Credit Report credit
repair - Your
credit report & repair resource.
A consumer's credit
reports play a critical role in their overall financial well being. The
credit scores calculated from an individual's credit report help determine
if a person can qualify for a loan or mortgage, and if they do qualify, the
amount of money the individual will owe once they secure that loan.
The amount of interest charged on any borrowed money is directly influenced
by the borrower's credit score. It is for this reason that obtaining copies
of your credit reports is so very important. Many people assume that the
information being gathered about them - the information contained on their
credit reports - is accurate. In far too many instances, this is not
correct.
As the National Consumer Law Center points out on their website: "The credit
reporting industry is big business: over 150 million Americans have credit
files that are maintained by the major reporting agencies, and the largest
three agencies generate more than one billion credit reports each year. Yet
millions of these files contain outdated information and errors that can
affect a consumer’s access to home mortgages, car loans and other forms of
consumer credit, housing, employment, and even insurance".(1)
Credit Reporting Agencies, often called CRAs, are the entities responsible
for collecting the information contained on an individual's credit report.
CRAs are not government entities. They are huge, multinational companies
that make a profit every time a bank, employer, landlord, or anyone else
requests a copy of a consumer's credit report.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was tasked in 2003 to assess
the extent of credit reporting errors and found that: "Information on the
frequency, type, and cause of credit report errors is limited to the point
that a comprehensive assessment of overall credit report accuracy using
currently available information is not possible". (2)
The situation remains largely unchanged in 2009 and some consumers are
paying a huge price for it. As Consumer Reports stated in a September 2009
article titled Big Brother is Watching: "Whether the data are
accurate or not, misinterpretations can lead to higher costs for credit and
insurance, or the denial of a job. They can also prevent you from renting an
apartment or opening a checking account, and even from returning unwanted
merchandise to stores".(3)
The problems inherent in the CRA's collection of accurate financial
information is partially due to the rules, or lack thereof, that govern
those 'furnishers' of information, including banks, credit card companies,
state and local governments, and so on.
The National Consumer Law Center, along with the Consumer Federation of
America and other advocacy groups, addressed the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) and others in 2008 and wisely pointed out: "There is no benefit to
consumers from “voluntary” furnishing that is inaccurate, incomplete,
unsubstantiated, or stale".(4)
While consumer groups argue that inaccuracies can be identified on over 25%
of credit reports, those advocates for the CRAs and 'furnishers' of credit
information believe the number is closer to 3%. Three percent of Americans
adds up to millions of Americans suffering the consequences of inaccuracies
contained on credit reports. These people pay more for everything through no
fault of their own.
What is
Credit Repair?
Credit repair refers to the efforts made to correct inaccuracies and
outdated information on credit reports. Whether these repair efforts are
made by individuals or credit repair services, the goal is the same - to
identify and fix the errors on an individual's credit reports.
Individuals can repair their credit reports themselves; however, doing so
involves complicated procedures and in-depth knowledge of the complicated
laws that exist to "protect" consumers. These laws include the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA), along with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions
Act 2003 (FACT). Many consumers choose to hire others to fight for their
good name and reputation, which is why the industry of professional credit
repair has evolved. The credit dispute process is fundamentally flawed.
Under the rules contained in the FCRA, consumers must contact the CRAs to
dispute information. The CRAs are then obliged to contact the creditors with
a notice to investigate the complaint, then respond to the CRAs. This
procedure is absurd.
As Chi Chi Wu, a lawyer with the The National Consumer Law Center pointed
out in her testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services
in June 2007: "Traditional competitive market forces therefore provide
little incentive for CRAs to incur the costs to institute new procedures
that ensure information is accurate or to undertake investigations to
correct errors, since these activities primarily benefit consumers". (5) The
CRAs work for, and make their profits from, creditors - not consumers.
The process itself is not only stacked against the consumer, but it's also
extremely complicated. As reported by the New York Times, a
representative for the Consumer Data Industry Association stated that
'consumers were partly to blame for the lack of detail about their
discrepancies....55 to 60 percent of consumer disputes contained no
supporting documentation....and most consumers who supply documentation
include only standardized forms offered on a credit bureau’s Web site,
rather than extensive documentation of their own'. The representative
further stated: "Most consumers don’t want to work too hard to have it taken
care of".(6)
In other words, it's up to the consumer to spend huge resources of time and
money to correct the errors that CRAs make - at the same time as those CRAs
make huge profits from that very information. This is such an outrage to
consumer protection, rights and privacy that it's almost too hard to
believe. Unfortunately, it's all true.
Legitimate credit repair professionals understand this situation very well.
Legal credit repair services make no attempt to remove accurate, up to date
information from a consumer's credit reports. They can't succeed at this
because it's against the law to remove accurate information.
They don't need to. They have a huge, as yet barely tapped client base of
unlucky Americans who have fallen victim to special interest groups and
multinational corporations making money off their bad luck. They are the
victims of politicians and government regulations that do not act to protect
them. If you need additional help take a look at what debt relief can do for you.
For our readers who live in the United Kingdom we would recommend checking into an IVA if you are struggling to make repayments to your creditors. If your debt is above £15,000, you have a job to be able to make repayments you will most likely be eligible to enroll in this bankruptcy alternative. An IVA can provide other options and is very flexible to help you in whatever your financial situation is. For more information you can find out various IVA pros and cons for you to consider. You can do so by reading the information in the previous link. Other options in the UK include debt advice from a trusted name in debt assistance. Getting a hold on your debts is very important and what better option than to check out free advice to reduce your debts with a professional debt management plan.
A similar service that exists and related to the above information is that of debt or credit card consolidation. There are companies that are not always using methods that best fit their customer. But there also are good qualified debt consolidation companies that exist that really can help out their clients. The preceeding link is one in which we believe in. The reason why debt consolidation companies are able to help out considerably is that they know the tricks of the trade so to speak. They can help you to better your financial situation in a few different ways. Because everyone's situation varies from one person to the next, it is best to actually contact a certified debt consolidation / settlement business and go over with them your situation. Some procedures work well for some people but in other cases others are needed. Debt consolidation is a service many people need if they let their credit spending get out of control. The best credit cards though can actually save you money if you always pay them off within the interest free period.
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(1) National Consumer Law Center website (consumerlaw.org)
(2) U.S. Government Accountability Office, Consumer Credit: Limited
Information Exists on Extent of Credit Report Errors and Their Implications
for Consumers, GAO-03-1036T July 31, 2003
(3) Consumerreports.org, Big Brother is Watching, September, 2009
(4) Comments on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Pursuant to Section 312 of
the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, August 2009, comment
#543141-00006
(5) Testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services,
Credit Reports: Consumers' Ability to Dispute and Change Inaccurate
Information, Wu Chi Chi, June 2007
(6) New York Times, Faulting Credit Firms on Fixing Errors (February
8, 2009, p RE6)
A UK equivalent to credit repair is a debt management plan.
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