Credit Slander

[GalkaInBlack]

Long, long time lurker, first time caller.

A couple people in my family have been recently targeted by "Debt Collectors" when they were trying to buy a house.

The two collection agencies were:

National Credit Adjusters
Unifund

I Googled both of these for about 30 seconds and came up with all these links, about these companies:

http://www.budhibbs.com/debtcollecto..._adjusters.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff160568.htm

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/200...nifund.23.html

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...adjusters.html

http://www.houstonconsumerlaw.com/en/cms/?207

http://www.credit-repaircentral.com/junkdebtbuyers.html

http://www.thecreditguru.com/referral.htm

http://www.edcombs.com/CM/Custom/TOCSpecial.asp


As you can see, this is modern day con-artistism at its worst.

These organizations have no oversite, they don't need to differentiate between actual legitimate debt and credit card fraud or identity theft; probably because the latter would actually cost them money to do.

What they can do is call, harrass, threaten, lie, etc. people at a time of need to leverage them to settle...which most people do. Like I said, my family members knew nothing about this until they decided to buy a house.

What I need from you guys

Being a blogger for a few years now, I have decided that you all are some of the most vicious, e-peen swinging, totally internet wired, brilliant people I have ever met...especially the gamers.

As soon as a video game company comes out with new software, you guys have it beaten and documented on the internet within 24 hours. You come from all walks of life, do different jobs, have different specialties, and know different things. When you combine your talents, you are more of a force of nature than anything I've ever seen....Blacknova thing comes to mind.

If you want to help, please do anything you can to spread the word about these horrible horrible companies.

Put it on YouTube, Myspace, other blog sites, tell your own stories, post other links containing information about unlawful practices of companies like these, help start a petition (I honestly don't know how) to the US Government to hold these organizations responsible for their illegal actions.

These people are modern day vampires, they prey on the weak. When people stand up to them, they fold, like all bullies.

This might not have ever happened to you, but it could happen tomorrow. It only takes one time for a "Pre-Approved" credit card application to go to your old address, before you get your mail forwarded to your new address.

And BTW; the family members that are having the problem with these guys never lived in the state that the alleged credit card was issued in. They have never even set foot in that state.....but somehow, that doesn't seem to matter to the credit slanderers.


EDIT: I didn't really say it directly, but NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, pay these people a cent. You are just giving them more information about yourself that they can use to rob you.


GalkaInBlack

[Tyche]

When you buy a house, you go through the most scrutiny ever witnessed as far as credit reports go. When i bought my house, 2 things stood out. One of which was a very pricey engagement ring i bought my fiancee a couple years ago (The other was an "Old Navy" card my fiancee took out, and she authorized me to use transactions on it...this came up on my credit lol). I financed it [the ring], and payed it off in a year. When my credit was pulled, it had shown there was still an outstanding debt on the ring.

I called and prodded with zales for a week, and ended up dealing with Citibank, which is the company that does the financing for zales. I called my old bank, who i had a checking account with at the time i bought the ring, and had payed for the ring through, for records that i had payed them off. Thing was, since i wasn't with that bank anymore, they charged $30 an hour and required at least 2 weeks to pull bank records. I was closing on my house in 4 days. Push came to shove, and i ended up having to pay for the ring AGAIN so i was able to close on my mortgage in time. 2 weeks after the ring was payed off (a second time), i had citibank calling me again to request i pay off the loan. I faxed the information proving that i had payed it a second time. They took that fax and supposedly was to be the end of the story. I got a call the very next day requesting payment for the ring. I faxed the information yet again. 2 Days later (and i swear to god im not exaggerating this a bit), they called yet again to request payment for the ring. I faxed it off again, and told them that if i were contacted again regarding the matter, it would bring an attorney into it.
This all went down about 4 months ago.

About 2 weeks ago, i pulled my credit report, only to notice that i had an outstanding debt to zales/citibank. I'm currently figuring out what steps i need to take to persue legal action.

Moral of this story, you get 2 free credit reports per year (or one). Use them. Especially if you have financed anything, from a simple store credit card to a car, check your credit report. When you decide to sit down and take out a mortgage, something as simple as a ring can completely screw you over.

[Iono]

Why buy a ring at Zales? >.>

[Tyche]

She picked it out.

[Koyuki]

Why buy a ring at Zales? >.>

BECAU HE IZ POH

I buy all my shit from Donald Trump himself.

[Iono]

Actually Zales charges more than other places.

Dunno where you live tho. If I were to buy one I'd pick it at the jewelry district (LA) or something.

[draxyl]

I bought mine from a jew in the jewelry district in central Manhattan and got a fantastic deal to boot.

Not everyone lives near a major city with a district like that though, if you're in middle america you're kind of stuck either ordering online or from a local store.