60 Minutes Report Reveals The Broken Credit Report System In America
60 Minutes had an excellent expose of the credit reporting industry and how Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are not concerned with fixing credit report errors.
The journalist on the story was Steve Kroft who really captured the frustration felt by so many consumers who cannot get the attention of the credit bureaus to fix a credit report with errors.
40 million Americans have errors — there are about 200… (Read more)
When you’re facing foreclosure, we recommend that you pull your credit reports.
This confuses people, and they ask, “Why in the world should I do that? I’ve got a foreclosure that’s happening in two weeks! How is that going to help me?”
Well, there are a couple of ways it will help you.
It may give you information that shows the foreclosure isn’t allowed.
You may also see information that violates other laws, such as the FCRA, Fair Credit Reporting… (Read more)
Is it legal to credit report me as 30 days late before I am actually 30 days late?
Let’s say your payment is due on October 1st, and you pay it on the 2nd instead.
Can they report you being 30 days late, which is negative on your credit report?
Well, I think it’s pretty clear that no, they can’t.
Reporting that someone is 30 days late is exactly that, the person being 30 days late.
If you paid it… (Read more)
How will I know that the credit bureaus will fix my reports?
So you’re looking at your credit reports, and you have an error on them.
You send a dispute letter to the credit bureaus, and now you’re wondering how you’ll know if they have fixed it.
First off, I’d like to say that almost all disputes should be done by certified mail.
That way you get the green card back and you can use the postal code to find… (Read more)
Let’s talk about this frustrating situation.
You’re dealing with false credit information, and you reach out to the credit bureaus and ask them to fix your reports.
They respond by saying, “We deem you to have made a frivolous dispute. Therefore we will not investigate or change it.”
Now you’re wondering, “What can I do?”
This is frustrating to deal with, assuming your dispute isn’t actually frivolous (if it actually is frivolous, well…).
Your legitimate claim is ignored because the… (Read more)
“How do I make sure my credit reports are correct after settling with an Original Creditor?”
Let’s say that you were sued for $5,000, and you agree to pay $3,000 to settle the case.
Then, after you pay the money and the case is settled with prejudice, you check your credit reports and see that you owe $5,000.
What?!?!
That simply isn’t true, because you settled with the original creditor. You owe nothing so your credit report should say “zero… (Read more)