Consumer Rights Law Blog

Showing posts with label credit record errors. Show all posts

A study in 2007 by Bankrate showed that 45% of US consumers don't know their own credit score and 32% have never even looked at their credit report. The current numbers are probably not much better and it's no wonder.

Everyone may be in debt, but your credit score is probably not as bad as you think.

There are actually 3 different methods, but the FICO credit score is a common one. Credit scores can range from 300 to 850, and the higher number indicates a better credit rating.

Using a complex math equation, 5 areas of a credit report are weighed to make up your FICO credit score: payment history (35%), length of credit history (15%), amounts owed (30%), new credit (10%), and types of accounts you have (10%). Some things are not counted toward your score at all, like age, sex, national origin and marital status.

Banks, finance companies, and other lenders look at your credit score to make credit decisions about you, including what interest rates to apply when you ask for a loan.

Looking at the numbers on a national scale, FICO reports that 7% have a score of 549 or less. 20% are in the 550 to 649 range. 33% are in the middle at 650 to 749 on the scale. Another 27% are between 750 and 799, and the top 13% have a score above 800.

To find out what your credit score is, you can get a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the 3 major US credit bureaus by going to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/. There are other credit report sites out there but if a web site asks you for credit card information then you are NOT on the right web site to get a free report.

You should check your credit report at least once a year so you can be sure that there are no errors on your credit report. Credit record mistakes can cost you thousands of dollars in interest charges that a better score can avoid. You can find more tips about protecting your credit record by clicking here.

Whenever you are considering applying for a loan or new credit card, it's a good idea to consider getting a new copy of your report and checking it out for accurance before you apply for new credit. It can save you big money. And if you find an error on your credit, the report usually tells you how to straighten it out.

If the credit bureau won't remove it, and it's wrong, we can help, but in many cases this is one area where you can do it yourself.

Burdge Law Office

http://www.ohiofaircredit.com/

Helping consumers solve problems since 1978.

Complaints about debt collectors are higher than any other type of complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, having increased higher in each of the last 6 years. It's a sign of the times.

As the economy tightens, credit card companies, banks, suppliers and companies of all types are fighting to collect on bills that they once might have written off. ANd their tactics are getting worse, even when the debt is not really owed at all.

And more often than ever the collection effort involves "old debt" that in many cases is legally barred from any collection at all (sometimes called zombie debt by lawyers who sue debt collectors). In other cases the debts being sued on are for claims that were dismissed before or already resolved but the "crumbs" of its existence in computer records are being bought up by third party debt buyers along with other legitimate debt.

These companies are called "bottom feeders" and usually pay pennies (or less) on the dollar to buy the debt or the chance to collect on the debt. Cash-strapped companies that have written the debt off long ago, on the other hand, see a chance to create income out of nothing so they have every incentive to brush the dust off old uncollectable accounts that they themselves have already closed out, given up, sued on, compromised, or written off.

It isn't unusual anymore to get debt collector calls (they rarely use ordinary dunning letters anymore) trying to collect on bills that are ten to fifteen years old and which, in many cases, the consumer settled with the merchant years earlier. The problem is the merchant may have written off the unpaid balance and it is that unpaid balance that is now showing up in the hands of bottom feeder debt collectors, who aren't shy about their aggressive collection tactics.

There are laws to control crazy debt collectors but many consumes don't know about them. They limit phone calls, for instance, to only a certain time frame in the day. They also ban threats and harassment, but that doesn't always stop it from happening.

For more on what your credit rights are if you're being harassed, check out www.OhioFairCredit.com. There you'll find explanations of

If they call and you don't owe it, you can stop the calls. Keeping debt collectors fair and honest is what the Fair Credit laws are all about.

Burdge Law Office
www.OhioFairCredit.com
Helping Consumers Protect Themselves Since 1978

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