Dopey actions on the part of a CRA

The Experian decision perhaps complies with the letter of the law, but I daresay many in here and elsewhere are of the opinion it's not in compliance with the spirit of the law.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcrajump.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcradoc.pdf

Rather than attempting to examine the FCRA in a lawyerly fashion, I daresay the most immediately productive action would be to contact one's Congressional rep, two U.S. Senators, and file a complaint with the FTC. Let their attornies bang on this and let's see what's shakes out.

Dopey actions on the part of a CRA might bring about Congressional sanctions on the CRAs, Experian in particular. That wouldn't be an entirely bad thing, now would it?

Here's a few places where you can complain.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/08/01/eveningnews/main15216.shtml
http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3068843
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/

Experian won’t tell consumers their credit

Squabble with creator of popular scoring model leads to a lawsuit and lack of information.

Effective Saturday – Valentine’s Day – you will no longer be able to get your FICO credit score from Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus.

The company notified Fair Isaac Corp., the firm that created the credit-scoring model most used by lenders, that it is terminating its relationship with myFICO.com, a Web site that sold FICO credit scores and other information directly to consumers. This means generally that Experian customers will not be able to see the FICO scores lenders are using in determining their credit levels.

Although there are a number of credit-scoring models available, it’s the Fair Isaac technology that is most used by lenders to make millions of credit decisions each year. According to data from Fair Isaac, more than 90 of the 100 largest financial institutions use FICO scores. The 25 largest card issuers use it, as do the 25 largest auto lenders.

Credit-scoring models apply a mathematical formula to a consumer’s credit history. For the most part they all use the same range of factors – most importantly, late payments and the amount of debt owed – to produce a three-digit score that is supposed to judge a person’s likelihood of repaying debt.

This issue isn’t about which scoring model is better. It comes down to consumers having access to what most lenders are using to grade them – and that is usually a FICO score.

“Experian’s Valentine’s Day present to 200 million American adults is to make sure they have no access at all to any Experianbased credit score that is widely used by lenders,” said Craig Watts, public relations director for Fair Isaac. “Goodbye, transparency.”

Consumers will still be able to obtain FICO scores based on data from their files at Equifax or TransUnion, the other legs of the Big Three credit bureaus.

The squabble between Experian and Fair Isaac follows a lawsuit Fair Isaac filed in 2006 against Experian, Equifax and TransUnion after the three developed a competing model called VantageScore, which uses a different scale than FICO.

VantageScore’s scale ranges from a low of 501 to a high of 990. In the case of the FICO score, it runs from a low of 300 to a high of 850.

Since filing the lawsuit, Fair Isaac has dropped Equifax from the litigation. The suit is still ongoing, alleging that the VantageScore joint venture created unfair competition and violated antitrust laws.

“We were working hard to develop a positive business relationship with Fair Isaac and the litigation has not helped in that effort,” said Experian spokesperson Susan Henson.

In defending Experian’s decision, Henson said consumers will still be able to buy credit scores from Experian based on information in their Experian credit file. In addition to offering VantageScore, the agency sells its own proprietary PLUS score, which ranges from 330 (higher credit risk) to 830 (lower credit risk).

“We did not feel this will harm consumers in the least,” she said. “There is no one credit score that all financial institutions use to make decisions and there is also no one credit score that consumers must use to help them understand and manage their credit. All of these credit scores provide prediction of a consumer’s credit risk.”

Henson’s right. The various credit-scoring models can give you an idea of how you’re viewed credit-wise. But if the other models were so great and just as useful, why did Experian renew its contract with Fair Isaac to continue selling FICO scores to its business customers?

“We value our client relationship,” Henson said. “There are clients that have Fair Isaac’s FICO built into their underwriting system and that is the score they are using.”

This only leaves me to conclude that Experian doesn’t value its individual consumers enough to work out its differences with Fair Isaac to continue allowing the same valuable access to their individual FICO scores.

So where does this all leave Experian customers?

You may still be able to get a look at your Experian FICO score by simply asking your lender. In some mortgage transactions, you are entitled to the credit score without charge.

You can also complain to the company. And you can complain to Congress, which has in its power to force transparency and make the most widely used credit-scoring system available to the public for free.

Congress has stepped in before. It amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act to open up the credit monitoring process by forcing each bureau to provide all its customers upon request a free credit report once every 12 months. (You can get your reports by calling 877-322-8228 or at www.annualcreditreport.com.)

Here’s how I see this FICO fracas. If the market has widely embraced the FICO credit score, Congress shouldn’t allow business quarrels – not now when credit is hard to get – to result in shutting down access to information that is essential to obtaining the best loan, insurance rate or even a job.

Follow up to some previous posts

In a previous post I mentioned exercising self-control as a means of acquiring peace and happiness. For me, exercising self-control means not picking up the cutest new stuff at WalMart or eBay. It means not stopping at the thrift shop to pick up some cute handmade fashion item. It means I have to monitor my budget carefully and be careful not give in to the desire for instant gratification in order to meet some longer term savings goals. (This is NOT an easy task when you are also living with Indiana Jones who needs to have the latest gadget in camping and survival gear.)

So. That is what I am working on. I have created a very strict and very do-able family budget. I know you are thinking "budget". UGH! So did I. But it actually became fun, because what I came to realize is that after 2 months of playing catch-up, and really barely having an extra dime to spend on ANYTHING, I actually will very easily be able to start putting some money in the bank for emergencies and regain a sense of security. That seems important to me.

What happened with the California Franchise Tax Board thing? I was beside myself with excitement when I finally got THIS letter in the mail from them...

Click here to view the scanned *.pdf image of the letter I got from the California Franchise Tax Board!! (You'll need the Adobe PDF Reader to view it.)

It was an awesome feeling to be out from under a $3000+ tax lien on my credit report! I would like to be able to say that it was easy. In the end, it really was easy. But for the better part of 2 years, it felt like banging my head against a wall to get this accomplished.

Yes, I AM willing to help other people in similar circumstances, however, I will have to charge $5.00 per question via email.

You can pay the $5.00 here, and then be sure to type your question in the comment box, and be sure that your email address is correct so that I can respond. If you ask more than one question without paying for additional questions, I will only answer the first one.

Please remember, I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV and of course, I cannot guarantee that your results will be the same as mine... I am just an ordinary girl from Texas with a little experience and a lot of common sense.

No revelations here...

I realize I have digressed from one of the purposes of this blog and web site because I haven't really given anyone any good information about how to correct errors on credit reports.

You can find information on how to do this in about 100 different places on the internet. I have had to learn to discern the good information from the bad. In fact, I think I have visited each one of these sources today, and I am going to list them for you in a little bit. Maybe I can help keep someone from wasting a whole lot of time on a fishing expedition just for good information.

Well first you need your credit reports, and it is helpful if you also get your FICO score. (I confess I haven't gotten my own true FICO score yet, but that is because of the small fortune I have to spend on certified mail with return receipts.)

It is also helpful, but not necessary, if you have a recent rejection letter for a credit application with the reasons and the credit reporting agency named. If that is how you learned you have a credit problem, great, keep the letter for your evidence file. But do NOT go out and apply for credit just to get rejected. It will cause a permissible inquiry that will hurt your credit score.

The inaccuracies on my credit report are so bad that I can't even get a copy of my own Trans Union credit report. They don't believe I am who I say I am! I have a "clue" about what some of the inaccuracies are based on some information I got from a 3 in 1 online credit report. And I did not pay for it. The subscription was GIVEN to me by a company who said my personal information may have been compromised from their computers, nearly a year ago.

Today I drafted a letter (for Monday's mailing) to TransUnion disputing an address they are reporting that I have never used or lived at.

I also disputed the following accounts that I have no knowledge of:

Capital One Auto Finance
CBE Group
Medical (suppressed by FACTA, so I don't even know who is reporting it! I am not an attorney, but that smells like estoppel to me.)
Onyx Acceptance Corp
OSI Collect
SST/AIB

With any luck in a month or so I will get a copy of my credit report from TU. I hope they WONDER how I got ahold of it in the first place, since they refused to honor my request for my mandatory free credit report online.

My friend received a letter from the VA stating that his private information had been compromised. Isn't that special?

For my friend, I also prepared a letter to NCAC (Experian) disputing NINE inaccurate aliases that Experian is reporting on his credit report, one address that he has never used or lived at, and the following accounts that he has no knowledge of:

Arrow Financial Services
Cavalry Portfolio Svcs
Credit Control Corp
Credit Protections Assoc
Financial Control Svc
First Premier Bank
Midland Credti Mgmt
Verizon Wireless

None of these are frivolous disputes and are potentially the product of actual identity theft. Let the adventure begin. Copies of all letters are to be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested tomorrow. Then we wait.

What we HAVE NOT DONE, neither of us has filed police reports and we have NOT filed fraud statements with the Credit Reporting Agencies. YET. Not that we won't, but our goal is removal of the negative tradelines. I read somewhere that having the fraud filing can hinder the investigations of the disputes and make the process of removals more difficult.

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Separate Battles
================

My friend found out that almost a year ago, someone took out a student loan in his name to the tune of $10,000. I know for a fact that he wasn't in school at all. This past week he got a bill stating that it is 60 days past due and offering forbearance. When he asked for documents bearing his signature, Direct Loan Servicing sent him a letter requesting a document bearing his signature. Oh, and they want FOUR SAMPLES. I suppose so they can help his signature make it's way onto loan documents. For this reason, we do NOT sign dispute letters. After all, how many signed responses do you ever receive from collection agencies or credit reporting agencies? (Answer: NONE!)

I found out that the California Franchise Tax Board filed a tax lien against me for the 2003 tax year. I found it reported on Experian and Equifax. I have lived in Texas since May, 2002. On January 18 I had faxed a demand for validation of this alleged debt to the FTB. This past week I received a letter from them entitled "Telephone Contact Request" stating the amount they claim I owe. Nothing offering proof that I lived or worked in California in 2003.

KEY PHRASES I LEARNED TODAY:

There has been no service to notify the party of the action and the court does not have personal jurisdiction over the party not served.

When a party contends that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden shifts to the other party to present substantial evidence that the issue exists. Evidence is substantial if it is of "such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved."

I am a little perplexed. I do not know whether to file suit against the FTB for simple FCRA violations in Texas or if I should get the judgment vacated. And if I do seek to vacate the judgment, do I file motions in Texas or California? Maybe some smart tax attorney will stumble upon this posting and give me an idea of correct procedure before I hurt myself. While I was researching that matter (and haven't yet found the answer) I ran across this article:

http://www.livefreenow.org/victory_balmer.cfm

"March 29, 2001- Los Angles- Paul Ballmer, a graduate of Freedom Law School and a determined and tenacious Freedom Fighter, today got a unanimous JURY VERDICT that the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), the biggest, most aggressive and oppressive of all Income Tax Agencies in America (far worse than the IRS) owes Paul Ballmer $250,000 in damages as well as attorney's fees and expenses for violating the law and Ballmer's rights."

Ok some of the ideas these Freedom Fighter guys advocate are a little over the top for me. I do NOT advocate deliberately pissing off the IRS or other taxing entities. I quite dutifully render unto Caeser what is Caeser's. Some time ago I surrendered myself to the idea that yes, Big Brother is probably watching. So what? Honestly, my life is pretty boring. They probably changed the channel.

Anyway, there is no way I can afford the $800+ for their "courses" just now, but hey, maybe if I end up having to sue and manage to win a small claims case or two in the next month or so against TU or one of the creditors I am disputing, then maybe I will. I appreciate knowing that I am not the first or only victim of California FTB's mad scramble to pad it's pockets. (Heck they tried to chase me down for 2 years after I moved to Texas to renew my California vehicle registrations! DOH!)

(ROFL! - Reminds me that I read that John McCain was asking people for suggestions on how to cut wasteful government spending and someone suggested "Sell California!")

How is all of this in keeping with my profound desire to holistically and harmoniously "fix" my life and help others do the same thing? Well. I have become disabled and this project is giving me something to do on the "good days" because I can't work, and I am desperately seeking some meaning. I have always been an advocate for the underdog at heart and angered by bureaucratic injustice. If I had actually gone to law school, most of my work would probably be pro bono. Today, it just so happens, the underdog is me. I have always enjoyed doing legal research. But these days, I also sleep about 12 hours a day, most days I don't leave the house, and some days I can't do a darned thing. Like off and on since Friday, I have had migraines, so I have been doing all this reading and letter writing and blogging in fits and spurts between headaches and naps. I don't plan or hope to be unable to work forever. I see disability and SSI as an opportunity to regroup and hopefully get well or at least get to the point of remission my doctor keeps alluding to. I choose not to feel sorry for me, but to do what I can, work toward my true purpose, and hopefully what I am able to do will be good.