Posts Tagged Tax Liens

Ftc Credit Report Repair Facts – for Consumers

Mike Clover asked:


The FTC claims that Credit Report Repair may be better for you if you do it yourself. You have seen advertisements on TV, local newspapers, internet. All of these credit report repair companies claim the following:

* "Credit Problem? No Problem!"

* " We can get rid of bad credit problems – 100% guaranteed"

* "We can remove bankruptcies, judgments, bad loans and tax liens from your credit file forever

The FTC says "Don’t believe these statements. The only thing that will fix your credit is time, conscious effort, and a personal debt repayment plan will improve your credit report.

This article will explain how you can improve your creditworthiness and gives legitimate resources for low or no cost help.

The Scam

All over the US companies appeal to families and individuals that have bad credit problems. They promise for a fee, to clean up your credit report so you can get a car loan, a home mortgage, a job or even a insurance. The fact is, they cannot deliver. After you pay them hundred of dollars or even thousands of dollars in fees, these companies do absolutely nothing to improve your credit report. They typically vanish with your money says the FTC.

Warning Signs

If you feel credit repair with one of these companies is your choice, look out for the following.

* Companies that want you to pay before services are rendered

* Companies that don’t tell you your legal rights and what you cannot do yourself for free

* Companies that recommend that you don’t contact the credit reporting companies

* Companies that recommend you create a new identity by way of Identification Number.

* Companies that advise you to dispute all information in your credit report

Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed services they claim they can provide. The FTC says to get what they claim they can do in written, and once it is done then pay them.

The FACTS

No one can legally remove accurate information from you credit report. If you owe the debt, it will be on there for 7 years from original collection date. The law allows you the consumer to dispute inaccurate information on your report for FREE. There is no cost to you for doing this. Everything a credit repair company does for a fee, you can do it yourself for FREE. This is all in accordance to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

v You are entitled to Free Credit Report if you are denied for the following

1. Credit Application

2. Insurance

3. Employment

You are to ask for this report within 60 days of receiving this notification. You are also entitled to the free report if you are unemployed and are about to apply for job, if you are on welfare, or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud including identity theft.

v All 3 Credit Bureaus – Equifax, Trans Union and Experian are required to provide you once a year with a Free Credit Report. In order to get this report you must go to annualcreditreport.com.

v You are allowed to dispute items that are not yours for free. Under the FCRA any company that is reporting information about you that is inaccurate, this information must be updated correctly. If you owe the debt it will not be removed.

Step One

The consumer credit reporting company that is reporting information incorrectly about you must be informed in writing what information is inaccurate. You are to include a copy of documents backing your claim. You are to clearly identify in the claim the following

1. Your full name

2. Address

3. The item in the report that you are disputing

4. The request that it should be removed or corrected

5. Enclose a copy of the report and circle the item in question.

Your credit report dispute letter may look something like this:

Date

You’re Name

Mailing Address

City, State, Zip

Re: Disputing Inaccuracies on My Credit Report

Name of Credit Reporting Bureau

Mailing Address

City, State, Zip

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing for two (2) reasons:

1. To dispute certain information in my credit file; and

2. To have you investigate/re-investigate and remove inaccurate information from

my Credit Report and prevent its re-insertion. The item(s) I dispute are encircled

on the attached copy of the credit report and further identified by (identify the

items by name of source, such as creditor or tax court, etc. and identify type of

item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.)This item is (inaccurate or

incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am

requesting that the item be deleted (or whatever specific change you are

requesting) to correct the information.(If you are enclosing documents such as

copies of cancelled checks, payment records, court documents, send copies

only, you should always retain the originals — and use the following sentence.)

Enclosed are copies of the following documents supporting my position:

1.

2.

3.

Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed

items within the time frame required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and

inform me in writing of the outcome. Thank you for your time and consideration in

this matter.

Sincerely,

________________________

(Signature)

Your name

Once the investigation is complete, whether they removed the item or not, the creditor must give you something in writing. If the information was deemed incorrect, then they must remove it, and not put it back on your report.

Step Two

Advise the creditor or other information provider, in writing, that you dispute an item. Be sure to include copies only, not your original supporting your claim. The creditors usually provide an address for disputes. If the creditor reports the items to the 3 credit bureaus, they must include the dispute during the reporting time. If you are correct, the creditor must remove the item from the Bureaus it’s reporting too.

For information on "How to Dispute Credit Report Errors, go to ftc.gov/credit.

The reporting of correct information

When negative information is being reported about you, and it’s accurate the only way it will go away is with time. A consumer credit reporting company can report negative information about you for 7 years and bankruptcies for 10 years. Judgments can be reported for 7 years or until the statue of limitations run out.

Credit Repair Organization Act

By law credit repair companies must give you a copy of the "Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law" before you sign any contract. They must also give you a written contract that specifies your rights and obligations. Read these documents carefully before you sign anything.

Example of what a credit report company cannot do:

v Charge you for anything until services have been completed

v Make false claims about there services

v Provide any services until they have your signature on a written contract and have completed a 3 day waiting period. During this time you may cancel the contract without any fees occurred.

v Payment terms for services rendered, along with total cost

v Detailed description of services you are paying for

v How long it will take to achieve results

v Any guarantees they offer

v Company address and name

Check your Credit Report at least 4 to 5 times a year.

Even if you don’t have poor credit, you need to know what’s on your credit report. Here are some good reasons per the FTC.

v Because the information it contains may affect whether you get a loan and the payment terms for that loan

v Make sure the information is accurate, complete, and up to date before you apply for a mortgage, credit card, car, insurance or even a job.

v To help guard against identity theft

Hopefully this has shed some light on credit repair, and the importance of have a recent copy of your free credit report.



DALLAS

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Things You Should Know About Your Credit Report

Liz Roberts asked:


When applying for credit or taking out a loan, the first thing that your creditor will do is to check your credit report. Based on your credit report, a lender can either grant you an approval or reject your application. For this reason, everyone is advised to personally check on their credit report first before sending out an application to a prospective lender. This way, rejection and unnecessary inquiries in your credit report can be avoided.

What factors affect the status of your credit report? Your credit report is divided into four sections- the identity information, credit history, public records and inquiries. Checking the accuracy of the details in your ID information section is important. One minor error can cause serious problems or mistaken identity.

Meanwhile, your credit history section is what your lenders is most interested about. The types of accounts you own, your debts, your payments, credit limit, and everything that concerns you and your creditors are listed here. Naturally, you’ll want to check if all the charges that are billed in your account are correct and if all the payments you’ve submitted to your lender are recorded accordingly.

The next part of your credit report is the Public Records section. You’ll want this section to be empty unless you’ve filed for bankruptcy once or if you have tax liens or have been through foreclosure. Obviously, a remark listed in this section of your credit report will have a negative impact on your status and your credit score.

Last but not the least, the inquiries section of your credit report contains information about past and present lenders who have made an inquiry in your report. If you frequently submit applications to various lenders and often get rejected, this will all be reflected in your credit report. Take note that too many inquiries and rejections will badly affect your credit score.

Now that you know the factors that make up your credit report, take the time to review every detail in your report. In case you’ve errors, you are free to dispute about them by sending a dispute letter to the credit bureau who issued your report and to your creditor as well. Remember, being aware about the status of your credit report is your personal obligation and is the best way to protect yourself from erroneous reporting and fraud.

What if you found out that your credit score isn’t enough to get an approval from a lender? Do not lose hope. You can still work out on improving your credit score by paying your unpaid debts and keeping up with your payments to your present creditors. By being timely in submitting your payments, significantly reducing the amount owed, and staying within your credit limit, you can be assured that your credit score will improve. So instead of rushing in submitting your credit card or your loan application, take a moment to review your credit report and see if you are in the right position to apply for new credit.



VINCENT

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Credit Reports guide

Mansi Gupta asked:


Big and small loans have become quite a commonplace these days. Borrowing money has also become quite frequent with the advent of credit cards. As more and more people are banking on loans and other money borrowing techniques to accomplish their tasks, in order to save themselves from deceit banks and other money lending organizations have started enquiring about the individual’s history first.

The information so sought by banks and such organizations is in the form of a credit report. For any lender/s a credit report is the ideal way to determine a person’s creditworthiness. A credit report is a document that lists the concerned person’s credit history, employment and residence history. The personal details so mentioned in the report are the details filled by the person in his credit application. The report is created and updated using information from banks, traders and other creditors. Credit report also lists any judgments, tax liens, bankruptcies or similar matters of public record entered against the individual. In simple terms the report also records the number of times your credit report has been sought whether by a lender, service provider, landlord or employer which remains for up to two years.

Reflecting on a person’s past credit structure, a credit report thus enables a creditor to assess the ability of a person to repay the loan or make timely payments. This makes it easy for him to decide whether the loan is to be sanctioned in favor of the person or not.

But the fact is that a credit report can never be made available to any organization without the consent of the person being reported on. Moreover there are times when reporting agencies refuse to provide credit reports or investigate credit disputes, saying that they cannot identify the consumers. They ask the consumer to mail the copies of ID and utility bills or any other important documentation. Also for men and women in military it is even more difficult to get their own credit reports and many a times when you are overseas, it is just impossible to get that.

Lately it has been seen that access to credit information is proving to be a bone of contention for the businesses and consumers. Some big fish in this market such as Equifax, Experian and Trans Union are planning to introduce their own multi-agency credit score to outwit each other.

Every such company aims to make profits by providing accurate and instant credit information to the consumers. But unfortunately most often the results are disastrous in the form of inaccurate credit reports, identity theft and huge fees for credit monitoring after the consumer’s identity has been made available to thieves.

However a lot of nuances can be prevented if the consumer is cautious. After an individual gets his report, he should study it thoroughly. Anything negative on the report should be corrected right away, like the unpaid bills. Once you have paid the dues, let the concerned business notify the credit-reporting agency of it.

The accuracy of the report i.e. opening of any new account, charges you did not make or negligence or crime you are not responsible for etc. should also be carefully checked. If there is any fault, immediately report the concerned credit report agency about it.



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Personal Credit Report: Easily Access Your Credit Records

Amy Gordon asked:


Personal credit report largely determines your credit worthiness and interest rates that you can qualify for. You can easily get a credit report through government-sanctioned agencies (FTC) and consumer-reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) that provide free credit reports. These are easily available and even you can get one to know your current financial standing.

A personal credit report contains detailed information about your borrowing and repaying pattern along with few other important details. It contains consumer information i.e. your name, date of birth, employment history and address details.

Credit information – the most significant portion of your credit report since it contains complete information pertaining to your credit accounts, mortgages and other financial transactions. Your payment history and contains record of repayment defaults being made.

A personal credit report shows details of credit enquiries i.e. all the people who have accessed your credit report in past two years. One can even get creditor’s contact information. The phone numbers and mailing address of your previous creditors in case if you need them.

A personal credit report also encloses information about declared bankruptcy, tax liens and judgment fillings. You can easily get hold of a personal credit report and verify your status easily.

If your credit report is blemished one then you can easily improve it and make it impeccable. You can easily improve your credit scores if you scrap off all your debts and repay your loan amount on time without faltering payments. It is a slow and time consuming process but can definitely help you improve your credit scores and financial standing in market.

Getting a personal credit report is not at all a difficult nut to crack! You can easily apply and register yourself online. The online application and processing is very convenient. Moreover these reports are made available for free. Now this is something that should be missed because in today’s time there is hardly anything that comes for free! But do check the reliability of the company that you are applying with.



Kansieo.com

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