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Despite this prohibition, Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) stated in their May 22, 2006 comments to the FTC that “one of our members testified that more than 30 percent of all consumer disputes were generated by credit repair agencies, which commonly dispute accurate, derogatory information with the sole intention of having that information deleted from the file”. The Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA’s) response is the creation of an Automated Consumer Dispute Verification (ACDV) system that is designed to speedily handle a tremendous volume of disputes. Any letter that appears to have been sent from a credit repair agency (apparently more than 30% of all disputes appear so) may be labeled “frivolous” under a provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This labeling effectively ends the investigation process by the CRA’s on your behalf. Is it any wonder why the majority of credit repair companies have a bad reputation? Their form letters do not work. There is no magic form letter that will make bad credit go away. Imagine working in the dispute resolution department for a furnisher or a CRA. According to court testimony in Carol Fleischer v. Trans Union, et al. US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Div); Case No. CV 02-71301, Capital One employees processed approximately 4,000 disputes daily and each employee was responsible for processing thirty disputes per hour. With such a high volume of disputes viewed by these employees, do you believe that the repeated use of a credit repair companies form letter would go unnoticed? Of course it wouldn’t. Please note the following excerpt from the Fair Credit Reporting Act:

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Credit Reports – Why Your Credit Score is Important

If you have never heard of a FICO score before, you should become familiar with the term. Named for the firm that invented it, Fair Isaac Corp., the FICO score is the three-digit credit summary that, in essence, reduces your entire financial life to a simple set of numerals.

The score represents a distillation of information gleaned from the three main credit-reporting bureaus – Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian, regarding your loan and payment history, as well as any bankruptcy filings you may have made. Andy liens or payment defaults will be incorporated into the score as well. The score, which can vary from a low of 300 to a high of 850, represents an attempt to quantify a lifetime of financial dealings into a single number. It has been quite successful. In fact, most people would be surprised to see just how important that score has become and how many businesses use it for reasons that aren’t entirely obvious.

Most people would assume, correctly, that lenders would check the score of a potential borrower who was applying for a car loan or a home equity line of credit. Many would be surprised, however, to see that the score is often accessed by potential employers, landlords, or even insurance companies. While some states have strictly forbidden the use of FICO scores as a guideline for setting insurance prices, some insurance companies still access the scores in order to assess risk for potential customers. Employers access the scores to see if a possible employee might be a security or theft risk, and landlords may use the score to determine whether or not a tenant should post a high security deposit prior to moving into a rental property.

A substantial argument can be made that there is no way to accurately reduce someone’s financial status to a single three-digit number. That said, it is simply a whole lot easier for most companies that need a financial “snapshot” of a customer to look over their credit report, look at the score, and offer a “yes or no” response based on the score alone. Fair or not, this is the way things work today, and it is probably unreasonable to expect lenders, employers and landlords to start looking deeper into their customers’ and employees’ finances.

The best solution for anyone who is concerned about his or her credit score is to examine their own credit report, which can be obtained for free at annualcreditreport.com. Report any errors to the appropriate credit bureau, and try to check your report once or twice a year. Fair or not, we are our credit score. Making sure that the number is accurate is an important step towards a solid financial future.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a site devoted to information regarding home equity lending.

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Free Credit Report Program Expands to the South
June 1, 2005
As part of the updated Fair Credit Reporting Act (FACTA) passed in January 2004, U.S. citizens have the right to annual free credit reports from all three major reporting agencies. The program expands to cover people living in the South today. See a map of the rollout below.

This central site, www.annualcreditreport.com, allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. (FAQ).

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Free credit reports

Illinois consumers have been able to order free copies of their credit reports since last week — but figuring out just where to go can be tricky because of a proliferation of similar-sounding Web sites on the Internet.

The official Web site mandated by Congress is www.annualcredit report.com. There, consumers can order annual credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. People also can call toll-free, (877) 322-8228, or write to the Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Ga. 30348-5281.

But those who roll the dice and use Google to search for “free credit report” will find site after site — some of them owned by the major credit reporting bureaus — offering not only the free reports but trying to sell credit-monitoring plans, insurance, advice and other products.

Such a Google search done on Friday didn’t come across the official site, www.annualcreditreport.com, until three pages into the listings, where it was the 30th entry.

An entry for the Federal Trade Commission, which offers a link to the official site, did better; it made the fifth listing.

“The credit reporting agencies aren’t doing enough to protect against consumer confusion,” said Norma Garcia, an attorney with the nonprofit Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports.

Garcia and other consumer groups had complained that until last Monday, outside links to the site weren’t working. Sites with more “hits” receive a higher ranking by the search engines, so it can help to have many direct links, Garcia said.

Bureaus defend policies

In addition, the World Privacy Forum found 96 Internet domain names that had similar names or close misspellings to www.annual creditreport.com, causing further confusion. Some of them are owned by “pay per click” domain companies that send consumers to sites that sell credit-related products.

In a Feb. 28 letter to the FTC, Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, charged that the big three credit reporting agencies were trying to suppress traffic to the official Web site.

Equifax spokesman David Rubinger said “technical difficulties” interfered with links from consumer groups and news organizations to the official site, and he added that the problem since has been corrected.

“Never since day one” did the credit bureaus intend to make it harder for consumers, said Rubinger, who said Equifax uses only one Web site, www.equifax.com.

Still, it’s easy to get confused. A consumer who types in www.free creditreport.com, hoping to get to the official site, instead finds an offer for a $12-a-month credit monitoring package that’s been sold by a company owned by Experian.

Experian officials could not be reached for comment.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), one of the original sponsors of the legislation, said it was “horrible” that the official Web site was buried under so many other for-profit sites.

“We put up the information on our Web site . . . to try to facilitate, as easily as we could, that information to those people,” said spokeswoman Melissa Guido.

Garcia questioned the credit bureaus’ commitment to consumer education. “It’s a business that’s built on our personal information and it’s a lucrative business,” Garcia said. “They’re not making it easy for consumers.”

Rubinger said the official site has been “very successful” but did not have information about how many requests have been made or filled.