Credit Repair
Credit Repair (14)
Like most people, you work hard for your money! Unfortunately, everything you buy with credit will COST YOU a lot more when you have blemishes on your credit files.
When negative information is on your report you will become the victim of higher interest rates and more. You will pay THOUSANDS of unnecessary dollars, more than your neighbors with better credit scores.
Lower Scores Cost YOU:
•More for Your Mortgage
•More for Your Auto Loan
•More for Your Homeowners Insurance
•More for Your Life Insurance
•More for Your Credit Card Interest Rates
•You May Pay More for Utility Deposits
•You May Lose on a Job Offer
Chances are if you reading this you may be one of the:
•96.1% of Americans with an error on your report
•29% with an error serious enough to result in credit denial
The Good News - You have the legal right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to challenge any item on your credit report that may be misleading, incomplete or unverifiable/questionable. If a challenged item cannot be verified, the credit bureaus must remove it. This sounds easy but most find it near impossible to do on their own. Having a professional advocate for you who knows the law and the most effective methods yields you the best results.
Why Cornerstone Restorations?
We use ALL the laws on the books to fight for your rights!
Our competitors ONLY use the fair credit reporting act (FCRA) and send out no more than three letters only to the credit bureaus every 30 - 60 days. If you are lucky, they might dispute a couple collection companies.
What we do is not only dispute to the bureaus; we also customize letters to the companies that put the information on your credit report to begin with. We do not limit our service to a certain number of disputes, the number of letters we send is unlimited. No matter how many companies there are on your reports, we hold them accountable to the letter of the law using ALL the existing
FDCPA: Wagner v. Ocwen Bank (Cannot Collection Discharged Debt)
Overview:
Attempting to Collect Debt Discharged in Bankruptcy May Violate FDCPA.
The Court refused to dismiss a suit brought by a debtor whose debts had been discharged in bankruptcy. A bank bought a discharged debt and attempted to collect the debt. That may be a violation of both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Bankruptcy Code.
Case Summary:
Wagner filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and received a discharge of her debts in 1997. Among the debts discharged was a note secured by a mortgage of real property. After the discharge, the note and mortgage were assigned to Ocwen, which is in the business of buying and collecting defaulted debts. Ocwen attempted to collect the discharged debt from Wagner. She sued, claiming violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for attempting to collect money from her that she did not owe. Ocwen moved to have the claim dismissed, contending that her only remedy would be under the Bankruptcy Code.
Decision:
Since Wagner's debts had been discharged, she was not a debtor to Ocwen, who attempted to collect money from her. Ocwen's claim that only the Bankruptcy Code, but not the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, could apply is incorrect. Both laws can be violated at the same time. Ocwen could be found in contempt of the Bankruptcy Code and in violation of the FDCPA. "Wagner's FDCPA claim, at its foundation, is no different from that of any other debtor who is dunned by a creditor who in fact is not owed any money; the fact that her debt was discharged in bankruptcy does not logically differentiate her case from that of a debtor whose debt was discharged in some other way."
FDCPA: Nadalin v. Automobile Recovery Bureau (Repossession Fee Not Covered)
Nadalin v. Automobile Recovery Bureau, Inc., - F.3d - (1999 WL 130194, 7th Cir.)
Overview:
Fee Charged to Debtors for Return of Personal Property Found in Repossessed Vehicles Not Covered by Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
A company that repossessed vehicles on behalf of creditors was sued for charging a fee to vehicle owners for storing and returning personal property found in the vehicles. The common law of bailment applies, not the FDCPA because the company that repossessed the property was not a lender with any interest in the vehicles.
Attorney's Fees Due for Any Debt Collection Violation
Zagorski v. Midwest Billing Services, Inc., F.3d--- (1997 WL 695401, 7th Cir.)
Overview:
Attorney's Fees Due for Any Debt Collection Violation.
Debt Collector Stopped Short Under FDCPA Due to Misleading Letterhead
McKenzie v. E.A. Uffman and Associates, F.3d--- (1997 WL 425948; 5th Cir.)
Overview:
Debt Collector Stopped Short Under FDCPA Due to Misleading Letterhead.
Credit Repair Organization’s Involvement in Credit Dispute Defeats Plaintiff's Class Action
Klotz v. Trans Union, LLC, No. 05-4580 (E.D. Pa. July 3, 2007)
Overview:
Credit Repair Organization’s Involvement in Credit Dispute Defeats Plaintiff's Class Action.
Report to Congress on the Fair Credit Reporting Act Dispute Process
Overview
In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System have released their Report to Congress on the Fair Credit Reporting Act Dispute Process. The report provides tons of must-know information on how the dispute process actually works.
Several studies released in the early 1990s by the state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) found that some credit reports contained serious mistakes and that credit bureaus often refused to fix them. These studies showed that for each of the years 1990, 1991 and 1992, credit report complaints were the leading complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Other studies by Consumers Union (publishers of Consumer Reports) and an independent credit reporting association buttressed the PIRG findings.
Reason Codes - Your Strategy to Higher FICO Scores!
There will be reason codes on the bottom of a copy of a credit report that contains a FICO credit score. The codes provide factors that may be affecting your credit score. For example, if you see “07 Your credit file doesn’t have enough account experience for you to earn a higher FICO score” you may need to openup some new accounts to build credit history.
How to Identify Negative Items on Your Credit Report
The following list will help you identify items negatively affecting your credit score: