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110 Comments
- Winters, on 10/11/2007, -0/+68Yes, experian has been selling this service for a while now. They report new activity to collection agencies so they can get your information if you have changed your phone number or address.
A link to their list of collections services.
http://www.experian.com/collections_industry/index.html
The one the article mentions.
http://www.experian.com/collections_industry/skip_tracing_tools.html
Here is information about how to opt out, difficult to find on their site.
http://maxcredit.net/credit/opting-out
I'm not sure if that will stop them selling your activity reports to collectors but it seems like it might.
A neat little guide about how to sue collection agencies and creditors.
http://creditinfocenter.com/eBooks/PoorMansClassActionLawsuit.shtml
This one is unrelated, but I wanted to add it since few people know about it. Not all credit card companies report your credit limits, which can really mess your credit up if you don't know about it. This can be really bad if you're trying to build up your credit.
http://maxcredit.net/advanced/unreported-credit-limits - civperc, on 10/11/2007, -7/+50@ Error601...
It's not an issue of debt, you scathing moron - it's a matter of PRIVACY. Some of us had to take out loans for things like oh I dunno... A COLLEGE EDUCATION. - ripple01, on 10/11/2007, -2/+27Damn, where's Tyler Durden when you need him?
- rnknowles, on 10/11/2007, -4/+28It's bad business for them for you to be out of debt! They want you under their thumb constantly. That's why ya hear so much about lotto winners being hounded with credit offers and good finance termsetc....Debt is slavery, and they can't let the slave break the shackles...
- jaderobbins, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25The first credit trigger makes sense to me, but the mortgage trigger is just BS.
- crazydiode, on 10/11/2007, -0/+21No wonder that I got so many calls and mails from other agencies offering loans when I bought a car. I thought the credit monitoring agencies are supposed to keep our privacy, no?
- ophilye, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13from http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.shtm :
"If you decide that you don’t want to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance, you have two choices: You can opt out of receiving them for five years or opt out of receiving them permanently. Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com for details. The telephone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies. When you call or visit the website, you’ll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.
Remember that if you have joint credit relationships, like a mortgage or a car loan with a spouse, partner, or other adult, you may continue to receive some prescreened solicitations until both of you exercise your opt-out right." - reefinyateef, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12The scary thing about this is that Experian and the like often get information wrong on their reports. I recently took a look at mine and I had to remove a couple of completely incorrect entries. The last thing I would want is companies calling me because they were tipped off due to an erroneous charge.
- VicHislop, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11That's the first rule right there: Don't ever pay a past due debt thinking it will help your credit score. In fact, it actually hurts your score as it updates the information to a more current time. (As time passes, past debts have a lessened effect on your credit score.)
If you do want to pay a debt, send a request in writing that you will only pay the debt if they agree to remove all negative information from your credit report. Some will reply that it is against their contracts with the credit bureaus to do this, but they do in fact have the power to comply.
Also, when first contacted by a company, immediately send a request for verification of the debt owed. When they play these interest on top of late fees on top of over the limit fees on an originally tiny balance, then they deserve no respect. After you send out the request, then send out a dispute to the credit bureaus for the debt in questions. This then sets a time frame of 30 days for the original creditor to respond back to you on your request for verification.
If they don't respond or if they contact the bureaus first before verifying, then the credit line must be removed under law. They play their games, so you just need to change the rules. This is no way condones running up a debt and bailing on the responsibility, it is just meant to highlight that these people are completely awful to deal with in an honest way.
That said, you can check you credit reports from the three bureaus once a year for free. Do this. You'll be amazed at how many errors in reporting are contained within your report. This is YOUR information after all and they do make money on this, so absolutely ensure that it is correct. And opt-out (as stated above)! - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13Yes it is true. Just think - in europe socialized university. USA personal credit debt ten years ago was 6 billion. Today it is 60 billion + monthly $30. late fee + monthly $30. over limit fee + 32.99% interest. GE Moneybank does not even show interest rate anywhere on consumer personal account website. One of my accounts just dropped my credit line by $500. to an amount beneath what I owe them and just informed me of their action. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan is working on some type of legislation to reign in the credit card companies. I used his name on Chase bank and the guy knew what I was talking about and immediately dropped my balance amount to 2/3 of what I owed and I immediately paid it off in full. Call or fax documents to Senator Levin's office. they are looking for fraud and abuse reports. I am paying the cards to zero and no more not ever.
- ckokotay, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11No credit card(s), no car loan = no credit history = no mortgage. The credit system in the US is a scam that bilks billions from consumers who CANNOT win the game.
- gmc74, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9If you cancel an account with a balance, and don't pay it off, it continues to charge interest. Did you honestly believe that "cancelling" an account and not paying it off would stop the intrest from accruing?
Yes, your credit rating is bad because you had late payments, and no payments on a debt. A large percentage of college students end up in the exact same boat, but many of them manage to get through it with out ruining their credit. It isn't the credit companies fault that you fell on hard times, they still need to get the money you owe them.
There are ways to improve your credit after you screw it up, the first of which is to make right on the previous wrongs. - blorc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9You can't get very far without having a credit score here. I don't know about where you're from, but several banks I have gone to even wanted a valid credit card just to open a savings/checking account. So yeah, lots of people have credit cards because that's how you build credit so that you can actually get things like cars, housing, etc.
- gajillion, on 10/11/2007, -5/+13And some of us did things like, oh, I dunno... PAID THEM BACK. You skip out on a loan you deserve to get hounded until you pay it back.
- trippinlikegod, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9I worked for First Guarantee Mortgage for about 2 weeks. We were in the business of doing this *****. I quit when I realized 90% of my job was cold calling unsuspecting people and asking them to "complete the application they started with us"...
- THE4IRON, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9The best thing all of you can do is pay cash for your "stuff".
Save up, pay cash. Then you don't have this trouble. - saintdesy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Alot of the money that is owed is far and above the money that was actually borrowed. With things such as late fees which cascade into overlimit fees which build up month after month, one may have only spent a few hundred on a credit card, yet have paid back many thousands and still owe many thousands more.
What the credit report agencies are doing with this is to discourage people from ever paying back their debts to anyone. If the person is improving their credit (after a long period of unemployment, for example), they will eventually get around to paying off their creditors. The last thing they need is for their phone to ring off the hook every second of every day, driving them to an eventual suicide. - jeffeb3, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7the #1 rule of credit agencies is that you are not their customers, banks are their customers. They are not out to help you one bit past what the banks want.
- DangerCollie, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9You sanctimonious asshats saying people should pay their debts have never been the victim of a big company trying to either saddle you with a debt you didn't create or been forced to choose between eating and paying for a hospital stay. The majority of people facing bankruptcy are there because of medical bills. I had a certain major credit card company try to come after me for a corporate debt of a company I sold my interest and left two years prior. It took a lawyer, money and a lot of time to clear that up. Imagine what that would be like if you didn't have the resources to fight it. The bizarre thing was that I almost had to sue one of the big three credit reporting agencies as well. Two of them rolled over, the third I had to authorize my lawyer to file on them before they caved in. When big companies loan money to marginal borrowers, that raises the cost of credit for all of us. But they want the fees so we all end up paying the tab.
Assbags. - clickwir, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Sure, they'll be happy to keep your privacy and not give out info when it's not making them money. But as soon as someone waves money their way they start pouring out the info.
I was trying to help my sister out with some info, I call them up and they wouldn't give me the info. Just for the heck of it I asked if this info can be purchased. They transfered me to the sales dept!!! I hung up. - emehrkay, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6If you're in debt and are finally in a position to try to stabilize your situation, something like this would made a person not want to even try to get back to square one.
- mutz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8strange, i was raised by my parents with this: "only take a loan for buying a house". i have a debit card no credit card and i got everything i need... seems to me that everyone is born with an american express card in their hands over there...
- DeeBlackthorne, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I have rather adversarial relationships with my creditors. I think the worst of it happened when MBNA was bought out by Bank of America, and then the crap mails came flooding in. I told one representative over the phone that she should really quit rimming me, talking about how I'm a "preferred customer" because of my good history. I told her that MBNA loved it when I had thousands of dollars in balance owed because they could nail me with finance charges out the wazoo, plus that whole "credit insurance" nonsense (which isn't really helpful to me as I don't have any children to pass on my debt to). After fighting about a decrease in interest rate (screw the credit line limit), I plainly said that I would transfer my balance to a credit card company that better fit my visions of paying off debt. I hung up and have since not charged a penny to that account.
- CraigJ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5The mortgage trigger is real. Although I'm not sure the mechanics are as described. If you own a house and have a mortgage, the amount of the mortgage, how much you paid, etc are all public record, and the data can be purchased by anyone. I get 5+ offers a week that have my mortgage amount and offers to re-fi it.
I have decided that the whole credit reporting game is just that , a game. I keep track of my credit on a monthly basis, and I dispute everything that's bad, even if it's true.
I have recently signed up for one of those services that place and keep fraud alerts on all 3 reports and scrub you from junk mail and pre-approved credit lists. Hopefully it will work, because I get at least 15 of the damn things a week... - LostOnion, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Sometimes bad things happen to good people and their credit can get F'ed up for circumstances beyond their control. Not everyone with bad credit got that way beause they are a deadbeat.
- tEhKewleSt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4You can avoid this in a similar fashion to the Do not call list. Simply call 888-5-O-P-T-O-U-T (888-567-8688) and you will be removed from the soliciting lists of all three credit bureaus.
- totorototoro, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I just don't get why companies like Experian and ChoicePoint (3rd parties) can buy and sell my information..and then when they ***** up and have security breaches (with my information) there is no real mechanism to go after them, since I didn't hire them in the first place. wtf?
- LetsGoHawks, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The top reasons people get into serious debt trouble are
Medical reasons
loss of job (and can't find a new one)
divorce
A lot of credit card companies will try to help you out by either reducing the interest or putting you on a payment plan (they don't let you charge more stuff, of course), but you have to call them and ask. And be nice. - Ibanezfoo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Look at this
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/optout_truth.htm - jeffeb3, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7I have a pretty simple formula for those of you who say debt is something you can't avoid:
"Don't buy ***** you can't afford"
Pretty simple. Credit cards aren't free money, you need to pay them off every month, unless you have a really good excuse like you need food, and you'll have more than enough money next month.
The truth is most people get into debt because they see credit cards as a way to get something now, and pay it off later, which will always ***** you.
People get underneath their car loans because they buy cars they can't afford on loans that outlast the car's value. There's an easy way to fix that too, don't buy a car you can't afford. There are some pretty cheap cars out there, I drove a 95 neon for seven years and it was several years old when I bought it, it saved me from debt all through college.
Morgages are different, because there are tax benefits and equity, but the game is the same. Make sure you can safely afford the house in the worst situation.
If you can't afford buying it without the credit than you have to very carefully consider the cost of borrowing. Why isn't this being taught to people these days?
My debt works for me. My student loan is making me money because the interest rate is smaller than even a safe savings account. by investing the money, I'm actually getting money from the loan. - ckokotay, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Don't forget that the majority of so-called 'bad credit' arises from people losing stable jobs, and crushing medical debt. All it takes is one bad life event and your done. Period. There is almost no way out - third party debt collectors will break the law anyway they canto ensure you remain in the super high interest category for a lifetime. This is what happens because most people do not know the law.
Modern day debtors prison. It has nothing to do with responsible spending for the most part. - DoctaStooge, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I see what your saying, but what about someone who has been down on their luck, they get a steady job and can finally start paying their debts off (little by little most likely). Now they get a call from a collection agency asking for all the money. Is that fair to someone who just hasn't had the money to pay vs. the guy who deliberately did not pay you?
- ckokotay, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4sorry, but 3rd party collectors - especially those that are sold so-called bad debt routinely and severely break the law on credit reporting and collection laws. Because of the existence of this underworld, most original creditors would rather not work with you and just sell off the debt. Go through one bad life event that is no fault of your own and find out how it works before making these general statements
- ubuwalker31, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Ideally, this service would be used to ferret out people who are selectively choosing to favor one creditor over another. In other words, those people who are shafting the cable company over the credit card company by paying $3000 toward a credit card bill, rather than paying $500 that is overdue on the cable bill. That would trigger a call from a collection 'agent'.
Realistically, its going to be abused by the bottom feeders in the loan industry. Nasty and fraudulent phone calls. Misleading marketing and collection tactics. Who needs this *****? - SocialPoison, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Why were you paying for college on a credit card? Ever heard of student loans...?
- civperc, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7I'm not advocating eluding debt collections. What isn't right here (with Experian) is that they are soliciting our PRIVATE information. I never once mentioned it's good to avoid paying back debt. I'm a very financially responsible individual and don't have credit problems. Wise up before you post up, k? :-)
- Tenlow, on 10/11/2007, -4/+8I used to think like that too, then I found out the hard way it's not always something you can control.
- cdrury, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I got a novel idea - pay you frickin bills. If you paid your bills you would not need to deal with creditors. It is called living within your means, you should try it some time. Opting out of the credit reports will not prevent this from happening that only covers pre-screened offers. You should really bone up on the FDCPA - Fair debt collections practices act. Pretty simple, tell them to stop calling, if they do not they can be sued.
- gmc74, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6You absolutely can control a fair portion of your credit score, live within your means... Too many people try to show an appearance of wealth, or that they have made it. They spend $30K - $40K on a car, when they should have spent $15-20K with their income level. They buy plasmas, laptops, etc... We all love the finer things in life, but if you aren't saving money, then all of the posters whinning about losing their job and not being able to pay off that credit card, could be you. If you can't put your hands on 3-6 months worth of bill money, then you should be saving more and spending less... pretty simple concept actually.
- gmc74, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I totally agree. I have no issue with a company getting up to date info on a dead beat who isn't paying their bills, but the mortgage trigger is just BS. The problem is that so many people are ignorant, and don't shop around before they get to the point of having someone pull their credit report, so this probably works a good percentage of the time.
Mortgage brokers are tied with used car sales men on the ethical ladder, so I am not shocked. - lashrac606, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." -- George Orwell
- yunlin12, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3The responsible thing for consumer to do is not to borrow beyond their capability. The responsible thing for credit card company to do is not to give credit to people who should not be able to afford them.
What we have now is many young people who are starting off poor, not knowing as much as they should, get into a little credit problem, because of the irresponsible (some could go further and replace it with sinister) way credit card company is handing out credit. The credit card companies then jumps on those who couldn't pay them off with loan shark level interest, and preventing them from correcting those stupid mistakes people make when they are young. And then companies like Experian helps out this whole process. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3it seems like the only way to not be harassed is to make no effort to pay your debts ~ unless you can pay them off all at once ~ then you will be barraged by people trying to sell you financial products ~ it is an invasion of privacy ~ good to know ~ thank you for the info
- earlycj5, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4An American Express card would be fine, that would mean it was paid off in full every month.
The problem is the Visas and Mastercards. - UrbanVoyeur, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6The credit rating system in the US is a massive scam, designed to to keep consumers in debt at ridiculous interest rates. Individual consumer have almost no power and essentially no ability to control their credit score.
Unfortunately, the credit industry is a hugely powerful lobby that doles out money to all would be regulators. The industry hides behind facades of "personal responsibility" and "responsible debt".
We can hope fro re-regulation, but i don't anyone at the state or federal level is listening. - affeking, on 10/11/2007, -7/+9Sorry, but why would you think that your credit rating would be kept private from your creditors? That's kind of the purpose of it.
On another note, I'm all for creditors trying to efficiently collect on their defaulting loans. People who don't pay their bills just jack up the cost to borrow money for the rest of us. This tool isn't about having debt - its about having debt and not honoring the terms of your contract. - CyBrShRk, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3@affeking = Uneducated buffoon! YOUR cost to borrow money has NOTHING to do with someone defaulting on a loan elsewhere. If you have strong, clean credit you have no problems getting money at a very low interest rate. That rate is determined by the prime rate. People who don't have good credit pay extra in interest. So if your interest rates are too high, sounds like you might have been slow paying your bills in the recent past.
- IADTatami, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Wait, didn't those people already sell the debt to a collection agency?
- akatherder, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2We just bought our first house in April and got a mortgage loan. The credit check was through Experian and we didn't get harassed by other companies to get a mortgage through them.
We DO get two or three junk mail letters per week about buying mortgage insurance. They always print the name of my mortgage lender on the outside of the envelope and when you open it, it says something like "Not affiliated with your mortgage lender". -
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