How to dispute an error on your credit report
April 13, 2012 by Todd Murray · Leave a Comment
It’s an unfortunate reality that many consumer credit reports contain errors. Here’s what to do if you discover an error on your credit report:
1. Write a letter to the credit reporting agency explaining what information you believe is inaccurate. When the credit reporting agency gets your letter, they must conduct an investigation and remove any information that cannot be confirmed as accurate. The CRA is required to send the furnisher (the business providing the information on the report) all of the information that you provide. Your letter should contain the following:
- Your full name and address. You may also consider including your social security number to ensure that the CRA locates your file.
- Identification of every single item that you believe is inaccurate. One way to do this is to include a copy of your credit report and circle each of the items you dispute.
- An explanation of why each disputed item is incorrect. Be detailed and describe your dispute as if you were explaining it to a young child. CRAs may disregard your dispute if it isn’t sufficiently detailed.
- Attach copies of all of the proof that you have that supports your dispute.
- Tell the CRA if you have previously disputed these items, provide the details of these prior disputes (including any phone disputes), and explain how the CRA’s failure to correct the errors is harming you.
- Most importantly, tell the CRA what you want them to do (ie. delete the incorrect entry; modify it, etc).
2. Mail the letter certified, return receipt requested, and keep a copy of the letter and green card for your records. Address the letter to the credit reporting agency whose report contains the error. Some experts advise sending a copy of the dispute letter to the furnisher. This isn’t a bad idea, but you’re not required to do so. The CRA is required to send the furnisher all the information that you provide them with.
3. You may have to write several dispute letters. The CRA may not fix the error after your first letter. Be persistent and write follow-up dispute letters until you get the mistake fixed. Avoid the shortcut of just sending the CRA another copy of your first dispute letter. Read their response to your previous dispute letter and do your best to address the reasons they denied your dispute in your follow-up letter. Don’t be afraid to detail your previous attempts to fix the error and to describe the harm the CRA’s failure to correct the mistake has caused you in these follow-up letters. And be sure to keep copies of all the letters that the CRA sends you in response to your dispute letters.
4. If you’ve written multiple letters and the CRA still hasn’t fixed the error, it’s time to talk to a consumer attorney. If you’ve followed all these steps and the error hasn’t been fixed, contact a consumer attorney with experience handling cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
5. Finally, a few words of caution:
- It’s perfectly acceptable for a CRA to report accurate negative information. Don’t abuse the dispute process by seeking removal of accurate negative information. Similarly, be very wary of any credit repair “specialist” that promises to improve your credit score by using repeated and shallow dispute letters or similar questionable tactics.
- It’s much better to write dispute letters than to dispute over the phone or to use the CRA’s internet form. Writing letters creates a paper trail for your records and it allows you to attach proof of your dispute. It’s also possible that a CRA’s internet dispute form might require you to waive some of your rights when submitting your dispute electronically.
- Avoid using sample dispute letters that you find on the internet. Many of the sample letters you will find on the internet are shallow, deceptive, or even fraudulent. There is no magic language for writing a good dispute letter. Just adequately identify yourself, identify the account you’re disputing, and provide a detailed explanation of the error. It’s much better to use your own words than to rely on boilerplate language from a possibly untrustworthy source on the internet. If you must look at a form letter before writing your own, there’s a sample letter on the Federal Trade Commission web site.
Capital One caught collecting over 15,000 accounts that were discharged in bankruptcy
January 3, 2012 by Todd Murray · Leave a Comment
Bankruptcy is designed to be a last-resort option for people with serious financial problems. When someone files bankruptcy, her debts are discharged, which means that they are no longer legally owed. Apparently, however, Capital One didn’t get the memo on how bankruptcy works.
A auditor appointed by a bankruptcy court in Massachusetts found that Capital One pursued over 15,000 claims for debts that had been discharged in bankruptcy. Yup, our good friends at Capital One seem to have made a practice of trying to collect debts that they have no legal right to collect. Capital One, of course, denies any nefarious intent, but their actions speak much louder than their words. In fact, according to the WSJ article, the Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Mississippi has demanded that a representative from Capital One appear in court and provide proof that the company’s pattern of collecting discharged debts is a “legitimate error and not a conscious, malevolent effort to go out and collect a debt that’s been discharged.”
Capital One’s pursuit of discharged debts is not only a violation of the bankrutpcy code. It’s also a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Among other things, the FDCPA prohibits debt collection conduct that is unfair or untrue. Do you think it’s fair to pursue someone for a debt that isn’t legally owed? Me neither. And do you think that saying in a lawsuit that someone owes a debt when they don’t actually owe the debt is untrue? Yup, me too.
What’s in your wallet? Capital One’s greedy hands, apparently.
Debts Go Bad, Then It Gets Worse | The Wall Street Journal | December 23, 2011
If you live in Minnesota and Capital One–or any creditor–has attempted to collect a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy, please contact me to discuss the situation further. I offer a free case review for all FDCPA cases and if I agree to handle your case, you won’t have to pay me any money up front. My fees come from the money I recover from you if you win your case or accept a negotiated settlement.
6 tips if you must buy a vehicle from a buy-here pay-here dealership
November 3, 2011 by Todd Murray · Leave a Comment
The L.A. Times is currently running an investigative series on so-called Buy-Here Pay-Here auto dealerships. The first installment describes the basic business model used by these businesses and identifies a number of the pitfalls of buying a vehicle from them.
A buy-here pay-here dealership is, as the name suggests, a dealership that finances the car loans itself, rather than using banks or finance companies. They market to people with low-income and bad credit that can’t qualify for conventional financing. In return for agreeing to finance borrowers that don’t have access to mainstream credit, the buy-here pay-here dealers drastically inflate the price of their vehicles, charge very high interest rates, agree to payment arrangements that they know you can’t honor, and aggressively repossess the vehicle once it’s in default, keeping all of the money that the borrower has already paid. And once the vehicle is repossessed, they sell it again. And again. Sometimes the same vehicle is repossessed and sold as many as eight times, creating another revenue stream for these business. The L.A. Times succinctly–and accurately–describes the business model as “sign, drive, default, repossess, and resell. The entire Times piece is a fascinating look into this booming industry and is definitely worth your time.
It would be too easy to advise everyone to steer clear of buy-here pay-here dealerships. After all, they do allow people without access to mainstream credit to buy a vehicle. And let’s face it, most people need a vehicle to get to and from work these days. But buying a car from them is very, very risky. Here are some tips if you’re considering buying a car from a buy-here pay-here lot:
Decide whether you really need to buy from them. Obviously, if you’re considering a buy-here pay-here dealership, you’ve decided that you need a vehicle and have been rejected by conventional lenders. But consider whether you would be better off taking the money that you’ve earmarked for a down payment to the buy-here pay-here dealer and instead using it to buy a used car outright from a private party. This would solve your transportation and financing problem, without taking on all of the risks of buying from a buy-here pay-here dealer.
Do your homework on the purchase price. Because the buy-here pay-here dealer knows that you’re desperate, they often inflate the list price well-over the vehicle’s Kelley Blue Book value. The Times story reports about one particular transaction where the purchase price was inflated to double the KBB price. Do your homework and make sure that you are getting a fair price.
Review the interest rate carefully. The Times story tells the story of one person who thought she purchased a car with an APR of 12%, when it actually was 20.3%. Make sure that the APR is actually what the contract says it is. There are a number of online APR calculators that you can use to verify the dealer’s numbers.
Be sure that you can afford the monthly payment. The Times story reports that 1 in 4 buy-here pay-here customers defaults on their loan. And there is ample evidence that the dealer may deliberately agree to a payment plan that they know you can’t afford because they know that they can just repossess your vehicle and sell it again to someone else. So be conservative in your estimates of how much you can afford each month and be sure to plan for emergencies when doing your budget.
Don’t believe what they tell you about re-financing or trading up. As the Times story details, these are often lies to pressure you into the purchase. If something doesn’t feel right to you, walk away.
Don’t expect them to work with you if you fall behind on payments. Their business model is heavily premised on repossessing cars in default and reselling them. So they aren’t going to be interested in working with you if you fall on hard times. They’re just going to repossess and sell the vehicle again. The Times story reports that many buy-here pay-here dealers outfit their vehicles with GPS devices and remote-controlled ignition blockers to allow for easy repossession. Those that don’t often resort to deceptive or very aggressive repossession tactics. In my experience, some of the most dangerous repossession encounters that I’ve heard about were ordered by buy-here pay-here lenders.
A vicious cycle in the used-car business | Los Angeles Times | October 30, 2011
5 tips for negotiating a settlement with a debt collector
October 27, 2011 by Todd Murray · Leave a Comment
1. If possible, negotiate a lump sum settlement. The best way to get a good deal from a debt collector is to offer a lump sum settlement. Debt collectors usually have blanket authority to settle debts for between 40% and 80% of the full balance if you pay the settlement in a one-time payment. If you’re unable to afford a lump sum payment, the debt collector usually has the authority to agree to smaller monthly payments, often over a couple of years. But in exchange for the flexibility of a low monthly payment, you’re probably going to have to pay the full account balance.
2. The last day of a month is the best day to get a great deal. Debt collectors have monthly goals that they must meet and there are significant consequences if they don’t meet those goals. If a collector is short of their goal on the last day of the month, they may be willing to accept a lower settlement amount than they normally would. To take advantage of this, however, you’ll probably have to make the settlement payment that day. So plan accordingly.
3. Insist that the debt collector confirms any agreement in writing, before sending them any money. Once you’ve reached a verbal agreement with the collector, ask them to send you confirmation of the agreement in writing before turning over your money. Read the agreement carefully to be sure that it actually contains the terms that you agreed to. Any reputable debt collector will be willing to confirm a payment arrangement in writing, so be wary of one who won’t.
4. Keep a record of your payment. If you’re paying with a personal check, get a copy of the canceled check from your bank. If you’re paying with a money order or cashier’s check, make a copy of the check and either note the date that you mailed it or, better yet, use certified mail. If you pay in cash or make the payment in person, be sure to get a receipt. Along with the collector’s written confirmation, your proof of payment may be needed in the future to prove that you settled the account.
5. Be sure to get the proper follow-up documents. The appropriate follow-up documents vary depending on what point in the legal process you are when you settle the debt:
- If you settle the debt before you get sued, the collector’s written confirmation of the agreement, plus your proof of payment, should be sufficient.
- If you settle the account after you’ve been sued, but before a judgment is entered, the collector should send you (and the court if the case has been filed) a dismissal WITH prejudice. A dismissal with prejudice means that the claim is fully resolved and can’t be brought against you again. Don’t accept a dismissal without prejudice if you’ve settled the account in full because there’s a possibility that you could get sued again for the same claim.
- If you settle the account after you’ve been sued and after a judgment has been entered, the collector should send you and the court a satisfaction of judgment. And if your wages were being garnished at the time you settled the account, the debt collector should quash the garnishment.
Things a debt collector won’t tell you
October 17, 2011 by Todd Murray · Leave a Comment
Reader’s Digest posted an article last week titled 13 Things a Debt Collector Won’t Tell You. It’s a fascinating peek inside the world of debt collection and it gives some insight into how debt collectors are trained. Here are some of the most revealing, along with my comments:
- Debt collectors are trained that all consumers are compulsive liars. Let’s face it, collecting debt is an unpleasant job, especially if you have a conscience. It’s much easier to aggressively push for payment when your training demonizes all consumers as irresponsible liars.
- Debt collectors don’t care about why you can’t pay because they’ve heard every hard-luck story there is. There’s nothing to be gained from explaining to the collector why you fell behind on paying your bills. Collectors with a conscience don’t last long, so chances are that the collector you’re dealing with doesn’t have one.
- Collectors are trained to get as much personal information as possible. Never tell a collector where you work or where you bank. If you’re unable to settle the account, the collector will use this information to garnish your bank account and wages.
- The more money the collector brings in, the bigger his bonus. Most collectors are paid a very small salary, plus a commission on the money that they collect. Collectors know that their ability to make ends meet is largely contingent upon how much money they can squeeze out of you. And collectors that consistently fail to meet their monthly collection goals routinely get fired. It’s no surprise, then, that this immense pressure causes collectors resort to ruthless and illegal collection tactics.
Click through to the article to see the entire list.
If you’re dealing with debt collectors, make sure to download and use my free debt collection call log so that you can document all of the debt collectors’ communications. And if a debt collector does anything that you think was unfair; untrue; or harassing or abusive, please contact me to discuss the situation further. I offer a free case review for all FDCPA cases and if I agree to handle your case, you won’t have to pay me any money up front. My fees come from the money I recover from you if you win your case or accept a negotiated settlement.
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