“My credit check…,” Jayne stammered, “is not correct. It’s not correct, I tell you! Nobody has sued me…ever! What the hell is this judgment? What is it?”
Jayne was fit to be tied. I feared she would pop a cork or fall into cardiac arrest.
She was freaking out at what appeared on her credit reports.
This judgment reported inaccurately by a car dealer on her two credit reports was NOT hers, she claimed.
And that’s where I come in…to add calm and strategy to any credit report.
And if I can’t handle it, I refer people like Jayne to the big “legal” guns who lock & load, shoving their law degrees into the faces of stubborn debt collectors and credit bureaus that refuse to play by the rules. 
That’s the point of today’s post: to remind you to remain calm while strategically attacking any shocking credit report.
Believe when I say, it’s never as bad as it might seem. There’s always a game plan.
And there always are things you should not do…just as NOT firing off template dispute letters…ever.
Stay away from the all the credit (dis)repair companies pitching their “guaranteed” credit repair miracles straight out of the old-time snake-oil traveling salesman’s playbook.
A few weeks ago (or was it a few months ago), I met Jayne who contacted me off a “Sarasota Realtor” article I’d posted on Google. Jayne wanted to buy a home in Sarasota (FL).
Before we hit the MLS, I asked her about a pre-approval for a mortgage from a mortgage lender (not just a mortgage broker). Turns out she hadn’t gotten pre-approved…yet. Oops, that’s step one, Jayne.
FYI: For Jayne & everyone else thinking of buying a home, get PRE-APPROVED before you start looking. In today’s market, sellers want to see your pre-approval (and the pink slip to your first born) from a mortgage lender, not just a mortgage broker. The difference is that loan officers work for the mortgage lender and know specific underwriting guidelines. In other words, these loan officers know exactly what the lender requires before approving your application.
The mortgage broker, on the other hand, may or may not know the lender’s lending guidelines. Too many broken hearts result from a mortgage broker’s attempt to get a buyer financed. I prefer going directly to loan officers at the big lenders and knowing my customers will get financed. Too many of my closings were shot down because of desperate mortgage brokers promising something they couldn’t deliver.
When Jayne saw her credit reports, I thought I’d have to call 911. What Jayne saw on her reports nearly threw her into cardiac arrest.
Fortunately, I was able to calm her down and help her take a deep breath, while we analyzed the shock.
Link the “Read More” link below to discover what we needed to do to help Jayne get the keys to her new Sarasota Real Estate.
Right there in plain view was one very noticeable JUDGMENT. “What the hell is that?” Jayne shouted.
This one-year-old judgment showed Jayne owed $22,000 in damages for breaking a lease. It was a default judgment.
Jayne barely could control her anger, shaking as she blurted out, “What lease?”
According to Jayne, she had OWNED her home and hadn’t leased anything since college…15 years earlier. Clearly, this was a one-year old judgment.
Normally, I don’t recommend calling the bureaus, but that’s exactly what we did with TransUnion and Equifax, the two credit reporting agencies reporting this BAD account…no Experian.
Jayne called the two CRAs and disputed the judgment as “Definitely Not Hers.”
To Jayne’s shock, it came back “verified as accurate.” Of course, by now you know I was not shocked…not at all. Knowing what I know about the bureaus, I expected a “verified as accurate” response letter.
As I’ve said many times before, credit repair BEGINS with the verified letter. You can’t imagine what I’m saying if you’ve not seen my videos or studied my book at Repair Credit Fast.
It’s true. The bureaus will hand you accurate credit reporting unless you call them out…and you must know how to call them out:
Once you receive a “verified as accurate” letter from a CRA, quickly call or write (depending on your urgency) the CRA requesting their method of verification. Yes, this is your right under the FCRA section 611 (a) (7) and they must respond within 15 days of receiving your request.
Okay, Jayne demanded the name and contact information for the original creditor inaccurately reporting this FALSE bad credit account.
Immediately, we called this car dealer’s records department before getting transferred to the car dealer’s legal department.
On the phone with the company’s legal department, Jayne faxed them the page from her credit report along with her name and social security number once she explained the problem.
With a short delay, they confirmed they had no such file. Apparently, a data entry error (big surprise) caused this negative listing to occur with Jayne’s reports.
Jayne requested they DELETE immediately to which they agreed. As well, Jayne requested they fax her a letter confirming DELETION.
Within a few days, Jayne received one letter from the original creditor’s (car dealer’s) legal department per Jayne’s request and notices from both credit reporting agencies confirming DELETION.
You see, this is not rocket science. Jayne’s reports initially shocked her with a JUDGMENT…and yes this is bad!
However, the judgment was not Jayne’s. To correct the mistake, Jayne simply followed my suggestions for clearing the road for the keys to her new home.
With a few phone calls and just a little reminder of FCRA section 611 (a) (7), Jayne’s blood pressure returned to normal and we could get back to finding her the exact home she wanted.
- Credit repair is not rocket science.
- Credit repair is more persistence that it is legal knowledge.
- Credit repair is more about being careful than it is about firing off dangerous template dispute letters.
“My credit check…” should not send you into cardiac arrest AS LONG AS you take a deep breath and follow the EASY steps carefully laid out in THE BUSY PERSON’S CREDIT MAKEOVER. I realize this post or any post here is not exactly every piece of the puzzle you’d need to copy Jayne’s success. But what’s why I put together my book & videos to help you.
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