October 2021 Newsletter: Bad Credit is Scary!

 

A message from Robert Linkonis Sr., Executive Director

You know what's scary? Nearly 2 in 3 adults (64%) say that money is a significant source of stress in their life [source]. Credit-worthiness has a huge affect on our mental health and it can be daunting to navigate the world of credit restoration without support.

Possibly scarier, until recently there was no scientific evidence to support what many individuals feel on a daily basis due to poor credit: anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. We now have proof that debt is a financial stressor associated with these psychological and physiological behaviors [Dr. C.K. Hughes (2021) The Impact of Credit Worthiness].

With us, you’ll have access to trained credit experts who can answer your questions and help you make sense of the complexities of credit.

Get in touch and receive a FREE credit evaluation today!

Breaking the cycle of bad credit is a difficult and long process.

You can work to pay down your credit balances and ask about an increase to your credit limit (not to charge more, but to lower your credit utilization ratio!) but these things can take a long time to make a difference.

Checking your credit report for errors and disputing accounts with incorrect or unverifiable items is how we can help you! But we won’t stop there. We will work with you to create a personalized action plan to tackle your bad credit. We follow along with you every step of the way to see the completion of the plan. We know how bad credit scores can affect every aspect of your life and we want to see you reach your financial goals!

Celia L. Powell, CPA is an accountant and consultant, practicing professionally beginning in 2009. Celia brings a unique approach to her accounting practice by utilizing mindfulness practices along with traditional business methods to support her clients as they transform and manage their finances. Celia focuses on going beyond the numbers to help her clients reach both their life and financial goals.

Celia received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at New Paltz, 1986. She received Certified Public Accountant’s license from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2009 and has been in private practice since then, serving non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals.

Ms Powell, most recently began an online platform, used to teach, coach and inspire others to create a financial vision for their money and ultimately become the CEO of their lives.

Give us a call today to start your credit repair journey!

Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.(804) 823-9601 |  (800) 648-5157

mail@creditrestorationinstitute.com

September Newsletter 2021

 

Debt is considered a financial stressor, and is associated with a multitude of psychological, physiological, and general health concerns such as anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and even suicidal behaviors. Dr. C. K. Hughes (2021). The Impact of Creditworthiness on Financial Well-Being, Anxiety, Depression, Hopelessness, and Suicide. [Journal of Accounting and Finance Vol. 21] Omega Graduate School.

Whether it is for a home loan or car financing, we know the frustrations you go through when trying to get inaccurate information removed from your credit reports. We know that these inaccuracies end up as a roadblock to getting credit needs addressed properly.

With us, you’ll have access to trained credit experts who can answer your questions and help you make sense of the complexities of credit.

Get in touch and receive a FREE credit evaluation today!

Wow! These are real results! Our custom credit disputes leverage the consumer protection laws and the credit bureaus’ automated codes to help remove or correct any unverifiable items.

As a client, we dispute accounts with the bureaus and creditors on your behalf. Using our years of experience, we utilize the tools you need to move your case forward and the results you are looking for.

Here at Credit Restoration Institute, we will work with you to create a personalized action plan to tackle your bad credit. We follow along with you every step of the way to see the completion of the plan. We know how bad credit scores can affect every aspect of your life and we want to see you reach your financial goals!

Mark Your Calendar!

Get advice on how to establish or repair your business credit as well as funding advice from a credit repair expert!

REGISTRATION FEE: $30

Attendance includes access to a recording of the webinar, as well as copies of all slides and handouts.

Webinar attendees will receive an email with secure log-in instructions prior to the session. You'll be able to submit questions for the speaker during the presentation, and all attendees will receive the full presentation afterward.

Give us a call today to start your credit repair journey!

Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.(804) 823-9601 |  (800) 648-5157

mail@creditrestorationinstitute.com

 

August 2021 Newsletter

A message from Robert Linkonis Sr., Executive Director Congratulations Dr. Cathie Hughes!

Credit-worthiness has a huge affect on our mental health. For many, having access to basic human needs relies heavily on your credit score. If you have good credit, it may not be something you think about, but those with no credit or credit scores that are less than stellar face higher levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Until recently, there was no scientific evidence to support what many individuals feel on a daily basis. Congratulations to Dr. Cathie Hughes, whose paper, The Impact of Creditworthiness on Financial Well-Being, Anxiety, Depression, Hopelessness, and Suicide was published this past July in the Journal of Accounting and Finance. Here at Credit Restoration Institute, we will work with you to create a personalized action plan to tackle your bad credit. We follow along with you every step of the way to see the completion of the plan. We know how bad credit scores can affect every aspect of your life and we want to see you reach your financial goals!! Credit Education Credit Consulting Credit Report Audit Credit Disputes Cathie Hughes, Ph.D. Director Credit Restoration Institute Dr. Cathie Hughes is the Director of The Credit Restoration Institute. Dr. Hughes also serves as the Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Faculty for Omega Graduate school, is a Professor of doctoral social research, communication and leadership courses, and dissertation preparatory courses. She is a transformational leader who thinks strategically, motivates people to achieve business objectives, builds trusted relationships, collaborates across diverse and multi-functional & multi-cultural teams, and focuses on outcomes, customers, and growth. As a thought leader with strong communication and presentation skills, she contributes to a culture of innovation, collaboration, and partnership, with a willingness to proactively coach, mentor, facilitate, share knowledge, model, and advocate initiatives for positive change.  Give us a call today to start your credit repair journey! Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.(804) 823-9601 |  (800) 648-5157 mail@creditrestorationinstitute.com

A message from Robert Linkonis Sr., Executive Director

What is Credit Repair?

You may find yourself asking, so what exactly is credit repair? Credit Repair is disputing accounts and entries on your credit report that are inaccurate and unverifiable. We dispute these errors directly at the source with the credit bureaus and creditors.

Nearly 2 in 3 adults (64%) say that money is a significant source of stress in their life. [source]

Here at Credit Restoration Institute, we will work with you to create a personalized action plan and follow along with you to see the completion of the plan. We want to see you reach your financial goals!

Credit Report Audit Credit Disputes

Credit Education Credit Consulting

Executive Director Robert Linkonis, Sr. has spent the last 30 years fixing errors and inaccurate information on credit reports and cannot see himself doing anything differently.

Seeing people’s lives change for the better is what keeps Robert going. “Good credit reduces depression and hopeless feelings. Good credit increases one’s financial well-being and empowers individuals and families.”

Robert loves to travel and spend time with his beautiful wife Nancy. He is blessed with three amazing children and a gorgeous three year old granddaughter.

Give us a call today to start your credit repair journey!
Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
(804) 823-9601 |  (800) 648-5157
mail@creditrestorationinstitute.com

 

Instructions to File for Settlement from the Equifax Data Breach

This was an email that I received recently. As mentioned in all of the CRA Facebook posts https://www.facebook.com/Financed1,  I ONLY recommend taking the credit monitoring option. You will get 10 years total of credit monitoring from Equifax, which is a much better deal than $125.00. You wont even get $125 actually. If all 147 million people entitled to a settlement request the cash option, everyone would only get 21 cents a piece. Great. So, go ahead and enroll in 10 years of credit monitoring and hope that Equifax will get their stuff straight moving forward.

** Also enroll your family members before January 2020. That is 3 months from now. Get moving!

COURT APPROVED LEGAL NOTICE If Your Personal Information Was Impacted in the 2017 Equifax Data Breach, You May Be Eligible for Benefits from a Class Action Settlement Un aviso de este acuerdo también está disponible en www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com/es

In September of 2017, Equifax announced it experienced a data breach, which impacted the personal information of approximately 147 million people. Equifax has reached a proposed settlement to resolve class action lawsuits brought by consumers alleging Equifax failed to adequately protect their personal information. Equifax denies any wrongdoing, and no judgment or finding of wrongdoing has been made. If your personal information was impacted in the Equifax data breach, you may be eligible for benefits from the settlement after it becomes final. Under the proposed settlement, Equifax will: (1) pay $380.5 million into a fund to pay benefits to consumers, court-approved fees and costs of class counsel and service awards to the named class representatives, and other expenses; (2) implement and maintain certain data security enhancements; (3) if necessary, pay up to $125 million more to reimburse consumers for out-of-pocket losses resulting from the data breach; and (4) provide certain other relief.

Are You Eligible: You are a class member and eligible for settlement benefits if you are a U.S. consumer whose personal information was impacted by the Equifax data breach. If you are unsure of whether you are a class member, visit www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com and click the "Find Out if Your Information Was Impacted" button or call 1-833-759-2982. Benefits: If you are a class member, you are eligible for one or more of the following benefits:

1. Free Credit Monitoring or Cash Payment. You can get free credit monitoring services. Or, if you already have credit monitoring services, you can request a cash payment of up to $125. • The free credit monitoring includes at least four years of three-bureau credit monitoring, offered through Experian. You can also get up to six more years of free one-bureau credit monitoring through Equifax. • If you already have credit monitoring services that will continue for at least 6 more months, you may be eligible for a cash payment of up to $125. The amount you receive may be substantially less than $125, depending on the number of claims that are filed.

2. Other Cash Payments. You may also be eligible for the following cash payments up to $20,000 for: • the time you spent remedying fraud, identity theft, or other misuse of your personal information caused by the data breach, or purchasing credit monitoring or freezing credit reports, up to 20 total hours at $25 per hour. • out-of-pocket losses resulting from the data breach. • up to 25% of the cost of Equifax credit or identity monitoring products you paid for in the year before the data breach announcement.

                      *** Good luck getting ANY part of $20,000. If you are successful in any way, please leave a comment on this blog. Thanks. Good luck!

3. Free Identity Restoration Services: You are eligible for at least 7 years of free assisted identity restoration services to help you remedy the effects of identity theft and fraud.

Important Information Regarding the Proportional Reduction of Benefits. If you request or have requested a cash benefit, the amount you receive may be significantly reduced depending on how many valid claims are ultimately submitted by other class members for this relief. Based on the number of potentially-valid claims that have been submitted to date, payments for time spent and alternative compensation of up to $125 likely will be substantially lowered and will be distributed on a proportional basis if the settlement becomes final. Depending on the number of additional valid claims that are filed, the amount you receive for these benefits may be a small percentage of your initial claim.

How to Get Benefits: To get free credit monitoring or cash payments, or both, you must submit a claim:

• Online at www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com, or • By mail.

You must submit a claim by January 22, 2020. Certain claims may require supporting documents. If you have already filed a claim, there is no need to do so again.

If there is still money in the fund after payment of valid claims submitted during the initial claims period that ends on January 22, 2020, there will be an extended claims period lasting for four years. In the extended claims period, you may make certain claims for out-of-pocket losses incurred in the future, including time and money spent trying to address identity theft or fraud related to the data breach. You don’t need to file a claim to get free identity restoration services. None of these benefits will be distributed or available until the settlement is finally approved by the Court. If you make a claim for cash compensation, the amount of money you receive may be significantly less than the claim you submit depending on the number and amount of claims that are submitted.

Understanding Your Options: If you want the Court to exclude you from the settlement class, you must write to the Settlement Administrator by November 19, 2019. List the name of this proceeding (In re: Equifax Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-2800-TWT), your full name, your current address, and the words “Request for Exclusion” at the top of the document. You must sign this request and mail it to Equifax Data Breach Class Action Settlement Administrator, Attn: Exclusion, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91318, Seattle, WA 98111. To object to the settlement, you must file an objection with the Court by November 19, 2019. For detailed instructions about the process of objecting, visit www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com. You must file a claim if you want to receive free credit monitoring or cash benefits under this settlement. If you do nothing, you won’t receive a cash payment or credit monitoring services, won’t be able to sue Equifax for the claims being resolved in the settlement, and will be legally bound by all orders of the Court.

The Court will hold a hearing on December 19, 2019, to consider any objections, and decide whether to approve the settlement, award attorneys’ fees and expenses, and grant service awards to the named class representatives. You may enter an appearance through an attorney, but do not have to. The Court has appointed lawyers to represent you and the class, but you can hire another lawyer at your own expense. This is only a summary of the settlement. For more information, visit www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com, or call (toll free) 1-833-759-2982. This is a Court authorized notice, not a lawyer advertisement

Email Disclaimer The Equifax Data Breach Settlement Administrator will never ask you to provide sensitive information, such as, your Social Security Number or Tax ID, Bank Account Number, Credit Card Number, Driver’s License or Passport Number, or Password, etc. via email. All email communications sent by the Equifax Data Breach Settlement Administrator OR on behalf of the settlement administrator will originate from info@equifaxbreachsettlement.com, the official email address of the settlement. If you receive an email which you suspect to be fraudulent, do not reply or do anything it instructs you to do, but immediately forward it to abuse@equifaxbreachsettlement.com.

NEXT POST: Active Duty Military are Eligible for FREE Credit Monitoring: https://creditra.blogspot.com/2019/06/active-duty-military-are-now-eligible.html


BREAKING NEWS:

Credit Restoration Associates participates in Ground Breaking Scientific Research Study Linking "Credit Worthiness" to Factors that Contribute to Suicide. Read all details at link below: 
--------->>>>>>  http://creditra.blogspot.com/2019/03/conclusively-18-month-research-study.html

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Here’s What You Need to Know About Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding

Midland Funding is a company that buys old credit card debts at a steep discount, often without proper documentation. The company tries to collect by hiring collection agencies; if that doesn’t work, Midland will hire a lawyer to file a collection lawsuit.

If you go past due on a credit card debt, it’s going to be sold to another company. That’s how credit card companies make their money – by selling old debts that they can’t collect on their own.

The companies who buy old debts usually pay far less than face value for the account, so your $5,000 debt may be sold for as little as $500 depending on the exact nature of the account. Once the deal is done, the credit card company is out of the picture and only the debt buyer has the legal right to receive payment.

One of the major players in the debt buyer arena is Midland Funding, a unit of Encore Capital Group. Encore Capital, based in San Diego, is the largest debt buyer in the nation, buying enormous portfolios of charged-off debts each year in the hopes that it will be able to collect.

According to Midland’s website:

Midland Funding LLC is one of the nation’s biggest buyers of unpaid debt. Midland Funding LLC purchases accounts with an unpaid balance where consumers have gone at least 180 days without making a payment, or paid less than the minimum monthly payment.

Midland Funding LLC works with its affiliate, Midland Credit Management (MCM), to service accounts.

So there you have it – Midland Funding LLC buys the debts and hires Midland Credit Management to try to collect from you.

Midland Buys Debts, But What is it REALLY Buying?

The problem isn’t that debts are sold to other companies, or that the new company hires someone else to collect from you. If the original creditor can’t get you to pay the debt, it makes sense that the lender would want to sell the account in an effort to minimize its losses. The new buyer understandably doesn’t want to pay full price for the account, which is why these debts are sold at such steep discounts.

When a debt gets sold, there are certain documents that should be transferred from the seller to the buyer. Such items include:

• The original agreement, including the terms and conditions under which the original lender agreed to extend credit;
• copies of statements showing how the borrower incurred the debt, including the dates of transactions;
• A complete accounting that shows how interest and other charges were calculated, as well as how payments were apportioned;
• Proof that the buyer actually purchased this specific account; and
• The terms and conditions of the sale of the account.

Midland Funding, however, buys billions of dollars worth of debt each year. To cut its costs, Midland wants to pay as little as possible for each account. The credit card companies, however, want to get paid as much as possible so that they take less of a loss on their unpaid accounts.

To compromise, Midland Funding (as well as just about any other debt buyer out there) buys nothing more than an electronic file of names, addresses, and amounts due. The company doesn’t ordinarily receive copies of agreements, statements, or anything else that would prove the amount or ownership of the debt.

The agreements covering these transactions allow Midland Funding to get more information, but it’s going to cost them more money – as much as $50 per account. That may not sound like much of an investment, but when you consider that Midland Funding is buying tens of thousands of accounts you can easily see how it can add up and cut into their bottom line.

The Midland Funding Business Model:

Midland Credit Management will usually try to collect on a debt once Midland Funding buys the account, hoping that the consumer will voluntarily make a payment. Some people will pay the debt, others won’t.

If you don’t pay the debt when Midland Credit Management comes calling, then Midland Funding will take back the account and send it to a law firm. In California Midland’s primary outside law firm is Hunt & Henriques, though sometimes they keep the account in-house and use one of their own attorneys.

That happens a lot – in fact, during November 2014 alone Midland Funding and Midland Credit Management filed 193 collection cases in Los Angeles Superior Court alone.

In the vast majority of those cases (well over 90% of the time, in fact), Midland Funding gets a judgment for the entire balance they claim to be due.

Why Midland Funding Get's Judgments So Often:

Most of the time, when someone is sued by Midland or another debt buyer, they fail to defend the case or show up in court.

With no opposition to the lawsuit, the judge grants a judgment in Midland’s favor. Once that judgment is issued, Midland can collect through wage garnishment, bank account levy, and other tactics.

That judgment, in California at least, can be renewed indefinitely. And once the judgment is issued, it’s difficult to get it lifted.

States Have Notices Midland's Shoddy Practices.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed how shoddy Midland is when it comes to filing credit card lawsuits with little or no proof.

In January 2015, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Encore (Midland’s parent company) over shoddy practices and forced Encore to pay a $675,000 penalty and vacate more than 4,500 court judgments against borrowers.

In 2012 the West Virginia Attorney General sued Encore “for using false affidavits when obtaining default judgments against West Virginia consumers and for failing to include information required by law when suing a consumer in magistrate or circuit court for an alleged debt.”

In 2011, the Minnesota Attorney General launched an inquiry into an Ohio class action against Encore for debt collection abuses after filing a lawsuit against Encore.

If You're Contacted or Sued By Midland...

It’s not hard to see why it makes sense to defend any credit card lawsuit that’s brought against you by Midland Funding, Midland Credit Management, or Encore. The company has a long history of playing fast and loose with the debt collection process, and there’s no reason to expect that your case would be any different.

Defending the lawsuit gives you the chance to force Midland to prove up the case, including answering the following questions:

• are you responsible for payment of the account?
• does Midland rightfully own the debt they claim they own?
• is the amount they claim to be due actually accurate?
• has the lawsuit been filed within the appropriate statute of limitations for collection of a debt?

It’s about making sure that you pay the proper people the proper amount of money, and not one dime more.

About the Author, Jay Fleischman

I've been a consumer protection lawyer since 1995, working to help people end their bill problems. I'm a faculty member at the Student Loan Law Workshop, a nationally recognized speaker, and a long-time member of both the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and National Association of Consumer Advocates.


HERE is a Real-Life Example of How To Get A Midland Judgment "Vacated": https://youtu.be/mtNqmGu1aVg 

Call Credit Restoration Associates for more information: 804-823-9601 x101

Visit the Credit Restoration Associates Website 

Credit Repair Franchise Opportunity: https://www.crafranchise.com

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Experian is Eeeerrilllyy Ironic

I know that this is an advertisement intended for companies who buy customer data (marketing lists) from Experian for marketing purposes.

But, as a credit repair profressional, I find it very ironic that Experian is pointing out the obvious in the errors that are all over the data that it sells to financial institutions in the form of Credit Reports.

The FCRA demands 100% accuracy in the data that is sold to financial institutions - Banks, Credit Unions, Dealerships, any entity who "pulls credit". These entities are buying a credit report every time they use the term "pull credit". In the credit repair industry, our clients in the Mortgage and Automotive space are able to share the original credit reports that they "pull" from Experian. There are errors all over the reports. Missing information primarilly. How can a credit item be 100% accurate if anything is missing? Missing dates of last activity, missing payment history, there is rarely any account listed, good or bad that is displaying information 100% accurately.

How can this be? Eerie Errors Hidden in the Data?

This looks to me that Experian earned 4.335 Billion $ Dollars (USD) of revenue in 2017.

If a company earns 4.335 BILLION dollars, then one would assume that there are safeguards, systems, policies and procedures in place that would demand compliance with United States Federal Laws, mainly the Fair Credit Reporting Act which demands 100% accuracy in the data that it is selling.

Go figure ....

NEXT POST: Credit Report Security Freezes are now FREE!

Visit the Credit Restoration Associates Website 

See Company President Robert Linkonis's latest TV interview on WRIC Channel 8: https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/va-sues-online-lender-alleges-illegal-predatory-loans/1160292086

Credit Repair Franchise Opportunity: https://www.crafranchise.com

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Credit Report Security Freezes Are Now FREE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a reminder that, starting today, consumers who are concerned about identity theft or data breaches can freeze their credit and place one-year fraud alerts for free.

Under the new Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, consumers in some states — those who previously had to pay fees to freeze their credit — will no longer have to do so. The new law also allows parents to freeze for free the credit of their children who are under 16, while guardians, conservators, and those with a valid power of attorney can get a free freeze for their dependents.

In addition, the new law extends the duration of a fraud alert on a consumer’s credit report from 90 days to one year. A fraud alert requires businesses that check a consumer’s credit to get the consumer’s approval before opening a new account.

As part of its work to implement the new law, the Federal Trade Commission has updated its IdentityTheft.gov website with credit bureau contact information, making it easier for consumers to take advantage of the new provisions outlined in the law.

To place a credit freeze on their accounts, consumers will need to contact all three nationwide credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Whether consumers ask for a freeze online or by phone, the credit bureau must put the freeze in place within one business day. When consumers request to lift the freeze by phone or online, the credit bureaus must take that action within one hour. If the request is made by mail, the agency must place or lift the freeze within three business days.

To place a fraud alert, consumers need only contact one of the three credit bureaus, which will notify the other two bureaus, according to the FTC.

“Credit freezes and fraud alerts are two important steps consumers can take to help prevent identity theft,” the regulator stated on its website. “Identity theft was the second biggest category of consumer complaints reported to the FTC in 2017 — making up nearly 14 percent of all the consumer complaints filed last year. Consumers who believe they have been the victim of identity theft can report it and receive a personalized recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov.”

Visit the Credit Restoration Associates Website 

See Company President Robert Linkonis's latest TV interview on WRIC Channel 8: https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/va-sues-online-lender-alleges-illegal-predatory-loans/1160292086

Credit Repair Franchise Opportunity: https://www.crafranchise.com

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