MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: credit reporting agency

  • How to Remove a Credit Corp Default

    How to Remove a Credit Corp Default

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    How to Remove a Credit Corp Default

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    Struggling with a Credit Corp default on your credit report can feel like a relentless storm cloud over your financial landscape. Yet, hope is far from lost. MyCRA Lawyers stands as your lighthouse, guiding you through the fog towards clearer skies and financial serenity. Let’s embark on this journey on how to remove a Credit Corp default.

    Understand the Impact

    A default isn’t just a mark on a report; it’s a blockade to:

    • Securing loans,
    • Attaining competitive interest rates,
    • And achieving financial milestones.

    But, there’s a silver lining. With targeted actions, this obstacle becomes surmountable.

    How to remove a Credit Corp default

    Follow these steps to dispel the shadow of a Credit Corp default:

    1. Review Your Credit Report: Start by securing a free copy from Equifax, Illion and Experian. Knowledge is your first line of defense.
    2. Challenge the Default: If inaccuracies emerge, you’ve found your leverage. Question its validity.
    3. Communicate Effectively: Engaging with Credit Corp can unveil pathways to resolution. Dialogue matters.
    4. Negotiate Smartly: Should the debt be valid, chart a course for negotiation. A settlement or payment plan can showcase your commitment to resolution.
    5. Enlist Expert Navigation: This is where MyCRA Lawyers shines. With our compass of credit law expertise, we steer you away from troubled waters.

    Why MyCRA Lawyers?

    Partnering with MyCRA Lawyers means:

    • Aligning with experts who champion your cause,
    • Collaborating with a team adept at battling financial tempests,
    • And navigating the complexities of credit repair with an experienced guide.

    Set Sail Towards Recovery

    Don’t let a Credit Corp default anchor your financial progress. Reach out to MyCRA Lawyers today at 1300 667 218 for a free consultation. Together, we’ll map out your journey to financial revival and steer towards a future where your credit report is as clear as the open sea. Embark on this voyage with us; your financial freedom awaits!

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    Here’s how to remove 8 other common defaults. 

    Transaction Capital: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-transaction-capital-default/

    Telstra: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-telstra-default/

    Toyota: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-toyota-finance-default/

    Pioneer: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-pioneer-finance-default/

    Panthera Finance: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-panthera-finance-default/

    Optus: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-an-optus-default/

    Lion Finance: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-lion-finance-default/

    Baycorp: https://mycralawyers.com.au/how-to-remove-a-baycorp-default/

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  • How to cure Christmas credit hangover

    cure Christmas credit hangoverIn our ‘Make Credit Work For You’ post this week, we look at what you should do to recoup those financial losses over the Christmas period which are seeing you struggling with debt and that may have already impacted your credit rating this January. The below story by Karina Barrymore was featured in The Daily Telegraph and other publications this Sunday, and features comment from debt and finance experts including myself, Dun & Bradstreet CEO Gareth Jones, and Financial Counselling Australia’s Brian Harvey. I hope you find some helpful tips to assist you in getting your head above water with credit.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repair, www.fixmybadcredit.com.au and www.facebook.com/FixMyBadCredit.com.au.

    How to cure Christmas credit hangover

    By Karina Barrymore Jan 13 The Daily Telegraph

    There are not quick fixes for a festive debt blowout.

    OK, DESPITE the good intentions, the spending urge somehow got the better of you and you’ve blown the Christmas budget. Christmas credit card bills and bank statements are about to arrive, so how do you cure a seasonal debt hangover?

    Unfortunately, there’s no gain without pain when it comes to getting back in the black. Here are the top tips from debt and finance experts for easing that pain in the purse.

    The debt collector Credit reporting agency and debt collector Dun & Bradstreet says the worst thing anyone suffering a new year debt hangover can do is ignore the problem.

    “We often see a spike in defaults in the first half of the year, which results from credit used over the Christmas period,” Dun & Bradstreet chief executive Gareth Jones says.

    “Apart from causing financial pain, this situation can also impact people’s ability to access future credit as the default stays on a credit report for up to five years.”

    His top tips are:

    Close any bank accounts or credit facilities that are not essential.

    Don’t ignore letters or phone calls about debts. If you owe money, the best thing you can do is repay it.

    Pay attention to all your bills and pay them in full and on time.

    Avoid borrowing money to get out of one debt, and don’t use one credit facility to pay off another.

    The credit file manager Credit file advocate and repair service MyCRA says at this time of year fraud and identity theft is also higher.

    “The increase in credit usage in general can also mean issues like identity theft, financial hardship and basic credit reporting mistakes can be more prevalent at this time,” MyCRA chief executive Graham Doessel says.

    “An important part of curing a post-Christmas credit hangover is to take stock of what is said about you on your credit report. There is the potential for errors to be present on your credit report. Mistakes can and do happen but the responsibility for checking your credit file rests with you.

    “Most people don’t realise how easy it is to obtain a default. If any credit account has been left unpaid for greater than 60 days, the creditor can list the overdue account as a default on your file.

    “Often we see people in the new year who have missed paying a phone bill during the Christmas rush, then gone on holiday for some time, apply for a loan in the new year and are shocked to find they have a bad credit rating.”

    Doessel says now is the time to check your credit file.

    You can receive a free copy from most credit reporting agencies within 10 days or you can pay a fee to receive it sooner.

    If you have negative listings, defaults, writs or judgments, which you believe are errors or unfair, you have the right to have these entries rectified.

    Advisers and counsellors Financial advisers and counsellors say the first and best thing to do if you are in financial strife is to seek support.

    “Act quickly and ask for help,” says Financial Counselling Australia member Brian Harvey. “Speak to a financial counsellor, family, partner, your bank.

    “If people are left with post-Christmas debt, they should contact their providers as soon as possible to let them know they are having difficulties. They can then set up an affordable repayment arrangement, which will involve them first working out what is affordable. Often people put off dealing with the debt as long as possible, during which time it often grows.”

    Hewison Wealth adviser Glenn Fairbairn says sometimes refinancing your credit card by seeking a lower-cost loan can ease the repayment burden, or allow you to get ahead because you’re paying less interest.

    “It is important to prioritise the repayment of any outstanding credit card debt, even if this means cutting back on discretionary spending. Cut up your credit card. This will ensure that you don’t do the same thing again next year.

    “And start planning for next Christmas now.”

    The legal centre “Get on the front foot and seek assistance,” Consumer Action Law Centre spokesman Daniel Simpson says.

    “If you put off getting help, you’re only going to fall further behind.”

    “The first thing you should do is pick up the phone, call the credit provider.

    “Think twice before hiring a credit repair or budgeting service to help you. These companies make it sound easy and pain-free to repay your debts but they usually charge a significant fee.”

    If you’re in credit strife

    * Don’t ignore the problem. Be proactive and ask for help.

    * Act quickly and let your creditors know you are having trouble. Ask for a new repayment plan if you need to.

    * Start to repay a little, even $10, over and above the minimum repayments.

    * Set a strict budget, including all your repayments and bills before other spending.

    * Cut up all your credit cards.

    * See a free financial counsellor, phone 1800 007 007 for an appointment.

    * Be aware that budgeting companies and credit repair agencies charge a fee.

    The message to not bury your head in the sand, and to get on top of your debts early, can’t be stressed enough to avoid getting into hot water with defaults on your credit rating.

    However, it is important to know that credit repair and budgeting services are different entitites, and do different things for you. Credit repair is generally not a budgeting service.

    What is credit repair?

    A decent credit repairer addresses credit rating inconsistencies by auditing your credit file and customer information to find areas of non-compliance by your creditor which may see your default or other negative credit listing removed from your credit file. It is useful for those people who believe their listing is unfair, contains errors or is unfounded (or those people who want to check the lawfulness of their credit listing).

    You may dispute inconsistencies on your credit file yourself, and this is free. But many people choose to use a professional credit repairer to work on their behalf because they don’t have the time, and most importantly because they find the process incredibly difficult. To ensure successful removing of a credit listing from your credit file, you must prove that your creditor did not comply with the law when placing the default or other listing on your credit file.

    So its more involved than just showing right and wrong, it has to be demonstrated according to the law. We liken it a little bit to defending yourself in Court. Sure – you may be able to defend yourself, but your case has much more chance of success if you use a legal professional.

    For help to obtain a copy of your credit report, and advice on how to tackle your credit rating defaults contact a MyCRA Credit Repair Advisor on 1300 667 218.

    Image: Grant Cochrane/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • The dead not protected from identity theft

    Even in grief identity theft can strike us and affect our credit file and the clear credit file of those we leave behind. Grieving relatives may need to protect themselves and their loved one’s good name against this fraud, following a recent spate of identity theft of deceased individuals.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    There are so many things to think about when someone dies and it is very unfair that grieving relatives need to think about possible identity fraud on top of everything else, but the fact is it may be necessary to protect not only their memory, but the good credit file of the living.

    Last year a Sydney court sentenced a man and a woman to two years jail for identity theft.

    The Courier Mail ran details of the story in September last year, in which the court heard the couple “spent nine years trawling cemeteries across Australia collecting the details of dead people, with Queensland targets including a disabled man and a baby less than two days old.”

    “The couple created fake “identity kits” using the details of the deceased, including bogus passports, Medicare cards, drivers’ licences and bank accounts, which they sold to criminals for up to $30,000 each”, the story said.

    In October, The Australian ran a story ‘Backlog of births, death records prone to identity theft’, detailing the possible prevalence of these instances of ID Theft. It told of data processing backlogs at some government birth, deaths and marriages registries that have left the door open for fraudsters to assume the identities of dead Australians.

    The fixing of the identity loophole had been delayed by a dispute with developer UXC, whose contract with the NSW Registry was terminated in 2009. The registry said it had received $2.9 million in damages as a result.

    A new contract had now been negotiated with Objective Consulting for $11.4m, with the first release of a new registry due in June next year.

    Queensland too is yet to digitise its birth, death and marriages records to enable automatic cross-checking between births and deaths data.

    “The project is currently in the final stages of contract negotiation with digitisation currently scheduled to run from early 2012 to 2014,” a Queensland Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry spokeswoman said.

    Queensland’s 2009-10 budget had allocated $20.8m for digitisation of records.

    The spokeswoman said when digitised, its operators would be required to complete an electronic search of Queensland death records before releasing a birth certificate.

    Software developer John Doolan, who has worked with birth, deaths and marriages registries across the Australian eastern seaboard for more than 20 years, said the enormous backlog in unmatched birth and death records was a headache.

    “We are aware of cases of false identities that have been created and stolen,” said Mr Doolan, the chief executive of KE Software, which has different versions of its software operating in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

    The ability of a person involved in immigration fraud, tax evasion, social security rorts and even terrorism to obtain a legitimate birth certificate by using a dead person’s identity is still possible at these registries.

    While states are rushing to digitise this process, relatives should be aware of how a deceased person’s personal information could be compromised, and act quickly to protect their  credit file and good name in death.

    – Relatives can start by obtaining several copies of their loved one’s death certificate, and providing one to each credit reporting agency in Australia. The credit reporting agency can then ‘flag’ the credit file so that no future credit is issued in that name.

    – Also pay particular attention to how much information is given away in the obituary. As in life, in death, personal information is a valuable commodity. Restrict the publication of any details which could allow fraudsters to piece together details to create a false identity.

    – It is also important to provide a death certificate to financial institutions and notify all other credit facilities of the death, particularly where joint accounts may be involved. This could prevent the other person attached to the joint account of the deceased having their clear credit file compromised by possible identity theft.

    If fraudsters gain access to someone’s good name – living or dead they may be able to drain bank accounts, or open new lines of credit in the person’s name.

    Often people don’t find out about the identity fraud until they attempt to take out credit and then find out they have a bad credit score due to a series of defaults they have no knowledge of. It was reported that in the case heard by the Sydney courts, the names of the deceased were used to create false Medicare cards, birth certificates, drivers’ licences, bank accounts and credit cards. Forged documentation and identities were sold to criminals, including members of the Lone Wolf bikie gang, so they could apply for passports.

    Any kind of credit account (from mortgages and credit cards through to mobile phone accounts) which remains unpaid past 60 days can be listed as a default by creditors on the victim’s credit rating, and those defaults remain there for 5 years.

    Relatives left with the task of trying to repair the credit file of their deceased, particularly the credit files of joint account owners can find the task a difficult one. To restore the clear credit file the identity theft victim needs to prove to creditors they did not initiate the credit. Not only are victims generally required to produce police reports, but large amounts of documentary evidence to substantiate to creditors the case of identity theft.

    If people need help credit rebuilding and restoring credit activeness following identity theft, please contact MyCRA Credit Repairs tollfree on 1300 667 218 or visit the main website www.mycra.com.au

    Credit rebuilding is not easy for anyone to undertake themselves, particularly those who are facing grief. Many times when restoring credit individuals will be told that listings can be marked as paid, but this does not give the victim a clear credit file.

    Using a credit repairer skilled in credit reporting legislation will help to enforce rules creditors are bound to comply with, and coupled with negotiations will ensure the best chance at a clear credit file.

    Image: Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

     

     

  • 5 things every young person needs to know about credit

    It’s back to school for most teenagers in Australia. Here is a lesson you might not learn there…Just because you currently aren’t credit active, does not mean you can’t learn about how to make credit work best for you when you are. We show you how the actions you take NOW could lead to being unable to get a phone, a home, a car in the future because of a surprise bad credit rating.

    By Graham Doessel Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    We believe this important financial information should be taught in high schools across the country. So if you know a student or young adult, flick them this link or print this page. We want all young Australians to have the luxury of a clear credit rating when they turn 18 and beyond.

    1. What is a credit rating?

    Once you turn 18, and become ‘credit active’, a credit file is initiated in your name. This contains all financial information on you, including any credit you have taken out, the amount of credit, and any negative listings – like court Judgments, writs, bankruptcies, clear outs, and defaults. A default occurs when an account has not been paid more than 60 days, and the creditor (bank, telephone company, electricity company etc) places a record of this ‘default’ on your credit file to alert future creditors. A clear out is when the creditors are unable to get hold of you over late payments, agents have been sent to your house and they record this as a ‘clear out’. By accessing your credit file, a potential creditor can assess your credit rating, based on any negative listings which are present there.

    2. What happens to me if my credit file has negative listings on it?

    Generally, a negative listing on your credit file tells banks or other people you might want to borrow money or services from, that you have had problems repaying credit in the past. They will most often decide that you are a bad ‘risk’ to lend money to, and will refuse you the car, money, credit card, electricity account or mobile phone plan.

    A negative listing stays on your credit file for 5-7 years, depending on the listing and ‘drops off’ after this time. A negative listing will affect you for the entire time it is present on your credit file. You need to ask yourself: what do I want to be doing in 5 years????

    3. How do I end up with a negative listing on my credit file?

    It is estimated there are approximately 3.47 million Australians with negative entries on their credit file. (Veda Advantage 2008).
    The most common negative listing is a default. This is put there when you don’t pay your bills on time.
    But there are other reasons why you could have a negative listing, which are not always completely your fault.

    Change of address. Sometimes people move and their mail continues to be sent to the old address. This is a really common scenario, particularly for young people who tend to move around a lot, or go overseas. The problem is – you don’t know your bills are late and don’t know you are being defaulted. It is important to update contact information regularly with anyone you have taken credit out with. No news is not good news!!!

    Identity theft. Sometimes people’s personal information can be used for purposes of fraud – for crooks to construct a fake identity, and use it to take out credit. The thing is, they are using your name so you are the one that ends up with the bad credit rating, and it can be a nightmare to recover the good credit rating you once had.

    It is important to keep all your personal information as secure as possible. One important change you can make right now, is to change the way you use the internet.

    Keep your passwords and social networking settings as strong as possible.

    The information you post today, could come back to haunt you in a big way.

    There are reports from Australian Federal Police of the likelihood of crooks scrolling through thousands of social networking pages looking for personal information from young people – who usually have the most lax privacy settings. That information is not used right away, but the data is ‘warehoused’ until the young people turn 18. They can then use that information to construct a fake identity (identity theft) and go on a ‘spending spree’ with the young person’s clean credit file. You could be ruined by identity theft before you even take out your first piece of credit yourself.

    Share accommodation. Any accounts which have your name on them, regardless of who intends to pay them are your responsibility – this includes rent. Sometimes people get caught out sharing houses, and someone leaves bills unpaid which then have dire consequences for your future.

    Mistakes. Sometimes mistakes happen. The wrong person gets the bad credit rating. The wrong details get put in the computer. Creditors are human. Don’t let a mistake affect your credit file.

    Too many credit enquiries. Only apply for credit you feel you have a very good chance of being approved for, and only apply for credit you have full intention of pursuing. Sometimes too many credit queries are enough to get you declined for credit.

    4. How do I know what is said about me on my credit file?

    Many people don’t know this, but it is so important for everyone to keep track of the accuracy of your own credit file. To avoid the disappointment and embarrassment of finding out about your bad credit rating only after being declined credit, we recommend you check your credit file every 12 months to ensure there are no black marks against your name, just as you would check your bank statements or your super account.

    You can request a copy of your credit file for free from the major credit reporting agencies – Veda Advantage, Dun & Bradstreet, or Tasmanian Collection Services (if you are Tasmanian). Your credit report will be provided within 10 working days – or for a fee it can be provided urgently.

    5. What do I do if something is not right – there are errors on my credit report?

    Don’t put up with any errors or inconsistencies on your credit report – a clear credit rating is your ticket to financial freedom.

    Most times a credit reporting agency will tell you that defaults are never removed, but can be marked as paid. You are then stuck with a dodgy credit rating for 5 years. But you shouldn’t have to put up with it, as it is possible to have many defaults removed.

    If there are errors, inconsistencies, or the listing should not be there, you do have the right to have it removed. The best course of action is to ask for help from a credit rating repairer. They can then use their knowledge of credit reporting legislation to see where any errors in credit reporting were made, and help to enforce the legislation that creditors are bound to comply with. If they are successful, you not only get help with removing credit file errors, but many times you are able to start off with a completely clean credit rating. You have a clean slate and can go for any credit you need.

    For more information contact MyCRA Credit Repairs tollfree on 1300 667 218 or visit the main website.

    Image: imagerymajestic / Freedigitalphotos.net

    Image: David Castillo Dominici / Freedigitalphotos.net