Barnette Law Offices - Check Your Credit Reports

Your credit report contains key information that identifies you and how you've paid your bills. Whenever you make a credit-based application, your credit report is viewed to help make a decision. That’s one of the reasons that it’s so important for you to check your credit report. If, for some reason, your information is reported incorrectly, it could cause you to be denied for services for which you would otherwise would have been approved.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), gives you the right to dispute credit report information that is not correct or complete.
Review Your Credit Report
To find out if there is any incorrect information on your credit report, you need a copy of the report. Under federal law, you have the right to one free copy of your credit report from each of the credit bureaus annually. See http://www.annualcreditreport.com
Review your report thoroughly to make sure the information reported is correct. If your credit report has incorrect information, the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") gives you the right to dispute the information.
File A Credit Report Dispute
When you find something incorrect in your credit report, you should alert, in writing, both the credit bureau who provided the report and the information provider. This is the process to dispute credit report information.
If you have statements or cancelled checks that support your claim, include copies of them with your statement(keep the originals for records). In your statement, include your name, complete address, the information you are disputing, and the reason the information is not accurate. It will be helpful to include a copy of your credit report with the disputed information highlighted.
Send your credit report dispute via certified mail with return receipt requested. This way you not only have proof that you sent the dispute, but also that the credit bureau received your dispute. Keep a copy of the letter along with any enclosures you sent.
The Credit Bureau Responds To Your Dispute
The credit bureau has 30 days to investigate your dispute and respond to you, in writing, with the results of the investigation. Any data you provided about the inaccuracy of the information will be forwarded to the original information provider. The information provider is then required to investigate and respond back to the credit bureau.
Once the investigation is complete, the credit bureau will provide you with the results, along with a free copy of your credit report if the dispute resulted in a change. You can request that the credit bureau send a correction notice to any company that accessed your credit report within the past six months.
If there is inaccurate information in one credit bureau’s version of your credit report, it’s likely that the information will be inaccurate on the other two bureaus' reports as well. You should check all three credit reports to be sure that the information in each is complete and accurate.
Resources:Dispute Addresses for the Three Major Credit Reporting AgenciesEquifaxP.O. Box 7404256Atlanta, GA 30374ExperianP.O. Box 2002Allen, TX 75013TransUnionP.O. Box 390Springfield, PA 19064

Barnette Law Offices - Make Your Payments On Time

When you can't afford to make your minimum credit card payment, you might be tempted to just send what you can. If you've ever done it, you were probably shocked to see the late fee on your next bill. You paid your bill on time right?
Even though your card issuer may have received the payment before the cutoff time, you were still late. Most credit card agreements include language that instructs you to send at least the minimum payment by the due date or your payment will be considered late. You'll end up with a late fee and, possibly, a higher interest rate.
If you can't make the minimum payment, call your creditor before the due date to discuss other payment arrangements.

Jason Wade Barnette, Esq. Sues Rip Off Report

Jason Barnette, Esq., of Barnette Law Offices, LLC, instituted a civil action today against Xcentirc Ventures, LLC, Rip Off Report and Ed Madegeson. The action was filed in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, WV under Case Number 08-C1859.

Said action was filed for the egregious behavior of the Defendants with respect to the Plaintiff.

Jason Wade Barnette, Esq. Sues Rip Off Report

Jason Barnette, Esq., of Barnette Law Offices, LLC, instituted a civil action today against Xcentirc Ventures, LLC, Rip Off Report and Ed Madegeson. The action was filed in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, WV under Case Number 08-C-1859.

Barnette Law Offices, LLC - Our Number One Question

I am often asked by people "what are the ways to fix bad credit." The answer is fairly simple, the right way to fix credit is dispute and remove inaccurate information from the credit files, protect the rights afforded to you under the FDCPA dispute questionable debts without hesitation.

For inaccurate items that remain thereafter, contact Jason Barnette at Barnette Law Offices, LLC if you are a TN resident.

Barnette Law Offices, LLC
http://www.barnettelawoffices.com
615-585-3885

New Anti-Consumer Law About To Pass

Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Passed in House
Tuesday September 23, 2008
The Credit Cardhlder's Bill of Rights is one step closer to becoming a reality. The act passed in the House today with a vote of 312 to 119.
If passed, the Bill of Rights will make several amendments to consumer credit laws prohibiting lenders from certain predatory actions. For example, credit cards will no longer be able to use the double billing cycle method of calculating finance charges. They will also be required to send billing statements at least 21 days before the due date, giving consumers more time to pay their bills.
Next, the proposal must be passed by the Senate and signed by the President to be made into a law.Read The Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights for a list of changes the law would make.

Barnette Law Offices, LLC - Wait Before Buying That House

Anyone in the market for a new home may want to wait just a little bit. There are rumblings in Congress for FHA to re-implement their down payment assistance program. Without it, sales are going to plummet insofar as FHA now requires between a 3% to 5% down payment plus PMI. In this economy, most people don't have that money laying around.

Thus, wait a few weeks and see how this shakes

Watch for Account Status with Trans Union

With respect to debt purchasers, they pretty much mandate them to report them as "open" account types. SMS Financial through litigation has supplied us with this information.

As such, dispute any erroneous account type or status with TU and pray they verify it. It will be a FDCPA violation for the furnisher as well as a FCRA violation under 1681s-2b and a FCRA violation for TU.

If this should happen, contact Jason Wade Barnette, Attorney at Law, at Barnette Law Offices, LLC. Our main number is 615-585-3885. Our you may us contact at http://barnettelawofffices.com. This applies to TN residents only.

Watch out for Experian's Date of Status . . .

They have a tendency to mark the date of status as the date the account tradeline was verified. If so, dispute it again as erroneous. If they verify it once more or fail to investigate it a second time, consult an attorney If you're in TN consult Jason Wade Barnettte of Barnette Law Offices, LLC. Our number is 615-385-5885. Our webssite is http://barnettelawoffices.com.

Warning: Credit Profile Numbers Illegal

You have probably already seen Credit Profile Numbers all over the internet. Be forewarned about it nonetheless. Any "credit profile number" you provide to creditor which isn't your social security number (notwithstanding business credit applications which ask for EIN's explicitly) can get you into trouble.

Cutting to the chase, these "credit profile numbers" are illegal. Companies or scam artists presenting themselves as reputable businesses state that the 1974 Social Security Number Privacy Act allows you to avoid giving out your social security number. That provision was never enacted by Legislature. Moreover, the Act certainly doesn't allow you to provide a fictious credit profile number that will lead a creditor to a false report inadvertantely created by the credit reporting agencies. All these so called companies do is charge you for taking your name and an address you've never lived at and then, have someone pull your credit. When that happens, the credit reporting agencies must assign a number to the file that is created by virtue of the inquiry. Even worse, some criminals just assign to you a deceased persons number or even real ssn's. That folks . . . can be construed as conspiracy to committ identity theft.

In short, creating a credit profile number is file segregation for any Credit Service Organization. For a consumer, it could lead to criminal implications.

Don't do it.

There are ways to improve your credit legally through the FCRA, FDCPA, FCBA, state laws such as the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, and if need be, litigation. You can do it yourself or hire a reputable Credit Services Organization which is a Better Business Bureau member and follows the CROA. Or, some law firms such as Barnette Law Offices, LLC {http://barnettelawoffices.com) will help you if don't have the time or have actionable claims.

However, a credit profile number is not the answer. Your credit wasn't ruined overnight and can't be made perfect overnight either.