MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: creditors

  • Fraudsters target overseas-based property owners

    Identity theft appears to be the new black in criminal circles. Perhaps there has never been a better time to commit identity theft. Opportunity is high, awareness is still fairly low, and prevention of this crime unfortunately seems to be reactionary-based as fraudsters think up bigger and better ways of gaining access to people’s good names.

    Recently the West Australian Government announced details of a property scam which has presented itself in Western Australia.

    Police are investigating a scam in which properties are sold by fraudsters without the knowledge of the overseas-based owners. Last year, Wembley Downs retiree Roger Mildenhall had his Karrinyup investment property sold without knowing anything about it. But more recently, it is alleged that Nigerian-based scammers sold a Ballajura property without the owners’ knowledge.

    “A couple returning from overseas have advised authorities that their property has been sold without their knowledge or consent and a joint investigation has been launched.

    The previous owners were living and working overseas at the time and didn’t discover the property had been sold until they recently returned to Perth to inspect the property.

    The real estate agent involved has told investigators that he received a phone call from a man claiming to be the owner in February this year inquiring about the property. Shortly after, the agent received an urgent request to sell the property as funds were needed for a business investment, later revealed to be a supposed petro-chemical project,” Landgate announced in a statement earlier this month.

    The West Australian Newspaper last week reported the WA Government has upgraded its security measures for overseas-based property owners.

    “WA property owners living abroad who are concerned about identity theft can now lodge a caveat over their property to reduce the risk of being targeted by scammers, under a raft of anti-fraud measures introduced by Landgate.

    Lands Minister Brendon Grylls said yesterday Landgate would expand its TitleWatch service so homeowners can receive email alerts notifying them of any activity on the title deeds of their nominated property. Overseas-based property owners can pay $160 to lodge a new caveat on their property to prevent registration of a change of ownership, mortgage or lease.

    They could remove the caveat only by attending Landgate’s Midland office in person and completing a 100-point identity check, Mr Grylls said…
    Under the range of increased security measures, all transfers of land executed overseas will now require a 100-point identity check, signatures to be witnessed by an Australian Consular officer and the sales will need to be independently checked by at least two senior Landgate officers.

    “It is important that we continue to move to ensure that a person’s No. 1 asset is protected,” Mr Grylls said.

    Property owners and Real Estate agents in every state need to be aware that overseas-based property scams are occurring, and to arm themselves with preventative measures to protect against identity fraud.

    The other property scam to watch out for is the fake rental property scam. The ACCC’s SCAMwatch website warns individuals about responding to property advertisements, as there have been reported incidents of scams in the community.

    “SCAMwatch is warning prospective tenants to be wary when responding to rental properties advertised on the net where the ‘owner’ makes various excuses as to why you can’t inspect the property but insists on an upfront payment for rent or deposit.

    Scammers will often use various shared accommodation sites to post these fake listings. They will go to great lengths to ensure that the offer looks genuine by including photos and real addresses of properties. However, photos and details of properties can be easily obtained on the internet.

    Once hooked, the scammer will request money, often via money transfer, or personal details upfront to ‘secure’ the rental property. SCAMwatch warns consumers not to send money or provide personal details to people you don’t know and trust.”

    Long term affect for victims

    Fraudsters now see personal information as a valuable commodity. Many are able to use that information to take out credit in the victim’s name. Often the victim is not alerted to the misuse of their credit file for some time, often not until they attempt to obtain credit themselves. By then, victims may have credit applications as a minimum and possibly defaults, mortgages and mobile phones attributed to them incorrectly.

    Once any account remains unpaid past 60 days, the debt may be listed by the creditor as a default on a person’s credit file. Under current Australian legislation, defaults remain listed on the victim’s credit file for a 5 year period.

    If a victim has defaults on their credit file following identity theft – the defaults still remain there for 5 years. The onus is then on the identity theft victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the debts in their name. If they are unable to prove this, they are virtually blacklisted from obtaining further credit themselves for 5 years.

    It is important for everyone to think twice about who they allow to have access to their personal information, and to verify all transactions are legitimate before handing over their details or any money. SCAMwatch has these suggestions:

    How to protect yourself

    * Insist on inspecting the property- a drive-by is not enough. With these types of scams, the property may genuinely exist, but it is owned by someone else.
    * If it is overseas, ask someone you can trust to make inquiries. If there is a real estate agent or similar in the area they may be able to assist.
    * Do not rely on any information provided to you from anyone recommended by the person advertising the property.
    * An internet search on the name of the person offering the property and their email address may provide useful information.
    * Where possible, avoid paying via money transfer. It is rare to recover money sent this way.
    * There are many share accommodation websites, consider choosing the ones with clear warnings about scams or which offer added protection.
    If you are satisfied that the offer is legitimate and decide to accept it, keep copies of all correspondence, banking details and the listing itself.

    For more information on identity theft prevention, or help with credit repair following identity theft, contact MyCRA Credit Repairs.

    Image: vichie81 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

     

     

  • Found a better home loan? Check your credit file before applying to refinance

    Media Release

    25 August 2011

    Home owners refinancing in the wake of the government’s scrapping of home loan exit fees should consider the health of their credit file before they make a new application, according to a national credit repairer.

    Director of MyCRA Credit Repairs, Graham Doessel says existing home owners should exercise their right to a free credit report from the major credit reporting agencies prior to making any enquiries on a new home loan.

    “People who already have a mortgage probably haven’t considered how important a clear credit rating is – even second time around. Regardless of whether people have been diligent payers, creditors can and do sometimes make mistakes with people’s credit files and some people end up with black marks against their name that shouldn’t be there,” Mr Doessel says.

    A bad credit rating can result when a bill or repayment goes unpaid past 60 days. After this time, a creditor has the right to list that non-payment as a default on the person’s credit file.

    “In the current finance market, any black mark generally results in an automatic decline with the major lenders. Even too many credit enquiries can blow someone’s chances of finance approval, so it really is important for people to know what is said about them on their credit report before they go in to refinance,” Mr Doessel says.

    This comes as The Telegraph reported earlier this month existing home owners are staying put and refinancing in high levels.

    It reported mortgage broker Australian Finance Group’s figures of about 39 per cent of their July mortgages were from people refinancing. AFG attributed this trend to the major banks competing very aggressively on fees and price since exit fees were banned.

    “If you have a home loan at the moment, it’s the best time in 20 years to be looking for a better deal,” AFG spokesman Mark Hewitt said.

    Mr Doessel says many of his clients have been in the middle of refinancing, whether to reduce their repayments or to get a better deal – when the bank has performed a credit check and found defaults against their name.

    “Sometimes people don’t know their good name is compromised until they apply for finance and are refused. Many times if they had checked their credit file they may have had the chance to rectify any errors or save themselves the embarrassment prior to applying for the loan,” he says.

    Mr Doessel says approximately 63% of the clients who contact his company for credit repair would be people who have defaults, writs or Judgments which are listed in error on their credit file.

    “We have clients who are facing identity theft; some are caught in issues over separation from their spouse; some have been disputing a bill which went to default stage and many people are just victims of the fallout from inadequate billing procedures – wrong names, wrong addresses, human and computer errors,” he says.

    Under current credit reporting legislation, consumers have the right to a free credit report from the credit reporting agencies once a year.

    People need to contact all the credit reporting agencies to request their report – as creditors have access to 3 agencies within mainland Australia and 4 in Tasmania. The report must be provided to them in writing within 10 days of the request.

    Consumers also have the right to have any inconsistencies on their credit file rectified.  Defaults can be marked as paid if the account has been settled.

    But Mr Doessel says listings are not removed by creditors unless the file holder can provide adequate reason and lots of evidence as to why the listing should not be there.

    “Credit repair requires knowledge of the legislation, lots of evidence and perseverance. But for those people whose financial freedom is hindered because their credit file contains errors, it is a point worth fighting for,” he says.

    /ENDS
    Please contact:
    Lisa Brewster – Media Relations   Mob: 0450 554 007 media@mycra.com.au

    Graham Doessel – Director  (07) 3124 7133 http://www.mycra.com.au

    MyCRA Credit Repairs is Australia’s leader in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

    Link: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/money/better-mortgage-deals-beckon-as-banks-create-more-deals/story-e6frezc0-1226108846876

    Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Experian plans to enter Australian credit reporting – good news or bad?

    A newly formed credit reporting agency is set to change the nature of credit reporting in Australia.
    UK credit reporting giant Experian plans to enter the Aussie market. The company proposes to form a joint venture “Experian Australia Credit Services” with leading financial institutions ANZ, Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, GE Capital, NAB and Westpac. Experian will own 76% of the company, with the financial institutions owning the remaining 24%.
    Reporter for The Australian, Teresa Ooi ran the story on Friday, titled Experian Plans Credit Bureau in Australia. Experian’s newly appointed managing director, Kim Jenkins says the venture will increase bureau competition, drive innovation and deliver better services for clients and consumers.
    The aim of the new bureau will be to improve credit reporting efficiency, particularly in light of forthcoming plans to permit positive credit reporting, which is currently under consideration by the Government.
    “The prospect of an inclusive bureau in Australia, accessible to all industry sectors, will strengthen standards in credit reporting, data quality and governance — which is particularly important in a changing regulatory environment,” Ms Jenkins said.
    I believe the introduction of Experian into the Australian credit reporting system will increase competition, and can only improve efficiency and transparency. The changes which will occur when or if we switch to a positive credit reporting system will be well serviced by a company who has had years of experience with the system in the U.K.

    What does concern me, however is the joint venture with leading Australian financial institutions. Does a credit reporting agency remain neutral when its owners are effectively creditors? Since creditors are responsible for listings on a credit file in the first place, does that create a conflict of interest for Experian in providing objective credit reporting?
    The other question is, how much say will these financial institutions actually have? Currently Australian law gives a bigger voice to smaller shareholders in a company. With these institutions all having a common interest as ‘creditors’ and all having a smaller share in the company – where will the interests of the company as a credit reporting agency actually lie – with consumers or creditors?
    Perhaps our current credit reporting laws will be tough enough to ensure that all credit reporting remains neutral, regardless of the ownership of the company.
    It will be very interesting to see what develops from this issue.