Credit Repair: What the Credit Industry Doesn't Want You to Know Book

	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xiii
Chapter 1	Credit Schmedit	1
Chapter 2	Who Are These Credit Companies Anyway?	5
	The Fair Credit Reporting Act	6
	You Can Sue the Big Three for Inaccurate Credit Reports	7
	You Can Also Sue the Debt Collector	8
	You May be Able to Sue the Creditor	9
	Where do They Get Their Data?	9
	How do They Make Money?	10
	A Quick Word on Pre-Approved Credit Cards	11
Chapter 3	What's the Scoop on Credit Repair Agencies?	13
	The Law That Governs Them	14
	But I Already Paid a Credit Reporting Agency to do the Work!	14
	I even Signed a Contract with Them!	15
	Okay, but I'm Still Tempted with this "New Credit Identity" Stuff	15
	Tax ID Numbers	15
	The Corporation	16
Chapter 4	What Should be on My Credit Report?	17
	Addresses	17
	Inquiries	18
	Typical Inquiries	20
	Bankruptcy, Tax Liens, and Public Records	22
	Credit Accounts	23
	Payment History	23
Chapter 5	Who's Keeping Score?	25
	The Truth About Credit Scoring	25
	The Real Estate Example	27
	How Does the Score Determine My Mortgage?	28
	What Can I Do?	28
Chapter 6	The Most Common Problems	29
	Bankruptcy	29
	Debt Collection	30
	The Joy of Divorce	30
	Mismerged Data	31
	Cosigners	32
	Closed Accounts Reflecting an Open Status	33
	Unreleased Mortgages	33
Chapter 7	The Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Dispute Process	35
	First	36
	Second	37
	Third	37
	Fourth	38
	Fifth	38
	What Happens Next?	38
Sample Letter 1	Disputing Information to the Credit Reporting Agency	39
	Debt Collectors	40
	Credit Reporting Agencies	40
	Creditors	41
	Summary	43
	Finding a Lawyer	43
Chapter 8	Debt Collectors and Your Credit Report	45
	First	47
	Second	47
	Third	48
	The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA")--15 U.S.C. 1692	48
	Who is the Debt Collector?	49
Sample Letter 2	Disputing Information to the Collection Agency	50
Chapter 9	Okay, What About Bankruptcy Information?	53
	I Filed Chapter 13, But They're Reporting It as a Chapter 7!	54
Sample Letter 3	Disputing Information to the Credit Reporting Agency	57
	Charged off Debts in Bankruptcy	58
Chapter 10	Re-Establishing Credit	61
	Secured Credit Cards	61
	Auto Loans	62
Appendix I	Sample Complaint Against Credit Reporting Agency for Failing to Correct Errors	65
Appendix II	Sample Complaint Against Collection Agency for Reporting False Credit Information (Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1962e (8) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)	71
	Index	75