NO LOAN ACCOUNT NUMBER ON FILE CORRESPONDING TO CUSTOMER NAME

March 5th, 2010

I have a question. I am driving my sister’s car and I have been making a payment through my daughter’s bank for the last 3 months. Today, they sent the check back because they said that” NO LOAN ACCOUNT NUMBER ON FILE CORRESPONDING TO CUSTOMER NAME.” Is that something that they can do? If you don’t know the answer, do you know anyone that I can talk to about this matter.

-Terry

Dear Terry,

This sounds like more of a bureaucratic oversight than a deliberate attempt to refuse payment. Did you attempt to call them to resolve the issue.

Generally speaking, almost any banking institution will allow another to pay a debt – even if your name is not listed on the account.

-Ben

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Credit Team USA Sued for Fabricating a Fake Stimulus Package

March 3rd, 2010

It seems as though faux credit repair companies are being exposed left and right. We recently posted about a credit repair scam as well as a more established company called Veracity Credit consultants who was sued by the Colorado Attorney General.

Now, a consumer has taken the initiative to file suit against Credit Team USA. http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/03/02/25153.htm

The plaintiff is seeking to recover damages exceeding $3,000 for various misrepresentations. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that this credit repair company charged up front fees (which is illegal in some states) and also fabricated an Obama credit repair stimulus package.

Unfortunately, this consumer could not get the company to refund his money and now he’s forced to seek judicial intervention.

This is just another example of the many predators that occupy the credit repair space. We posted several tips on how to avoid a credit repair scam here. However, the bottom line involves common sense. We strongly encourage you to choose a credit repair law firm. Having an affordable and licensed attorney fight your case is just good common sense. Plus, you don’t have to worry about getting scammed. Lawyers are regulated by strict bar association rules and are therefore will provide the level of ethical service you normally expect.

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More Credit Repair Scams Exposed! Another Company Charged with Fraud

February 25th, 2010

Yesterday we discussed how the Colorado Attorney General charged a credit repair company called Veracity Credit Consultants with various violations. You can see the details about Veracity Credit Repair here.

In another somewhat related story, we discovered that the city of Chicago charged nine different “credit repair companies” with fraud. You can check out the video here:

There is a common theme here with all these stories:

If you are looking for a credit repair company to help you with credit issues, you should avoid any company that charges a big up front fee.

This is the exact reason why we selected Lexington Law Firm to help us with our credit issues. There are no big up front fees and they have plans affordable for almost any budget. I liked that there is a small first work fee of $99, which is a bargain considering all they do for that small investment.

The other reason why we liked Lexington is simply because they offer a pay-as-you-go service. If you don’t like what they are doing, you simply cancel the service and move on.

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Veracity Credit Repair Sued by Colorado Attorney General

February 23rd, 2010

Veracity Credit Repair Consultants (www.veracitycredit.com) was sued by the Colorado Attorney General as reported by Bizjournals.com yesterday.

The credit repair company is accused of charging upfront fees for its services, which is illegal according to laws that govern credit repair companies. They are also accused of failing to disclose the total amount the service would cost.

I spent some time on the Veracity website and learned that this is a company that does not employ attorneys to perform the services. In other words, as a client of Veracity you are not getting any professional legal help for your case. Yet, it charges its clients the same fees as credit repair law firms!

Which would you rather hire: A non-attorney credit repair company or a credit repair law firm with decades of experience for the same price!?

The lawsuit against Veracity is unfortunate because it is another blemish against the credit repair industry. It means that legitimate credit repair law firms have to work that much harder to prove they are not a credit repair scam.

For details on how to choose a legitimate credit repair service, check out this article on how to avoid credit repair scams.

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Should I Close a Credit Card that is Paid Off?

February 17th, 2010

One member believes she made a terrible mistake by closing her two credit cards that are paid off. She is worried that closing the accounts may have lowered her score. Here is her question:

I have reviewed my credit report. I have two credit cards that I m paying on every month. One has a bal. of $2,400. or so and the other is under $400.00.

In the past I had several credit cards and they all all repoted to the credit bureaus “PAID NEVER LATE” however, the cards are closed at my request. I did not want to be in over my head in credit card balances. Now I feel I need to reopn or apply for one to show on the CBR’s that I have at least one c-card open.

Ben, I keep asking for advice. I know that your advice and time is part of your business. I can not recall what your charges are? Please have one of your rep’s call me.

Ben, I have so many legal questions on if I should leave the possitive paid and closed acct’s on my report or have thim removed they are old acct’s. Then there is the issue of a tax lein I have no Idea who reported it I have to go to San Joaquin clerks office and get that information. And last but not least I’m in the process of a home modification. which for sure loweres my score.

First, let’s address whether it was a mistake to close your credit card accounts. Although the credit bureaus keep their scoring formula TOP SECRET, they have publicly stated that keeping an unsecured bank card such as a Visa or Mastercard OPEN will help improve your score.

So, my suggestion is to get an unsecured revolving credit card account. Keep the card active but the balance low. In other words, it is good practice to use the card for small purchases and pay off the balance. That way you get the benefit of the credit score improvement along with avoiding interest payments.

Second, that is scary that a lien has popped up on your credit report. A lien could have resulted from any number of things such as a tax balance or any debt where the creditor went and obtained a judgment.

Since you don’t even know where it came from, my suggestion would be to dispute the accuracy immediately. You can do this yourself, or have a law firm like lexington law take care of it for you. There are benefits to both routes, but with something as damaging as a lien, I would consider a credit repair service, which is affordable and provides great service.

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How to Deal with a Collection Agency

February 8th, 2010

Have you heard of the Midland Credit Management Collection Agency?

It seems as though Midland is on a rampage to buy up all the junk consumer debt and chase down the debtors. As a result, people with bad debt are completely baffled on how to deal with a collection agency.

When large corporations purchase mass quantities of debt and accounts are sold over and over again, mistakes are inevitable. Unfortunately it’s the consumers who usually get the short end of the stick by way of harassing phone calls and letters and credit report errors.

I found this video where the consumer was able to get Midland to contact the bureaus and remove all the negative credit!

This is about as close to an apology from a credit bureau that you will ever see!

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How Not to Pay Your Bills (100% Legal)

January 2nd, 2010
What you’re about to read is highly controversial.
It took a lot of encouragement to feel comfortable sending it.
I’m sure I’ll get a mountain of blowback from those people
who feel like I am helping you cheat the system.
However, I felt obligated to share the following secret.
This secret is a 100% legal way to NOT pay your bills. (It isn’t really a
“secret” at all yet so few people bother
researching it so it is often ignored.)
Ok – here it is: Use the Statute of Limitations
to NOT Pay Your Bills
Here’s how it works:
The statute of limitations is a legalism created
by our lawmakers. It creates time limits on
certain debts.
In other words, you may not have to
pay certain debts after a certain amount of time
passes. (I think of it like a “shot clock” for
creditors).
I don’t want to get into a super detailed explanation here
because it could go on for pages and I’m not a statute of
limitations lawyer.
However,  I can tell you about the basics which include the following:

-    The statute of limitations for credit card debt
is usually between 4-6 years. (check your local
state laws here at bankrate.com)

-    A payment or a promise to pay tolls the statute
of limitations. So, if you made a small payment
towards an old bill, the clock will start from the
beginning.
-    The statute of limitations eliminates your
legal obligation to pay a debt…not your moral
obligation to pay that debt.
In other words, if a creditor tries to sue you to collect
an expired debt, you could use the statute
of limitations as as defense.
-    Creditors and collection agencies will keep
trying to collect expired debts. They assume
(correctly) that most people are ignorant about
how to use the statute of limitations to their advantage.
-    The statute of limitations will not stop bill collectors
from calling and trying to get money
from you.
(sorry, it can’t help you in this
department – but you can at least feel better
knowing that any threats a bill collector makes
to sue you are just empty threats)
I’m sure that I’ll get some hate mail because I sent out this information.
However, I’m in no way encouraging you not to pay your bills.
My job is to educate you. Laws are created for a
reason. It’s not my job to judge whether those
laws are fair or not.
My opinion is that these
laws were created for some good reasons and that
we should use them to our advantage.
If you can use the statute of limitations as
leverage when dealing with unethical, unlawful, or
rude bill collectors, then I’ve done my job.
By the way, by the time the statute of limitations expires on a debt,
it has usually been bought and
sold so many times that the current creditor probably
paid no more than one or two pennies on the dollar.
Often that same bill collector will try to add ridiculous interest
and fees and attempt to gouge you for 150-200% of the
original debt.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free
to post directly below

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Your 2010 Credit Strategy

January 1st, 2010

Your credit rating is more important in 2010 than
any other year in the history of America. There is
less available credit than any other time in
recent history.

Credit card companies launched a
massive wave of cut backs. You may have noticed
your available balance was slashed overnight.
It is much more difficult to get a mortgage. The
minimum score needed rose by an average of 40
points and the minimum score required for
reasonable rates is up 28 points.

The bottom line is that you can expect it to be
downright difficult – if not impossible – to
get new credit in 2010 if you’ve let your credit
slip.

What this means is that you need a plan to get
your credit in top shape for the new year.

I spent several hours last weekend writing down
my financial goals for 2010, which included my
FICO score goal of 775.

I assume that you also have some goals for this
coming year. Whatever your goals may be, you’ll
need a strategy. Your credit strategy should
include a plan to erase any negative items from
your reports, improve your score, and achieve your
financial goals.

Below you’ll find an easy
formula to achieve those goals:

Credit Strategy #1: Remove any questionable
negative item from your reports. If you have a
questionable charge off, collection, late payment,
repossession, bankruptcy, or any other derogatory
information, it needs to be disputed and removed
asap!
You can do this yourself with a regular dispute
letter which you can find here www.youcancreditrepair.com/index1.php.

Often some items can be quite stubborn. Charge
offs, judgments, and repossession are especially
“sticky”.

You may need to get more aggressive
than just a standard dispute letter.
You might consider a process called “debt
validation” where you demand that the original
creditor validate a debt. (It’s a lot different
than disputing with the bureaus – yet super
effective for removing collections and charge
offs).

I would not trust myself to properly execute the
debt validation process. In fact, I messed it up
so badly when I did try it that creditors began
ignoring my letters.

It was a different story when my attorneys at
Lexington helped though. They got a big bad
collection agency (Midland Credit) to contact the
bureaus and have them remove all the charge offs
and collections.

Lexington Law’s services are not for everybody.
It is more for people who are deadly serious about
their credit and have some immediate financial
goals for 2010.

If you are one of those people you
can get on the phone with a paralegal today by
dialing this number: 800-636-3158.

Credit Strategy #2: Build Good Credit
The good news is that this is easy to do if you
already have an unsecured account.

Keep paying those accounts on time. In fact, I suggest setting
up an auto payment system so you never slip up.
Plus, this saves postage so you are saving twice!

The bad news is for people who don’t already
have an unsecured account – like a
visa/mastercard account. It is tough to even get a
card if your score is in the 500 range.

I did find a company who does guarantee your
approval so long as you are employed and have a
valid ssn. There is a great opportunity with this
program to help you build credit. You can learn
more here.
Credit Strategy #3: Stay the Course
Stay persistent. This will take time. If you get
started today you can consider yourself ahead of
the game.

Keep a detailed log of what your score
is today and track your progress. Odds are that if
you follow these tips your score will continue to
climb each month.

Don’t get discouraged when things don’t go
your way. There are usually different ways to
tackle a problem.
Here’s to a great start to 2010!

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Can I Delete Accurate Bad Credit Items?

December 24th, 2009

If you have bad credit, you’ve probably heard the company line about how bad credit remains on your credit for at least 7 years.

No exceptions.

You surely are aware of people who refuse to wait 7 years for the information to “fall off”. Instead, they get proactive and delete information before the 7 years has expired.

Are you breaking the law by removing bad credit if you admit that the account may technically be accurate?

Are you sacrificing your ethics by disputing accounts you know belong to you?

Bad credit is NOT black and white. It is really a massive heap of gray area. You may be surprised to learn that you don’t have to wait 7 years to dispute and remove bad credit.

Learn more about how to legally dispute bad credit here.

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How to Use Credit Cards to Rebuild Credit

December 23rd, 2009

The shopping season is upon us and surely you’ll pull out the plastic a few times while at the mall or online.

If you plan on using credit cards to make purchases this Holiday Season, why not kill two birds with one stone? There are a few simple steps you can follow to use credit cards to rebuild a low credit score.

First, educate yourself on the credit scoring algorithms. Although these formulas are highly secretive, there are some things you know for sure. For instance, credit scoring formulas take your Utilization Ration into account. Your Utilization Ratio is the amount you owe on a card compared to the available credit.

See the other two steps to using credit cards to rebuild credit here.

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