The Dark
Side of
Credit
Repair
I received
the
following
email,
unsolicited
I add...
(Name
removed) is
a prominent
Beverly
Hills
company that
repairs:
repossessions,
foreclosures,
court
judgments,
collection
accounts,
bankruptcies,
tax liens,
charge offs,
late
payments,
past due
debts,
loans,
defaults,
credit
cards,
credit
rejections,
credit
inquiries,
some unpaid
bills and
more. Our
company uses
prominent
Beverly
Hills
attorneys
that use a
legal
loophole
found in the
recent 1997
modification
of the
Federal Fair
Credit
Reporting
Act designed
to monitor
the credit
reporting
agencies (Experian/TRW,
Transunion,
and Equifax)
and to
protect
debtors'
rights like
yours. The
Fair Credit
Reporting
Act allows
us to have
your credit
cleared up
even if the
information
on your
credit
report is
accurate. If
the credit
reporting
agency does
not follow
the proper
procedure
that
includes
approximately
320 legally
required
steps for
reporting
each bad
credit ding,
the law says
the credit
reporting
agency must
permanently
delete that
bad credit
ding.
Moreover,
our company
uses an
efficient
special
software
program to
find out if
the credit
agency
followed the
320 legally
required
steps for
each of the
bad
creditings
on your
report. Once
we have run
our program
that finds
out where
the credit
reporting
agency has
made a
mistake, we
use our
Beverly
Hills
attorneys to
put the
legal
pressure on
the credit
reporting
agencies to
enforce the
Federal Fair
Credit
Reporting
Act.
END
Well, the
message is
clear: this
credit
repair
business
will do
anything to
rid you of a
negative
credit
record, and
it must
sound
inviting to
just about
everyone in
such a
situation.
What of the
'right and
wrongs' of
this
service.
The old
chestnut from
the credit
repair
company is
that the law
is there to
protect the
debtor as
well as the
creditor:
break one of
those "320
legally
required
steps" and
you have
lost your
rights. The
USA
legislation,
unlike our
UK
legislation,
seems
overburdened
with
ancillary
"steps" each
of which
appears to
be a
potential
minefield
for the
creditor.
The UK
(England &
Wales) has
very few
'loopholes',
mostly to do
with whether
or not you
received the
paperwork
leading up
to the CCJ,
Default etc.
Saying that
you did not
live at an
address when
the court
papers were
sent to you
is
sufficient
grounds to
appeal.
Would you
lie and say
that you did
not receive
the
paperwork in
order to
appeal for
the removal
of a CCJ?
If you
missed two
payments of
a hire
purchase
agreement
for which a
Default
Notice (a
serious
arrears
letter) was
sent to you
and sat on
your credit
record for
SIX YEARS
(even if you
paid it when
you received
the letter)
would you
lie to
appeal
against the
Default
being
registered?
In the UK at
present, our
legal
profession
has not
entered the
credit
repair
arena, but I
am sure it
will soon
and we will
see similar
letters to
the above
that quite
simply say,
- 'Your
Rights Were
Violated -
Get The CCJ
Removed For
£...' -
Then, all of
a sudden
credit
repair
becomes
respectable
and clean:
funny world!
COMPANY
REPORTS
First class
reports,
county court
judgments,
turnover,
cash flow,
directors
and lots
more
information
to help you
make the
right
decisions.
Don't trust
to luck with
credit:
invest in
knowledge.
Company
Reports
TOPIC 2
Debt
Management
Services:
Crooks or
Professional
Service
I wrote a
reply to a
forum in the
past few
days in
response to
a person
with £30k +
of debt who
was asking
for advice.
* My
Comments:
Look at the
following
professional
services:
a lawyer to
divorce
you,
sell your
house,
or make a
will,
or an
accountant
to produce
annual
accounts,
complete
your tax
return,
or advise
you on
setting up a
business.
Do you know
what they
have in
common? Yes,
any
competent
person can
do any of
them -
especially
if they use
the Internet
to seek help
(sorry
accountants
and
solicitors
just trying
to make a
point).
However,
when it
comes to
paying for
professional
debt help,
some are
disposed to
criticise at
the very
mention of
it.
If you had
debts of
£30,000 at,
say, £1000
per month
repayment
and the debt
pro got your
payment down
to £400 per
month, and
charged you
£60 per
month to
administer
the entire
work load,
you would
see that as
scandalous,
would you?
A view: the
debt company
sorts out
your £30k+
debt over a
period of
weeks, logs
it into the
computer and
gets their
staff to
administer
your
payments to
them, and
out again to
your
creditors.
They also
deal with
correspondence
(all you do
is send all
debt letters
to the debt
company and
they deal
with it).
They then
advise you
how to
manage your
monthly
payments
when debts
are starting
to get
cleared off:
they deal
with the
creditor who
wants more
money etc.
And of
course when
you need
advice you
can call
them any
time' at no
cost. When
your payment
goes down to
£200 per
month they
charge you
£30 and so
on. When it
is paid off
who helped
you? A
bumbling con
man or a
true
professional
resource.
I would
never
suggest the
Citizens
Advice
Bureau were
anything
other than
the best
friend in
the world
when
everyone
else has
departed:
what I would
say is that
a debt
professional
will get you
a better
deal. Why?
Because they
get paid by
performance
(good old
commercial
values).
Tell them
what you
want/need
and that's
what they
will TRY to
do. Don't go
to the CAB
with a list
of assets
you want to
keep, and a
list you
don't want!
You can with
a debt
adjuster
(whether
that's right
or wrong is
not the
issue here).
Remember the
debt company
works for
you, not
your
creditors:
you pay them
to help you
get out of
one of the
worst
personal
problems you
can imagine!
Not all of
us are
cut out for
dealing with
creditors.
Some
creditors
will make
your hair
curl and
others are
not so mean
but are
incredibly
persistent.
One of the
things that
a creditor
will look
for in a
serious debt
situation is
what help
has been
sought from
experienced
sources: if
this is none
expect
tenacity.
You can
quote
harassment
at them,
police or
any other
intervention
to stop them
- but it
wont help in
lots of
cases. Debt
collectors
collect
debts, and
are very
good at it:
why expect
understanding
and
sympathy.
Being in
debt is
serious -
never play
at it, sort
it out
quickly and
get on with
your life.
But don't
put your
nose up to
those who
can, and are
able, to
help you
until you
have tried
it!
* Some
Comments in
Response
One reply to
my comments
was, "just
grunt
paperwork"
in response
to paying a
debt company
to deal with
creditors
and
administer
repayment
for 1 - 2
years.
Another
said, "What
work load?".
And although
well
intentioned
another
said, "It
may be
possible to
sell some
things to
recoup some
of the money
you spent on
them" ,alas
that will
not resolve
£30k+ of
debt. Last
one, "as a
last resort,
of course,
you can
always sell
your house":
I fail to
see the
benefit in
dealing with
the debt
yourself if
you have to
sell your
house.
As the
posting was
on a message
board I was
not allowed
to let
anyone know
about the
site etc.
There seemed
to be a
hostile
attitude of
'you are
only saying
that because
you are
involved in
debt and
want the
business...'
As most of
you know (I
hope), I
fight very
hard for the
'little guy'
(because I'm
one of
them), but I
also back my
profession
and I feel
there is a
justifiable
need for
legitimate
debt
companies
due to the
credit
culture of
today.
TOPIC 3
Late Payment
Act for
Small
Business
Request from
Kim West
from Leeds.
Having in
force the
terms and
conditions
on which you
are willing
to supply
credit and
the charge
for late
payment will
focus all
parties as
to the
penalty for
overdue
amounts, but
will do
little to
avoid late
payment. A
working
Credit
Policy is
required to
set the
standard for
a successful
creditor/debtor
relationship.
The Late
payment Act
allows the
small
business
(less than
50
employees)
to charge
large
businesses
(a large
business is
any business
with over 50
employees)
‘base rate’
(6%) plus
the
‘statutory
rate’ (8%),
a total of
14% on all
overdue
amounts.
From 1
November
2000, all
small
businesses
can charge
interest
from other
small
businesses,
and from 1
November
2002
everyone can
charge
interest.
The base
rate of
interest is
set by the
Bank of
England once
a month (the
rate that
affects the
mortgage
rate) and
this along
with the
statutory
late payment
rate (which
is set by
the
government)
is a
guideline.
NOTE: The
base and
statutory
rates are
guidelines,
not hard and
fast rules.
Ultimately
is it up to
you how much
interest you
charge (if
the rate is
'fair'), but
always make
it clear to
the customer
how much you
will charge
by using
Terms and
Conditions
of Sale.
If you do
not have
Terms and
Conditions
of Sale (as
the
supplier)
the
statutory
law
automatically
gives you
the right
to charge
interest on
amounts due
after an
initial 30
days. The
number of
days
outstanding
is the
amount of
days the
payment is
overdue.
Example: You
bill a
client on
the 1st of
March,
giving them
30 days to
pay and they
still have
not paid by
the end of
April, the
number of
days
outstanding
is 30, not
60.
LINKS
Late Payment
Act:
Credit
Policy
Working
Terms &
Conditions
of Sale
BITS &
PIECES
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You can also
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2.
Home Check -
Free Report
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Code
A little bit
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usual
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worth a
mention.
This site
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present you
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the
following:
Flood,
subsidence,
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mining,
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Coming soon
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Mining,
House Price
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Unemployment
Figures,
Council Tax
Bands .
Worth a
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Homecheck
