February 6, 2009
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
“We are writing to advise you about a change being made to your account.” This prologue is a part of letters being sent to millions of U.S consumers and sets an ominous tone for the remainder of the communication. The “change” being referred to is either your credit card account has been closed or the credit limit has been severely slashed. In this particular example, the credit limit was lowered on a Barclay’s Bank credit card by $15,000.
In normal economic times a credit card issuer would only take such adverse action against one of their cardholders if they’ve done something wrong, such as miss a payment. However millions upon millions of cardholders are seeing their terms changed because of seemingly innocuous actions such as “a change in spending patterns” or “inactivity.” I guess we can attribute this to the fact that we’re not in normal economic times, but it’s not fair to consumers to leave it at that. Closing accounts and lowering credit limits can harm your FICO® credit scores. And since these actions are being taken against consumers who, in many cases, have fantastic credit scores the damage can be dramatic. Here’s what you can do…
Knock the dust off that old credit card – An inactive credit card, one that is open but never used, actually costs the credit card issuer money each month. Your account information is taking up space in their databases and they’re still likely buying credit scores on you each month trying to decide how to entice you to actually use the card. If you never use the card you are not generating merchant fees, or interchange fees, for the credit card issuer. And, obviously, if you’re not using the card you won’t have a balance rolling month over month so you’re not generating interest income for them either.
In many cases, now, the issuer is simply choosing to lose you as a customer by closing your account. You want to avoid this so you’ll have to appease them by generating a little bit of revenue. The good news is that it won’t come out of your pocket. Simply move the card to the front of your wallet and the next time you fill up your car or buy a pair of shoes, use that dusty credit card. This will reset the clock of activity and generated a little bit of income for the issuer. Pay off the bill when it shows up so you don’t pay any interest and repeat this strategy at least once per quarter.
Watch your spending patterns – This is a friendly way of your issuer telling you that you don’t have enough debt. For example, if you have a card with a $25,000 credit limit but have never charged more than a few hundred dollars in any month, and you pay it in full, then the issuer is questioning the need for such a high credit limit. They still have the risk of the “open-to-buy” (unused credit limit) so many have made the decision to adjust credit limits so they are more in line with your spending patterns.
Of course to avoid this you’d have to get into much more debt with that issuer, which could hurt your credit scores and cause other credit card issuers to take adverse actions too. If you’ve received a letter lowering your credit limits because of spending patterns there’s simply not much you can do other than be happy that they didn’t close the account, which would have been worse. Continue to use the card sparingly and think about opening a new card to help replace the lost credit limit. Eventually we’ll get back to the time when we can pay our credit cards on time and not have to worry about credit card issuers being scared of their customers, but for now you need to think outside of the box to prevent the bank from putting you outside of the vault!
Edward Jamison is a credit attorney based out of Los Angeles and is the founder of www.CreditCRM.com, a complete business opportunity that makes you the credit expert.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Time to Sue
Is Litigation for You if You Can’t Get the Errors Corrected on Your Credit Report?
January 22, 2009
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
January 22, 2009
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
Imagine this scenario... You discover errors on your credit reports by one or more of your lenders. You challenge them and ask the credit bureaus to correct or remove them. Thirty days later the credit bureaus send you a reply confirming that what they have on file is accurate and it will not be removed or changed. They also direct you to contact your lender if you have any further questions regarding that allegedly incorrect credit reporting. You take the same course of action with the lenders reporting the incorrect information and, again, you are unsuccessful in getting the items corrected.
The scenario just described happens thousands of times every week. And while the Fair Credit Reporting Act is designed to protect consumers from credit bureau and lender negligence, the number of valid challenges to credit report data is not decreasing. Unfortunately, the number of challenges that result in credit reporting data being amended in favor of the consumer pale in comparison to the number that remain the same.
At this point the consumer has two very simple options; they can either live with the erroneous information until the state or Federal credit reporting statute of limitations expires, normally seven years, or they can escalate their efforts to have their credit reports corrected by filing a lawsuit.
Many experts are predicting that 2009 will yield an increase in consumer credit lawsuits due, in part, to consumers feeling the sting of increasingly difficult access to credit because of the credit crunch and a willingness to incur the costs of litigation to restore their good credit standing. "To some people it's an investment, do the math. If it costs you $20,000 in legal costs to force a lender or credit bureau to remove an inaccurate collection and the removal allows you to qualify for a mortgage interest rate that saves you $100,000, you tell me, was that a wise investment?
In fact, it's possible that you'll recover all of your legal costs as part of a settlement if your case is strong. It seems logical that the credit bureaus would not prefer a jury determine punitive damages in a case where they have sold credit reports to a lender that contained inaccurate information, but there is also a risk that the judge will grant only a portion or none of your Attorneys fees and then you're out that part of the money. The trade off for the credit reporting industry is legal fees and a controlled settlement amount, versus the unknown of taking the case to trial where the odds are not certain that at least one of the members of the jury has not had a similar experience with a credit bureau or lender.
The credit bureaus are sued hundreds of times each year with the majority of those lawsuits being filed in Georgia, California and Illinois. "It's not a coincidence that the filings are disproportionate to those states given that's where the three national credit reporting agencies are based", says John Ulzheimer, President of Consumer Education at Credit.com and the Owner of www.CreditExpertWitness.com, a consumer credit expert witness referral service. The credit bureaus also maintain insurance against such lawsuits so the costs can be limited to premiums and deductibles in many cases. Having said that, it's certainly not a comfortable feeling knowing that you're about to go to war with a company large enough to easily absorb the cost of litigation. "It's a rounding error to them and you better be prepared", states Ulzheimer.
So how do you know if you're prepared to sue your lender or one of the credit bureaus? Here's a checklist. If you can't answer yes to each of these then litigation may not be for you.
1. Have you documented all of your calls with the lender and credit bureau? This means every conversation you've had with them since you started your attempts to have the errors corrected. This can be as simple as a handwritten summary of the conversation with dates and names.
2. Have you attempted to have the item corrected using the standard protocols? You can't simply file a lawsuit against the credit bureau without giving them the opportunity to correct their error. Be sure that you've exhausted your rights to challenge credit report items as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
3. Have you suffered any damages due to the incorrect item? If not, then think twice about filing a lawsuit. Damages can be credit declinations, credit approvals with disadvantaged rates, higher insurance premiums, or the loss of a job due to credit report pre-employment screening. Can you document these things?
4. Can you tie the damages to the incorrect item? Are there other seriously negative items on your credit reports that are completely accurate that can be blamed for your damages?
5. Do you have copies of your credit reports and FICO scores and can you put together a chronology of credit reports and scores? If you can't, then you can subpoena the credit bureaus for archived credit reports and scores, although they will object profusely.
6. Are you absolutely certain that what's being reported is incorrect? Before you file a lawsuit you need to do a reality check. If the items are accurate but simply not to your liking, save your money.
7. Does your case have a chance? An expert witness can assess this for you before you spend a dime on a lawyer and can give you an honest assessment of your chances for success and ways to better prepare for litigation.
Monday, September 22, 2008
FHA Alert!
FHA Seller Funded Down Payment Assistance May Not Be Dead
Washington, Sept 16, 2008 - H.R. 6694
The House Financial Services Committee adopted H.R. 6694, legislation designed to reauthorize and reform down payment assistance programs that the Bush Administration banned in July.
A last-ditch effort to head off the Oct. 1 ban on the use of seller-funded down-payment assistance with FHA-backed loans is picking up steam as a compromise bill that would mend rather than end the practice of down payment assistance.
HR 6694 would allow qualified borrowers with credit scores of 680 or above to use seller-funded down-payment assistance on FHA-backed loans. Borrowers with scores between 620-680 will be subject to risk-based pricing and higher insurance premium fees.
But the bill still needs to be approved by Congress and the President.
Today's committee vote was a positive step toward preserving down payment assistance, but it's far from over. Now more than ever, members of Congress need to know that Americans are watching their vote on H.R. 6694.
I encourage everybody who wants to see seller assisted down payment assistance preserved to tell their representatives in the House and the U.S. Senate that a vote for H.R. 6694 is a vote for the next generation of homeowners.
What does it take to raise a borrower's credit score so that they can qualify for these loans?
Click here to see how.
Washington, Sept 16, 2008 - H.R. 6694
The House Financial Services Committee adopted H.R. 6694, legislation designed to reauthorize and reform down payment assistance programs that the Bush Administration banned in July.
A last-ditch effort to head off the Oct. 1 ban on the use of seller-funded down-payment assistance with FHA-backed loans is picking up steam as a compromise bill that would mend rather than end the practice of down payment assistance.
HR 6694 would allow qualified borrowers with credit scores of 680 or above to use seller-funded down-payment assistance on FHA-backed loans. Borrowers with scores between 620-680 will be subject to risk-based pricing and higher insurance premium fees.
But the bill still needs to be approved by Congress and the President.
Today's committee vote was a positive step toward preserving down payment assistance, but it's far from over. Now more than ever, members of Congress need to know that Americans are watching their vote on H.R. 6694.
I encourage everybody who wants to see seller assisted down payment assistance preserved to tell their representatives in the House and the U.S. Senate that a vote for H.R. 6694 is a vote for the next generation of homeowners.
What does it take to raise a borrower's credit score so that they can qualify for these loans?
Click here to see how.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
5 Steps to a Credit Makeover
August 28, 2008
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
A lot of homeowners have the mind set that making payments on time automatically equates to good credit and credit scores.
Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the truth.
While paying your bills on time accounts for a large portion of your credit score, there's still a lot more to it. In fact, paying your bills on time only drives 1/3rd of the points in your credit score, which means that 2/3rds of your score has nothing to do with making on time payments.
Five main categories go into making up your overall credit score calculation. Let's briefly review each category and how much they count:
1. Payment History - The Most Important Category
This category is pretty self-explanatory. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you pay your bills on time, you'll do well in this category. Likewise, if you have a history of late payments, collections, chargeoffs, public records, etc. - you're not going to do so well in this category.
In addition, the number of negative items on your credit reports is important. The more incidents of credit transgressions, the more your score will suffer. And if you have recent negative information that will punish your scores more than if they are several years old.
2. Debt - A Very Close Second
The most important non-payment category in your credit score is, by far, the amount of debt that you carry. And while your installment debt (auto loans and mortgages) are factored into your scores, it's really your credit card debt that's most important.
This includes anything from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, gas cards and/or retail credit cards like Macy's or Target. The balances that you carry on your credit cards can affect your scores almost as much as whether or not you make your payments on time.
This category calculates the proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving credit card accounts — also referred to as "revolving utilization". Simply put, the higher your revolving utilization percentage, the fewer points you will earn in this category.
So what is revolving utilization and how is it calculated?
Click Here to Read On...
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
A lot of homeowners have the mind set that making payments on time automatically equates to good credit and credit scores.
Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the truth.
While paying your bills on time accounts for a large portion of your credit score, there's still a lot more to it. In fact, paying your bills on time only drives 1/3rd of the points in your credit score, which means that 2/3rds of your score has nothing to do with making on time payments.
Five main categories go into making up your overall credit score calculation. Let's briefly review each category and how much they count:
1. Payment History - The Most Important Category
This category is pretty self-explanatory. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you pay your bills on time, you'll do well in this category. Likewise, if you have a history of late payments, collections, chargeoffs, public records, etc. - you're not going to do so well in this category.
In addition, the number of negative items on your credit reports is important. The more incidents of credit transgressions, the more your score will suffer. And if you have recent negative information that will punish your scores more than if they are several years old.
2. Debt - A Very Close Second
The most important non-payment category in your credit score is, by far, the amount of debt that you carry. And while your installment debt (auto loans and mortgages) are factored into your scores, it's really your credit card debt that's most important.
This includes anything from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, gas cards and/or retail credit cards like Macy's or Target. The balances that you carry on your credit cards can affect your scores almost as much as whether or not you make your payments on time.
This category calculates the proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving credit card accounts — also referred to as "revolving utilization". Simply put, the higher your revolving utilization percentage, the fewer points you will earn in this category.
So what is revolving utilization and how is it calculated?
Click Here to Read On...
Thursday, August 14, 2008
How to Go from Bad to Great
August 14th, 2008
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
Do you have a client with bad credit? Not quite sure just how bad it really is? Frustrated and confused when it comes to deciphering the mess and trying to figure out what to do about it?
Well, you're not alone.
In this article I'm going to help you figure out exactly how bad their credit is and what you need to do to help them raise their scores and retake control of your sale.
The first step to figuring out where they stand is to find out what their lenders are reporting to the credit reporting agencies. To do this you'll need to order their credit reports from all three of the major credit reporting agencies. Although there are numerous websites to order reports and scores from, they don't need to spend a dime.
Thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, everyone in the U.S. is entitled to one free copy of their credit reports once a year from each of the credit reporting agencies. To claim their reports they can go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. If they'd rather do it the old fashioned way, they can even mail in this request form - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf - and they'll mail their reports to them.
After you've obtained their credit reports, you'll need to assess the information and determine the following, primarily:
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
Do you have a client with bad credit? Not quite sure just how bad it really is? Frustrated and confused when it comes to deciphering the mess and trying to figure out what to do about it?
Well, you're not alone.
In this article I'm going to help you figure out exactly how bad their credit is and what you need to do to help them raise their scores and retake control of your sale.
The first step to figuring out where they stand is to find out what their lenders are reporting to the credit reporting agencies. To do this you'll need to order their credit reports from all three of the major credit reporting agencies. Although there are numerous websites to order reports and scores from, they don't need to spend a dime.
Thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, everyone in the U.S. is entitled to one free copy of their credit reports once a year from each of the credit reporting agencies. To claim their reports they can go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. If they'd rather do it the old fashioned way, they can even mail in this request form - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf - and they'll mail their reports to them.
After you've obtained their credit reports, you'll need to assess the information and determine the following, primarily:
- Are there any negative/derogatory items in the report; and
- How much debt do they have?
Let's focus on the first question. It's safe to assume that if they have negative information in their credit reports, it's hurting (not helping) their credit rating. It's also safe to assume that if they have a lot of this information; it's likely causing their situation to be even worse.
To interpret the derogatory information in their credit reports, you can follow these general rules:
Monday, August 11, 2008
Credit Alert
August 11, 2008
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
Most people have never checked their credit score. They have always used credit wisely and have probably never been denied a loan. Long story short, they have never really had a good reason to worry about their credit score.
They do now.
Why? Because banks are systematically lowering credit limits on credit cards and HELOCS, even for borrowers with spotless credit records.
So when they receive notification from their bank of a drop in their available credit, they usually don't think too much about it at first. They say to themselves that they had no plans to max out their credit cards anyway. And besides, they just got their HELOC as a financial safety net or they only used it to finance a new car at better rates with a nice tax deduction.
But what the banks aren't telling them is the negative impact lowering their credit limits will have on their credit score.
As soon as a borrower's credit limit is lowered, it changes their Credit Utilization Rate, (CUR), which is a major component of their credit score. Credit Utilization Rates are calculated by dividing outstanding loan balances by the amount of credit available.
Click Here to Read On....
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
Most people have never checked their credit score. They have always used credit wisely and have probably never been denied a loan. Long story short, they have never really had a good reason to worry about their credit score.
They do now.
Why? Because banks are systematically lowering credit limits on credit cards and HELOCS, even for borrowers with spotless credit records.
So when they receive notification from their bank of a drop in their available credit, they usually don't think too much about it at first. They say to themselves that they had no plans to max out their credit cards anyway. And besides, they just got their HELOC as a financial safety net or they only used it to finance a new car at better rates with a nice tax deduction.
But what the banks aren't telling them is the negative impact lowering their credit limits will have on their credit score.
As soon as a borrower's credit limit is lowered, it changes their Credit Utilization Rate, (CUR), which is a major component of their credit score. Credit Utilization Rates are calculated by dividing outstanding loan balances by the amount of credit available.
Click Here to Read On....
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Big Brother is Watching
July 31, 2008
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
If you've been following the financial news over the past couple of weeks, chances are you've heard about the CompuCredit lawsuit and the potential impact on credit scores.
On June 10th, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against CompuCredit, for the deceptive marketing of their Aspire Visa card to sub-prime borrowers. According to the lawsuit disclosures, CompuCredit was penalizing their customers for using their Aspire Visa cards with certain merchants.
A few examples that were given were massage parlors, bars, tire companies and even marriage counselors.
They were using a scoring model that helped to predict their customers' risk based on where they shopped. How in the world does buying tires or going to marriage counseling impact credit scores?
You can imagine the frenzy this piece of information is causing. Furious consumers and media outlets were demanding to know why "where" you shopped could negatively impact your FICO scores. Well, therein lies the problem... unfortunately, the media lumped these scores with FICO scores and simply put - these aren't FICO scores, folks.
This caused an awful lot of confusion and in an effort to set the record straight, here's some additional context that should help shed some light on this touchy subject:
Click Here to Read On...
by Edward Jamison, Esq.
If you've been following the financial news over the past couple of weeks, chances are you've heard about the CompuCredit lawsuit and the potential impact on credit scores.
On June 10th, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against CompuCredit, for the deceptive marketing of their Aspire Visa card to sub-prime borrowers. According to the lawsuit disclosures, CompuCredit was penalizing their customers for using their Aspire Visa cards with certain merchants.
A few examples that were given were massage parlors, bars, tire companies and even marriage counselors.
They were using a scoring model that helped to predict their customers' risk based on where they shopped. How in the world does buying tires or going to marriage counseling impact credit scores?
You can imagine the frenzy this piece of information is causing. Furious consumers and media outlets were demanding to know why "where" you shopped could negatively impact your FICO scores. Well, therein lies the problem... unfortunately, the media lumped these scores with FICO scores and simply put - these aren't FICO scores, folks.
This caused an awful lot of confusion and in an effort to set the record straight, here's some additional context that should help shed some light on this touchy subject:
Click Here to Read On...
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