American Credit Experts and Legal Credit Repair Center Settles With FTC Over Credit Repair Infractions
A federal court has ordered a credit repair operation and its principals to stop making false claims and requiring advance payment for credit repair services. See the court order here . The agreed-upon court orders are a result of a settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and the “credit repair” defendants. The Commission sued the defendants in October 2008 as part of “Operation Clean Sweep,” a crackdown on credit repair operations. The defendants represented that they could remove negative but accurate information from consumers’ credit reports, including bankruptcies and late fees. According to the FTC, the defendants charged consumers up to $59.95 initially, then $59.95 per month, to send letters to credit reporting agencies disputing information on the consumers’ credit reports. Contrary to the defendants’ representations to consumers, those dispute letters failed to remove accurate negative information from the consumers’ credit reports. The orders bar the defendants from violating the Credit Repair Organizations Act by charging clients fees in advance and claiming that a credit repair organization can permanently remove negative information from credit reports, even when the information is accurate. They also bar the defendants from making deceptive claims when marketing any product or service, including credit repair services. The orders further prohibit the defendants from collecting money from consumers who purchased their services before December 3, 2008, when the court halted their unlawful practices, and from disclosing or benefitting from customers’ personally identifiable or financial information. The orders require them to take reasonable measures to protect consumers’ personally identifiable information during its disposal. The order against Ace Group, Inc., doing business as American Credit Experts, Inc., The Ace Group, Inc., The Ace Group, and ACE; Legal Credit Repair Center, Inc.; Michael Singer, and Gerald Roth, imposes a $20,645,754 judgment that will be suspended if Singer and Roth pay $5,000 each because of their inability to pay the full judgment. The order against Melvin Kessler also imposes a $20,645,754 judgment, which is suspended based on his inability to pay. If the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition, the full judgments will become due immediately. The orders also contain record-keeping and reporting provisions to allow the FTC to monitor compliance with the orders. The FTC advises that only time, effort, and a personal debt repayment plan can improve your credit report . The first step is to learn what information is in your credit report . Federal law requires that the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months, if you ask for it. Steve @GetOutOfDebtGuy Source: American Credit Experts and Legal Credit Repair Center Settles With FTC Over Credit Repair Infractions Other Related Articles to Read I’m Being Chased For a Repo From Six Years Ago. – Steve Florida Credit Repair Firm, U.S. Credit Find, Reaches Settlement With Illinois Attorney General We Are Looking Forward to Buying Our First Home But Our Credit Sucks. – Casey How Do I Go About Getting My Credit Score Back Up? – CH I Am a City of Houston, Texas Employee and Need to Repair My Credit so I can Build a House. – Jocelyn Tweet This! Email this to a friend? Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Facebook Share this on Linkedin Seed this on Newsvine Share this on Technorati Share this on Tipd
My Fiance is Going Bankrupt. Will We Ever Be Able to Buy a House? – Jennifer
Jennifer wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form . I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty . If you would like to help me to help others, there are easy and free things you can do, click here to learn how you can help . “Dear Steve, My fiance is considering filing for Chapter 7. He has okay/good credit, but more than $25,000 in credit card debt and his payments severely limit our finances. He does not have a car or house that creditors can seize for payment. I’ve read that bankruptcy will stay on your credit for 10 years, but other people have told me that it will affect your credit for the rest of your life. If he files for bankruptcy , how will this affect our chances of buying a house or a car in the future years? Jennifer” Dear Jennifer, Ironically if he files for bankruptcy you probably have a better chance of getting a house. I know that sounds crazy but bankruptcy will wipe out his debt. Once that is gone he can begin to save for a down payment. The larger the down payment, the easier it will to get a loan. If his credit is bad now and he is behind in bills, filing bankruptcy will increase his score by about 150. Again, ironic isn’t it. After the final bankruptcy discharge and start rebuilding his credit with a new credit card or two. He might have to get secured cards to do that. Not a big deal. That will begin to report new and good information about him which will bring his score back up. We happen to be in a current economy where lending it tight but it will give you guys time to put all of this is place. I think if you follow this advice that you’ll be in a new home within 30 months. Big hug. Steve @GetOutOfDebtGuy Source: My Fiance is Going Bankrupt. Will We Ever Be Able to Buy a House? – Jennifer Other Related Articles to Read I Suggest Bankruptcy Too Often, So Say Some Lauren is Searching For Ways to Get Out Of Debt And Make Her Bad Credit Go Away Ed Is Scared But Courageous In The Face Of His Debt “How Do I Go About Making My Credit Score Better” – Antoine My Debt Snowball, Snowballed. – Janine Tweet This! Email this to a friend? Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Facebook Share this on Linkedin Seed this on Newsvine Share this on Technorati Share this on Tipd
I Have $95,000 in Credit Card Debt and Can’t Make the Minimum Payments. – Kevin
Kevin wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form . I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty . If you would like to help me to help others, there are easy and free things you can do, click here to learn how you can help . “Dear Steve, I’m presently current on all of my credit card debt (nearly $95,000), but life’s circumstances are making it extremely difficult to pay the minimum payments and I am not making any headway with my debt. I’m considering one of the many debt settlement companies out there and wondering if you know much about New Era Debt Settlement Company? Based on my research, they seem to be the only one willing to take payment for their services once a debt has been settled (in addition to the $2,500 retainer fee, of course). Is this a good route for me or am I better served by contacting my creditors directly and trying a “workout” plan? Kevin” Dear Kevin, First, let me say that I do know the guys at New Era and in the past I have praised them for the disclosures they have on their site regarding the the downsides of debt settlement. They have done more than others in this area of being open. I am a fan of lump-sum debt settlement when you have at least 60% of the debt available in cash and you are at least three months behind. Many creditors will settle at that point, but not all. Probably about a 70% chance of getting all your creditors to agree at that point but depends on who your creditors are. Oh yes, you have to be prepared for the tax bill to come from the IRS and the bad credit that will be reported for the forgiven debt. If you don’t have the cash on handle to settle in a lump-sum you are left with a difficult process of having to stop paying your creditors to save up the money to settle. With debt settlement companies you send them a monthly payment and they save if for you, but most take all the initial payments to cover the cost of their fees. While that process is happening, you will fall behind on your debts, collection activity will begin and ramp up, and you may get sued by your creditors for non-payment. The debt settlement industry says that 7% – 10% of people in debt settlement programs get sued. I suspect the “official” number is lower than reality based on what I hear from people. Debt settlement is no magic wand. While you may think it is a cool solution to get rid of your debt for less than you possibly owe, there are consequences. And even in the lump-sum approach I praised earlier, you have to be certain that you have an offer in writing from all creditors before you settle. To eliminate your debt best requires agreement from all your creditors, not just some. Kevin, you can certainly contact your creditors now, but until you are behind, they have no incentive to consider any offer. And falling behind will lower your credit score , be on your credit report for seven years and generally not be fun. I have no vested interest in whatever path you choose to follow to get out of debt. I think you should investigate all of your options before making any assumptions. That includes contacting a local bankruptcy attorney and going in to talk to them. The better informed you are, the better decision you can make about what will work best for you. You might be interested in reading my post on the success rates of each of the options. Big hug. Steve @GetOutOfDebtGuy Source: I Have $95,000 in Credit Card Debt and Can’t Make the Minimum Payments. – Kevin Other Related Articles to Read Fourteen Questions to Ask Any Debt Settlement Agency I Settled One of My Debts But I Have More and They Don’t Want to Settle. – Lori The Truth About The Failure Rates and Completion Rates of Credit Counseling, Debt Settlement, and Bankruptcy. Professional Journalist Really Blows This Debt Settlement Story I Fired My Debt Management Company And Now I’m Going to Settle My Own Debt. Should I Hire a Lawyer? – Jannelle Tweet This! Email this to a friend? Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Facebook Share this on Linkedin Seed this on Newsvine Share this on Technorati Share this on Tipd
