I came under fire recently as I was speaking with some real estate investors regarding credit repair. They more or less blamed the state of the economy on "people like me" who they believe helped borrowers qualify for loans for which they should never have been approved. It was their contention that "people like me" fooled the banks into lending to otherwise unqualified borrowers and that my actions now are only propagating our current economic crisis.
Interesting. It seems to me they think your poor credit is all your fault and that I should let you "dead beats" suffer for your intentional crimes against our honest and trusting government and lenders.
I disagree.
Here's my position. We live in a country where we receive no financial education. Our education system was developed during the industrial revolution, by men like Rockefeller, who needed employees to build his empire. We were brain washed to believe we needed to go to school to get a good job. (It's not your parents fault for drilling that into your brain. They were brain washed too.)
We were educated just enough to be good employees and we were intentionally left in the dark about credit and finance. Why? For the same reason slaves weren't permitted to learn to read. If you educate your workers too well, they might start dreaming of having more, being more, deserving more…then they'll get the courage up to compete with you. Instead they told us to leave all that complicated money stuff to them.
In fact, the rich even managed to convince us to reinvest our income back into their companies. They convinced us they knew more about money and investing than we did. They even used their influence over our government to create little tax havens like 401K plans, so we could invest more of our money in their companies with the promise that we would be taken care of as we grew old and retired. It was a very smart strategy.
Fast forward a few decades…
I think we can all agree that the circumstances have changed. There's no such thing as job security. 5 Million plus unemployed U.S. citizens can attest to that. We can't trust our corporations to look out for our best interests either (i.e. Enron, WorldCom, etc.).
We are ill prepared for this new world. We find ourselves stumbling along through life, learning as we go.
By the time we get to college, if we make it that far, we're ambushed with credit offers. I recently walked through a campus where kiosks were set up in the middle of the quad. "Sign up for this Capital One card and get this free duffel bag!" they shouted. It's no wonder that the average student is drowning in credit card and student loan debt by the time they graduate. It's a rough way to start your new independent life, but your employer is happy since you're now dependent on your job to make your payments.
I don't blame the public for abusing credit any more than I'd blame a bratty kid for being bratty. His parents are to blame, as is our government and the wealthy who pull their strings are to blame for our current predicament.
I'm not saying education alone is the salvation, but it certainly helps. I'm sure there are doctors that smoke, but far fewer than the general public because their education has enlightened them.
What I do, dear friends, is level the playing field.
It's a fact that a majority of credit reports have errors. Those errors may have unjustly sped you on your way to default. There would be far less people in the world in default today had the credit bureaus implemented Metro II and eliminated those errors entirely. They don't because they make too much money being wrong.
I give you a second chance. I do it legally, enforcing the laws the government itself provided, to hold creditors and the mighty credit bureaus accountable for the items they report.
I don't intentionally remove accurate items, but it's possible that some of what I do remove is accurate. Whose fault is that? Is it mine for requesting they verify and validate the accuracy of the items they report, as provided by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or is it the creditors for failing to keep accurate records?
If you can be audited by the IRS and fined simply because their numbers don't match with your accountant's findings, shouldn't the credit bureaus be held to the same standards?
Sorry to cut into your profits Mr. Lender who's getting billions of dollars in bail out money, and Mr. Credit Bureau with your millions in profit earned by misleading consumers and selling them fake scores and B.S. identity theft protection, but people are struggling here and they sure don't need your antiquated system adding to their pain.
To summarize, I don't believe your poor credit is entirely your fault. I believe most of the blame rests with our government and the wealthy few who control it. Since your eyes have been opened to the importance of credit and finance, you're right to do your best to fix your mess before it consumes you. If you had the time to learn to do what I do, then you'd be within your rights to do it, and the results would be the same. Just because I do it for you (and do it well), it doesn't mean I, or people like me, are responsible for the credit crisis we're in today. We may just be a step towards the solution.
What are your thoughts?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with your premise. Bankers and Realtors suggesting there are foxes in the hen house making it hard on vultures like them is comical at best.
I agree with you 100%. I feel the credit reporting is a result of years of improper evaluations/calculations of credit worthiness…for example, a 19 year old with one credit card with a balance of $1,000 who charges $100 and pays it off $10 per month who earns $15,000 / year has more ‘credit worthiness’ than someone like me who owns a business, employs 28 people, earns $100k+ / year but has had to sacrifice some personal things in favor of providing for employees … it’s a crime.
Great article! I agree that education is key. It is important that we all learn from our mistakes in the past and look for ways to prevent the same from occuring in the future. There could be many people to blame, yet in the end, we are all accountable for our own decisions and choices. I appreciate ScoreMore Credit for the education you provide and the tools for helping people to move forward!
Brian,
I just started using your company and the people at the Long Island location have been helpful and very up front about the strategy and costs involved in reversing a persons credit score.
Jerry Lewis once said he couldn’t live with himself because if he put on a show and 99 people out of a hundred stood up and cheered him and one person wasn’t satisfied with his performance he felt like a complete failure.
Do the best you can for your clients that’s what will in the long run pay the most dividends. Some people are never happy trying to help them is an exercise in futility.
Credit Score is a deliberate trap made and set by viciously irresponsible institutions called “lenders” who structure contracts intentionally in order to create a low score for the express purpose of mandating a legally usurious interest rate.
Without “people like you” the “score” system would eventually drive all of the customers of the institutions into insolvency and kill their very business.
It is not different from the old Company Store routine where mine workers never quite made enough to pay back the food and apparel they drew for their families while at the same time the mine owners got very rich.
“You load sixteen tons
And what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me
Cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the Company Store”
People who work responsibly all their lives and find themselves “out placed” or “retired” are not irresponsible cheats who are “hosing” their mortgage lenders. They are citizens and the engine that drives prosperity.
That’s my opinion Brian.
Charles
I think you are on point. The credit bureaus really don’t want people to be helped as well as bankers. You helping people like me, who fell on hard times along the way that can produce positive results is a Godsend. I have been and am currently at a place where I have the financial resources to basically purchase anything I want. However, my credit got damaged along the way. It really amazed me when I’ve walked into a financial institution and get looked down upon because of low credit scores. Especially, when the fact is that I make more money than most if not all of the folks there. Although I’ve not seen the credit score increase as of yet, I’m still eagerly awaiting with great anticipation my credit reports that reflects updated higher scores.
I have been working in the auto industry as a Sales Consultant for over two years now. I have had this conversation repeatedly with fellow co-workers who use the term “dead beat” and “stiffs” to refer to people with credit challenges. How IRONIC the unforgiving auto industry is now BEGGING for Bailout money. I’ve spoken with Mortgage lenders with the same negative attitudes that flourished off sub-prime lending practices that buried people in interest for their homes…The American Dream is a NIGHTMARE.
A lack of education is the problem. Financially, Americans are doomed before they even really get started in adulthood.
EVERY Abrahamic Religion preaches against the “USURY” which interprets by today’s standards as “INTEREST”. I will tell you this, there are finally banks in the U.S. that allow religious borrowers to purchase homes, cars, and businesses under the Biblical and all other Abrahamic scriptural principals of interest free loans.
Banks are thieves. They are liars and hypocrites. How dare they BEG for Bailout money when they approach bankruptcy but will QUICKLY and VEHEMENTLY deny a loan to a hard working person who erred five years ago according to credit reporting bureaus.
Debtors write off defaulted loans and debts; then they sell your debt and your personal information to collection agencies who “attempt” to collect a written off debt with absurd fees. When they are unsuccessful in collecting these debts they “double-whammy” your credit report as if you actually owed them. They then sell the written off debt and your personal information, that they will eventually write off as a loss, to another collection agency, that will “hit” your credit report and bury in poor scores while they have been afforded the write-off.
I was ADAMANTLY against the BAILOUT. I understand that jobs where saved but, they proved that they could not be trusted and that they, in fact, and POOR CREDIT.
Although I feel your service is a little expensive, I do agree that you are doing a good service for people that DESERVE another chance. The hell with the rip-off realtors, bankers, credit card companies, and mortgage lenders who continue to disrespectfully profit off the ignorance of poor Americans who would do better if they knew better.
My message to the young in college: AVOID CREDIT CARDS AND STUDENT LOANS LIKE THE PLAGUE. BORROW WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AND SEEK ALTERNATIVE LENDING THROUGH INSTITUTIONS THAT DO NOT ASSIGN INTEREST TO LOANS. THEY DO EXIST SO DO YOUR RESEARCH. AVOID THE TRAP OF CREDIT OFFERS.