have the inclination to fight credit bureaus, creditors, and regulatory bodies by themselves. A credit repair company is trained to make sure that all items reported on your credit report fit within the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or in Canada each Provinces' Credit Reporting Acts.
I have seen items on most credit reports that I could easily dispute based on 'loopholes' in the law. The credit bureaus are regulated. And because of these laws need to be fitting within these regulations.
? If you want to do the credit repair yourself, knock yourself out.
? If you have inaccuracies on your credit report and don't want to do the work yourself, hire a credit repair company.
? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, start to do some research on the matter.
By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Credit Repair, Credit Reports, Equifax, TransUnion, Experian credit bureaus
Articles from October 2005
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