Credit Guides And Credit Services

Thus, Jamie was showing 100% usage of a reported $5, 400 limit. Veracity s J. Madison Ayer said its disputes resulted in the removal of the mysterious Citi account from Jamie s report, and the reporting of accurate credit limits for both the Capital One and First USA accounts. Jamie s credit score went from 680 to 740. He got the Volkswagen at 0%. Ayer said that Veracity was regularly finding missing credit limits on its clients credit reports. But it also said it was regularly having success in restoring accurate credit limits by disputing their absence with the CRAs and credit card companies. credit pacific service union

Once we dispute it, we re not getting much resistance from the credit card companies, Ayer said. The credit limits are usually restored. Ann Schleifley was not as lucky. After signing up for a credit monitoring service, the Seattle-area resident noticed that her FICO score seemed lower than it should have been. Why Her monitoring service advised her she was using over 50% of her available credit. credit first service union

Then Schleifley saw why. Neither Capital One nor Discover were reporting her credit limits. She tried disputing with all three parties by mail and by phone. It was the most ridiculous run-around I d ever seen, Schleifley recalled. Capital One would blame Equifax; Equifax would blame Capital One and Discover. It went on for months. It was very frustrating. I just wanted it fixed! Schleifley finally contacted the Washington State Attorney General s office. She said she was fortunate enough to find two experienced consumer attorneys who, in April 2004, filed a federal lawsuit in Seattle, charging that Capital One, Discover and Equifax failed their reinvestigation duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The case was pending when this book went to print.³⁹⁷ card credit mobile service

What s A Consumer To Do

Wouldn t it be nice if there were a ready and dependable list of credit card companies that always reported credit limits Unfortunately, that might not be possible. It s a fast-changing situation, and it appeared to be changing for the worse by the beginning of 2005. For example, the researchers who identified those companies that were not reporting limits wrote, If you want your credit limit reported, it seems best to get a card from MBNA, Chase, Bank One, First USA, Providian or Sears. They quickly added, Even they have some missing credit limits on Equifax, but they seem very good about reporting credit limits to the other two bureaus. card credit discover service

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Schleifley was represented by Christopher Green of Seattle, and O. Randolph Bragg, of Horwitz Associates, Chicago. Other sources provided this author with anecdotes about missing credit limits from MBNA, Bank One, First USA and Sears credit report tradelines (though it was not clear if this was due to the Equifax factor cited above). One fear, of course, is that competitive pressures will mount, prompting more and more credit card companies to follow the path of the highly successful Capital One. On the other hand, why would an educated consumer use a credit card that has a greater likelihood of lowering their credit score credit public service union

Why Don t They Report Credit Limits

The common reason given for credit card companies not reporting credit limits is to make their customers look less attractive to competitors who might try to solicit them with pre-approved credit card offers. But no credit card company official has actually said that this was the reason. One of Capital One s only public comments was the one to the American Banker cited earlier, where Diana Don said, Capital One has never reported credit limits, for proprietary reasons ...We feel that it is part of our business strategy and provides competitive advantage. ³⁹⁸ card credit processing service

But what does that mean, exactly Your Limits, Our Trade Secrets On the Motley Fool discussion board, a participant who described herself as a Capital One employee, said her company was not trying to lower its customers credit scores. ³⁹⁸ Id. The policy is not designed to screw customers, but to protect our credit policy from competitors. Yes, we have had many debates over whether or not this is necessary, and that is probably why the rep mentioned that the policy might change, but I promise we are not out to get you, said the participant, who went by the screen name DBAVelvet74. ³⁹⁹ center credit service union

In other words, reporting credit limits would enable Cap One s competitors to figure out its standards, or underwriting criteria, for granting credit. Capital One essentially confirmed this in Dec. 2004 when it told the Washington Post s Kenneth Harney it did not report any customers limits because we consider [limits] proprietary information, and because we do not think it would be appropriate to impact the individual s Fair Isaac score, positively or negatively, by reporting them. ⁴⁰⁰ card credit service wireless

It was not clear how Capital One s practices could positively impact its customers credit scores. But Capital One declined to discuss the issue with this author. Follow The Money The practice of not reporting credit limits must be viewed within the context of other industry trends. After a rash of bankruptcy filings hurt profits in the mid-to-late 1990 s, credit card companies gravitated towards universal default as an industry standard. Under universal default, any late payment to a phone or utility bill or another credit card or just carrying too much debt, was justification for credit card companies to raise cardholders interest rates. credit security service union

Of course, this was possible because companies could conduct monthly account reviews of cardholders credit reports and, more importantly, their credit scores. These policies were spelled out in the fine print of credit card agreements. credit report service

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DBAVelvet74 did not respond to e-mail requests, so it was never confirmed that she/he actually worked for Capital One. ⁴⁰⁰ Kenneth Harney, Credit Card Limits Often Unreported, Washington Post, December 25, 2004 In its in-depth article on Universal Default, the New York Times, told the story of Steve Strachan, a flower importer in York, Penn. Strachan nearly always used his U.S. Bancorp WorldPerks Visa card for business travel to Europe in order to accumulate rewards in Northwest Airline s frequent-flier program. As a good customer, his credit limit was raised to $54, 000 at a low interest rate. Despite heavy usage, he said he never paid a penny of interest because he paid it off each month. blogspot com christian

But when the economy wilted in 2000, Strachan started using other credit cards. Although still paying on time, and maintaining a FICO score above 730, he was unable to pay off all of his balances every month. christian counseling credit

It wasn t long before US Bank advised that it was raising the rate on his WorldPerks Visa card to 20.21 percent, nearly quadrupling the existing rate of 5.25 percent. I wasn t late, and I didn t go over the credit limit, and I didn t write bad checks, Mr. Strachan told the Times. A representative of US Bank told him he was using too much of his available credit, he said. (A US Bank spokesman declined to comment, the Times reported.) credit federal service union

John Gould, a former MasterCard International executive who conducts research for TowerGroup said it was absurd that 44 percent of credit card companies tell their customers that they might be penalized for one or two late payments with maximum rates that now exceed 28 percent. credit monitoring service

The Nilson Report, a consumer payments newsletter, estimated that three out of four customers do something that violates the cardholder agreement and lose a favorable balance transfer rate, according to a 2003 article in the Dallas Morning News.⁴⁰¹ credit division service

Louis Freeh, MBNA general counsel, defended these practices in a statement to the New York Times: If we see indications that a customer is taking on too much debt, has missed or is late on payments to other creditors, or is otherwise mishandling their personal finances, it is not unreasonable to determine that this behavior is an increased risk. In the interest of all of our customers, we must protect the portfolio by adjusting a customer s rate to compensate for that increased risk. card credit online service

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Anuradha Rahunathan, Bait and Snitch Dallas Morning News, Aug. 8, 2003 Bottom Line: Rate Optimization Of the estimated 144 million cardholders in the U.S., 85 million Americans are considered revolvers, meaning they don t pay their balances off every month. These are the most profitable customers. If they start at a low interest teaser rate, but are taken to a double-digit rate and they continue to pay, they are that much more profitable. consumer counseling credit inc

Some call it rate optimization. It has helped card issuers reach record pre-tax profits, like $2.5 billion in 2003. Increasingly, card issuers are finding the justification for raising rates in the credit report. If it s not a missed payment with another creditor, it s rising balances with other issuers. According to Consumer Action s Linda Sherry, who conducted the group s 2004 survey on credit cards, 44% of the card issuing banks surveyed used credit report data to identify so-called risky cardholders and raise their interest rates, even if they never made a late payment. The 2003 survey found 39% of banks had universal default policies.⁴⁰² card credit fleet service

The banks in the 2004 survey with universal default policies included Citibank, MBNA, Bank One/First USA, Chase Manhattan, Fleet, Wells Fargo, HSBC (Household), Providian, Discover Bank and Juniper Bank. card consolidation credit

Those that did not raise interest rates solely because of credit report data included American Express, Bank of America, California Bank Trust, State Farm and BB T, according to the survey. ⁴⁰² Consumer Action, 2004 Credit Card Survey, www.consumer-action.org/English/CANews/2004_May_CreditCard/#Topic_01 The survey found that Capital One also did not practice universal default, Sherry said. credit free online report

But it still appears to use credit reports. For example, a 2004 Cap One promo boldly offered 2.99% fixed APR FOR LIFE. In the fine print on the back of the offer, the offer stated, All your APRs may increase to a rate up to the default APR (24.9%) if you default under this Card Agreement ... because you fail to make a payment to us when due, you exceed your credit line or your payment is returned for any reason... Factors considered in determining your default rate may include your general credit profile, existence, seriousness and timing of the defaults under any Card Agreement that you have with us, and other indication of the account usage and performance. credit federal first service

Thus, under Capital One s stated policy, it s only after you miss a payment with them or exceed your limit that your credit report could be used to determine how much higher your interest rate goes. Capital One is free to change its policy. consumer credit service

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

There is something troubling about card issuers not reporting credit limits, and then using credit reports as a justification for hiking their customers interest rates. After all, by not reporting credit limits, those issuers could very well be lowering their customers credit scores. To then turn around and base an interest rate hike on a manipulated credit score seems like a subversion of the system at least as it is portrayed by the financial services industry. And, if a primary goal of issuers is rate optimization, there is a real danger that such practices will become more common. center credit family service

Advocates warn that missing credit limits are patently unfair, and represent a ticking time bomb for unsuspecting consumers and the system as a whole. We need legislation to guarantee completeness by all furnishers. We re not asking that furnishers be required to report, but if they do report they should be subject to accuracy and completeness standards, U.S. PIRG s Ed Mierzwinski told the American Banker in 2003.⁴⁰³ credit reporting service

In its September 24, 2004 comments to the Federal Reserve Board, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers strongly endorsed a requirement for the complete reporting of the high credit limit (not the highest credit used or some arbitrary number). cca credit division service

Furnishers of credit should be required to report complete information on each account, as many of the current practices today can be devastating to a consumer s credit score, the NAMB wrote.⁴⁰⁴ credit free report service

Providian

One company that chose the high road on this issue was Providian Financial, a top-ten credit card issuer based in San Francisco. In addition to fully reporting credit limits, Providian, in an unprecedented move in March 2004, began offering its cardholders free access to their Trans Union FICO score. Cardholders must register at the company Web site to start accessing their FICO scores. The program, dubbed Providian Real Information, also permits cardholders to use a score simulator so they could see how much their score would change with certain behaviors, like paying down balances or late payments. They could also sign up to receive e-mail alerts if their credit score changed by more than 10 points. card credit customer discover

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Heller, op. cit. ⁴⁰⁴ Letter, NAMB President Bob Armbruster to Jennifer Johnson, Secretary, Federal Reserve Bd., Sept. 24, 2004. NAMB also endorsed full factual accurate information about the date an account was opened and date of last activity. Providian officials said there had been tremendous customer response to the service. Providian gained prominence by targeting the more risky sub-prime market. In years past, it had to settle several lawsuits over unwarranted late fees and other anti-consumer practices. credit repair report service

The FICO service is part of the company s pro-consumer makeover. After listening to mainstream Americans across the country, we found some major gaps between how consumers say they want to be treated by their credit card company, and how they are actually being treated, said Warren Wilcox, Providian s vice chairman of planning and marketing. credit legal repair service

It was also a shrewd use of resources. Like other credit card companies, Providian regularly purchased its cardholders FICO scores from Trans Union when it conducts monthly account reviews. Under the program, Providian could leverage that expense into a customer benefit. cic credit monitoring service

The Ball s In Your Court

Absent some renewed interest in the issue, it is unlikely that Congress or federal oversight authorities will propose measures to protect consumers from the scourge of missing credit limits. Like so many other aspects of the system, the burden generally remains on consumers, first to become educated as to how the system works, and then to take the appropriate corrective actions. ccs credit division service

Veracity - Credit Reporting and Credit Scoring Summary

ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip. Will Rogers A goal of this book was to describe the credit scoring and credit reporting system. Given the enormity of the system, the task of describing it took precedence over the task of analyzing it more thoroughly.⁴⁰⁵ The purpose of this conclusion is to offer a few thoughts about the system. Here To Stay For the foreseeable future, it s safe to say that the credit reporting and credit scoring systems are here to stay. Although there has not been a final tally, it is clear that in 2003 the financial services industry invested millions of dollars in the FCRA-FACTA legislative debate to preserve the existing system, and to prevent states from interfering with it through enactment of new consumer protections. credit service union worker

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The author is hopeful that more analysis can be provided in future editions of the book. And for good reason. On the front end, the credit scoring system increases profitability on a number of fronts: better segregation of consumers and credit risk, lower cost through automation and faster decision-making. But one fundamental dilemma has not been adequately addressed, and it relates to the general rule set forth on Page 1 of this book: If lenders can charge more to those with lower credit scores, then will the system have a bias towards lowering scores Perhaps we can begin to find answers to this by examining financial conglomerates that have significant and direct impact on a consumer s credit score, like a major mortgage lender that also operates its own credit bureau and re-scoring shop. Or we can look at Capital One, which reportedly had the effect of lowering some of its customers credit scores by not reporting credit limits, making customers look more maxed out on their cards than they actually are. Many believe that the advantage to Capital One is that this practice makes its customers look less attractive to other credit card companies who might want to cherry pick them through pre-approved credit card offers. 1st credit service union

On the back end, the credit reporting system provides great leverage to lenders. If consumers don t pay their bills on time, they will be reported to the credit bureaus. The entry of recent derogatory data has a very detrimental impact on credit scores. An educated consumer will avoid this scenario, as the damage to creditworthiness is potentially more costly than the debt in question. Further, it is not improper for creditors to inform customers that late payments should be avoided for precisely this reason. As we have seen, however, some lenders and debt collectors cross the line, and improperly attempt to invoke credit reporting as a tactic to force consumers to pay debts that they do not really owe. Many consumers have been abused because of the manner in which some lenders and collectors view credit reporting as an arm of debt collection. The current system, and the law governing it, generally puts the burden on the individual if he or she wants to ensure that all is right. Accordingly, the first plank of protection under our national policy is knowing what is in one s credit report. This requires consumers to be vigilant in exercising their right of access to their credit reports. A wide range of commentators, including the Federal Reserve Board, regularly advise consumers to get their credit reports. Congress has sought to encourage this by entitling all Americans to one free credit report per year. card chase credit customer

Taking advantage of modern technology, access can address important problems, like accuracy and identity theft. Before Congress, Treasury Assistant Secretary Wayne Abernathy spoke of the advantages of having 150 million Americans auditing their own credit reports. If consumers were plugged into their own reports, enjoying the same kind of ongoing, online access to their reports that creditors currently have, then they quickly could spot errors, or better yet, detect signs of identity theft. Imagine that you live in Ohio, and that your monitoring service alerts you via e-mail that a car dealership in Arizona has pulled your credit report. You would know that immediate action was in order. Research shows that the longer it takes a victim to learn that his or her identity was stolen, the worse the damage. card chase credit service

How Much

Equifax, Experian and Trans Union all offer some form of online subscription and fraud alert monitoring services. The services appear profitable, possibly grossing $1 billion annually. But at $89 to $119 per year, the prices of these services are exorbitant. Moreover, in an age of escalating identity theft, shouldn t at least some of these services be required of the Big Three consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) simply to assure maximum possible accuracy under the Fair Credit Reporting Act citi credit monitoring service

To no avail, this author strongly recommended to Congress that it cap the price of the Big Three s monitoring services, just as the 1996 Amendments capped the price of credit reports. Hopefully, this recommendation someday will be seen as being ahead of its time. credit plus service union

The debate will continue to rage over the apparent gap between industry practices and the FCRA s requirements that (1) disputes are investigated, or that (2) previously deleted information not be reinserted, or (3) that CRAs forward to the creditor all relevant information provided by the consumer. Several recent pro-consumer court decisions, including the Fourth Circuit s landmark opinion in Johnson v. MBNA (see Chapter 9), indicate that the law might actually be closing in on questionable industry practices. After more than 30 years, one would certainly hope so. credit farm service

But what will industry do Will it continue to cling to unpopular and discredited practices Will the industry only change these practices if it is hit with tobacco-styled litigation and tobacco-like verdicts That appears to be what the industry is inviting. 1st credit federal service

Not Self-Enforcing

Considering the FCRA s age and what s at stake for consumers, enforcement of the FCRA, with a few exceptions, has been abysmal. The Federal Trade Commission took the most enforcement actions in the early 1990s, resulting in landmark consent decrees, and setting the table for the 1996 Amendments. To be fair, the FTC must oversee a wide array of consumer issues at a time when the privacy agenda, which includes FCRA, is more than enough to keep it overworked. All developed countries, except the United States, have a national Office of Privacy Commissioner to handle the load. credit paychex service tax

Enforcement is most glaringly absent when it comes to inaccurate reporting by creditors. On this issue, Congress did not give individuals the ability to enforce accuracy, that is, the right to sue. Instead, the 1996 Amendments generally permit creditors to report inaccurate data without liability.⁴⁰⁶ Enforcement was left to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and other U.S. banking agencies. It is not clear whether the OCC has ever enforced this section of the law. We shouldn t be surprised. The OCC is a bank regulator, not a consumer protection agency. credit service tax

Thus, if Americans want better compliance with the FCRA, they themselves will also need to become more vigilant about enforcement. In a recent law review article, St. Johns University Law Professor Jeff Sovern said this goal would be greatly enhanced if we moved toward a legal standard of strict liability, particularly in the area of identity theft. The FCRA s current standard of reasonable procedures is too convoluted, Sovern wrote. What is needed, he said, was to make CRAs strictly liable for attributing the transactions of identity thieves to innocent consumers, and to make creditors liable for reporting the transactions of imposters as transactions of others. Sovern argued that this would create a simpler system of loss allocation rules that would spread the consumer losses caused by identity theft more equitably. ⁴⁰⁷ aeon credit service

Sovern s straightforward proposal deserves serious attention. But in the short run, it will have a difficult time getting any in Congress, given the strength of the financial services lobby. Still, the FCRA, as much as any other federal statute, gives consumers important enforcement tools, which in very recent years, have begun to demonstrate their effectiveness. ⁴⁰⁶ Exceptions include when reporting is done with malice or is egregious in some other way. credit one service union

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Sovern, Jeff, The Jewel of Their Souls: Preventing Identity Theft Through Loss Allocation Rules, University of Pittsburgh Law Review (Winter 2003) Looking Ahead Should we be so accepting of the system Is there a danger that a credit score, with so much riding on it, will become an internal passport for American consumers What about people who handle their money responsibly, but prefer to avoid the consumer credit system, and all the fees and surveillance that go along with it Has the easy availability of our personal data in turn made too much credit too easily available, to the detriment of too many consumers bad cell credit phone service

These questions ultimately go to the fundamental importance of credit reports and personal information in 21st Century America. Throughout the latter half of the 20th Century to the present, governmental and corporate entities, along with our system of law, largely viewed personal information as a commodity. Sure, it might be your name, or information about you, but if a company collected or otherwise obtained it, that company owned it. In short, when held by a large organization, you did not even own your own name, or your personal data.⁴⁰⁸ The FCRA, the Privacy Act and other statutes were created to give individuals procedural rights in relation to their personal information that was controlled by large organizations. counseling credit debt service

Is this traditional approach adequate in an age where our personal information is the lifeblood of our consumer-based economy Is there too much at stake to leave so much discretion to large entities, and only provide procedural rights to individuals If so, then what are the alternatives card credit payment service

Some observers have suggested that many of these problems could be cured by giving individuals a property right or interest in their personal data. On a theoretical level, such a right or interest would give individuals much greater standing to exert control over their information. card credit merchant

⁴⁰⁸ U.S. v. Miller

425 U.S 435 (1976) But in situations where individuals found themselves in a weak bargaining position, they very likely would succumb to coerced consent. In other words, to get the job, or the mortgage, or insurance, you must consent to revealing details you normally would not consent to revealing. This all too common scenario is contrary to the Fair Information Principle of collection limitation. More broadly, should society and its system of laws allow a fundamental human right such as privacy be bartered away so easily counseling credit family

Personal Data A Natural Resource

Most would agree that the intimate details about our private lives are more than just a commodity. This book should help make clear that in the context of the United States information-age economy, our personal information is a new type of natural or public resource. Defining it as such would seem to have dramatic implications for public policy. At earlier times in history, the conclusion that electricity, or water, or the airwaves were public resources resulted in the development of new infrastructures for administration and enforcement. Those infrastructures in no way ended the debate over how the resources were distributed and used, as new controversies have arisen through the years. annual credit report request

In theory, while it might be true that collectively, our personal information is a natural resource, it can never be overlooked that each piece of it is linked directly to a given individual. Accordingly, there can be no disputing that the collection, use and disclosure of our personal information are ultimately human rights issues. area bay credit service

These issues, in turn, cannot be separated from the consumerism dominating our society. If consumers use credit to buy things they cannot afford, then there is a stronger chance that they are heading for credit problems.⁴⁰⁹ atlanta consumer counseling

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For sound, common-sense advice, see Michelle Singletary s two books, Spend Well, Live Rich: How to Get What You Want with the Money You Have, and 7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life Some have learned the hard way that the miracle of instant credit is a curse. Of course, Fair Isaac says this is precisely the type of problem that its scoring model successfully predicts. So be careful what you buy, or what you buy into. There is a system out there waiting for you. By understanding how it works, you improve your control over how it portrays you. If the system treats you unfairly, or even abuses you, the law gives you rights. How you exercise them is up to you. account card credit merchant

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