MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: Graham the Credit Corrector

  • When love goes bad…Graham the ‘Credit Corrector’ shows how to prevent relationship debt.

    Media Release

    When love goes bad…Graham the ‘Credit Corrector‘ shows how to prevent relationship debt.

    Being ‘in love’ is one of the best feelings in the world, but not one of the most practical states to be in. Sometimes personal financial values go out the window and people lose themselves in the process of adding to the ‘relationship’ and creation of ‘us’.

    But a leading consumer credit advocate, Graham Doessel warns it is important to think practically about joint finances for people to maintain their good name and their clear credit file when they take their relationship to the next level of commitment.

    The former award winning broker and now CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs says when two different money ‘personalities’ combine, the potential for both to be financially damaged is greatly increased.

    “Every day we meet people who need help with fixing credit rating issues due to no fault of their own really, but they have fallen under the financial shortcomings of a partner,” Mr Doessel explains.

    When people take out any credit together, such as loans, utility accounts, homes and rental properties, they become very reliant on the partner to keep up their end of the credit repayments.

    Sometimes one partner ends up with a bad credit score, simply because the other person on the account has not kept up with repayments. People can be unaware their partner is generating defaults on their credit rating until it is too late.

    “In many instances it’s not until people apply for credit in their own right that they find out about the credit problems their partner has initiated. The relationship may even have ended years ago and the partner is still paying for it,” Mr Doessel says.

    Bad credit history can last for 5-7 years, depending on the listing. The most common type of negative listing is a default, and is placed by the creditor when an account holder fails to make payments past 60 days.

    “Time and again we see people who have ended relationships but still have joint commitments together. These people find themselves in financial strife, unable to get home loans, credit cards or phones because they didn’t continue to take responsibility for the joint credit until such time are their names were removed from the account,” he says.

    Mr Doessel says many people come unstuck by not asking the tough financial questions about their prospective partners early in the relationship.

    How to Prevent Relationship Debt

    1. Ask about your new partner’s financial past. People will do what they have always done. If they have financial skeletons in the closet it is possible they will continue this behaviour in the future.

    2. Ask what debts they currently have. This will give you an indication of how they feel about money, and how much debt they consider normal to handle. Does this match with yours?

    3. Talk about paying bills. Do they always pay them on time? If not, why not? This will give you a good indication of how this person regards money and credit repayments. Ring any alarm bells yet?

    4. Ask what their financial goals are for the future. Do they match yours? If your new partner wants to blow all of their money on an overseas trip, but you want to save for a home – how will this work long term?

    5. Verify their answers about existing and past debt. Ask them if you can see a copy of their credit file (and versa of course). A copy of your credit report is free every year from one or more of the credit reporting agencies in Australia. It will be sent within 10 working days.

    Mr Doessel suggests if people are unsure of their new partner’s financial compatibility, it could mean finances need to be fairly separate for a significant period of time.

    “Your financial generosity now could become the very thing that is used against you if the relationship sours. Before you enter into any financial transaction, consider carefully how secure you would be if things did take a turn for the worse,” he says.

    /ENDS.

    Please contact:

    Graham Doessel – Director Ph 3124 7133

    Lisa Brewster – Media Relations Ph 3124 7133 media@mycra.com.au

    http://www.mycra.com.au/ 246 Stafford Road, STAFFORD QLD. Ph: 07 3124 7133

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

    Image: Idea go/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Gillard Government finally recognises the prevalence of credit rating errors, says Graham the ‘Credit Corrector’

    Media Release

    Gillard Government finally recognises the prevalence of credit rating errors, says Graham the ‘Credit Corrector.’

    29 May 2012

    An advocate for accuracy in credit reporting says Australia’s new Privacy Laws finally recognise the prevalence of credit rating errors, and the damage that can be wreaked on the consumer’s reputation and life if they are incorrectly listed with bad credit.

    Graham Doessel – CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs, and Board Member of the Credit Repair Industry Association of Australasia (CRIAA), says new Privacy Laws which are set to make some massive improvements in the area of correction of inconsistent data on Australian credit files, are long overdue.

    “Someone who presents with bad credit is going to be refused mainstream credit for between 5 and 7 years – depending on the listing type. It’s serious stuff, and if the listing shouldn’t be there, it’s very unfair,” he says.

    Mr Doessel says it is timely that the Government address the difficulties consumers face when they are incorrectly listed with bad credit.

    “Creditors can and do make mistakes when placing listings on credit files, and the onus is on the consumer to identify and address those inconsistencies. But it has very much been a case of David and Goliath – with some consumers finding they are lumbered with listings that just shouldn’t be there due to not having the extensive skills and knowledge required to address their complaints in the appropriate way,” he explains.

    The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012, which had its second reading in Parliament last week, is part of the Gillard Government’s ‘modernisation’ of credit reporting, which they say will make the credit reporting regime more flexible and less prescriptive by emphasising industry-led complaint resolution.

    The new laws around complaints correction will:

    • Streamline the correction and complaints process for credit reporting; and

    • Force the Creditor to justify credit listings and actually substantiate the information it reports on credit files; and

    • Allow consumers to complain directly to the appropriate Ombudsman rather than having to go through the organisation’s complaints process first; and

    •  Provide for remedies such as compensation for consumers who are negatively impacted by a Creditor who has failed to comply with credit reporting law (penalties for breaches of the Privacy Act could be up to $220,000 for an individual and $1.1 million for an organisation).

    The introduction of the new laws are too late for Brent Uchtman, who sought MyCRA’s credit repair services last year to fight a disputed credit listing which saw him refused finance.

    Brent applied for a loan after purchasing some land last year, only to be told by his bank that he had a bad credit rating from a phone company that out and out shouldn’t have been there.

    His credit file was finally cleared in November last year, but not before he lost the land contract.

    “I ended up losing the land because someone it got from under me while I struggled with this bad credit,” Brent explains.

    He says his case was slow because the company took so long to provide documentation.

    Mr Doessel says the speed of Brent’s case could have been improved if the Creditor would have had some obligation to substantiate the credit listing, or if the complaint could have been taken directly to the Creditor’s Ombudsman.

    “Finally there is some real incentive for Creditors to take due care with adding listings to credit files and to justify their actions, and we as credit repairers ultimately have a better avenue to help our clients remedy their credit rating errors,” he says.

    /ENDS.

    Graham Doessel – Founder and CEO MyCRA  Board Member CRIAA    Ph: 07 3124 7133

    Lisa Brewster – Media Relations  MyCRA  Mob: 0450 554 007 media@mycra.com.au

    Client details available on request.

    http://www.mycra.com.au/ www.mycra.com.au.blog

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

  • Graham the ‘Credit Corrector’: consumer advocate for credit reporting accuracy placed 24th in Start-Up Smart Awards 2012

    Media Release

    Graham the ‘Credit Corrector’: consumer advocate for credit reporting accuracy placed 24th in Start-Up Smart Awards 2012 .

    17 May 2012

    Innovative credit rating repair company, MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs has been placed at number 24 in the Australian Start-Up Smart Awards 2012.

    Headed by entrepreneur Graham Doessel, who was once Australia’s most successful non-conforming broker – MyCRA was developed in a post-Global Financial Crisis economy as a solution to tighter lending criteria and loss of non-conforming lenders, and has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the finance industry.

    Start-Up Smart also placed MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs amongst the Top Ten new trends for 2012 in the finance category.

    “As the banks toughen their lending criteria, the finance industry is witnessing the emergence of a new type of business – one that aims to make it easier for consumers to obtain credit and finance.

    My CRA, which appears at number 24, was developed for the sole purpose of giving customers the cleanest credit file possible.

    The idea behind the service is to give customers the best chance of getting approval, secure a lower interest rate or reduce the upfront fees that can be associated with obtaining credit,” Michelle Hammond reports in the article 10 trends from the 2012 StartupSmart Top 50.

    Mr Doessel says there are three main reasons for the sharp rise in demand for good quality credit rating repair in this economy. Firstly, with tighter lending criteria a clean credit file has become an essential ingredient to obtaining credit in this market. Secondly, the number of errors and inaccuracies on Australian credit reports which affect consumers is high; and thirdly, individuals who wish to address, dispute and remove inaccurate data from their credit file have found the task quite arduous.

    “Credit reporting is governed by strict legislation, legislation which most consumers have limited knowledge of, and often very little time to get to know. Plus negotiating with creditors can be tricky. Clients have to know who to talk to and the way to talk to them. Sometimes people can do more harm than good when trying to fix their own credit rating,” Mr Doessel explains.

    There are four credit reporting agencies in Australia, and three in New Zealand, with Veda Advantage holding the majority of these credit files – with a total of over 16.5 million credit files in Australia alone.

    Of these millions of credit files, it is not known how many contain negative listings. Some reports claim around 3 million in Australia. The number of negative listings which contain inconsistencies is also uncertain. A Veda Advantage spokesperson, Chris Gration was recently interviewed by Channel 7 Australia’s Today Tonight, about the possible number of errors which are contained on Australian credit reports.

    “We give out about 250,000 credit reports to consumers every year. But only in 1 per cent of cases is there a material error on the file, so a default or an enquiry that’s incorrect,” Mr Gration told Today Tonight.

    But an Australian Consumer Association (now Choice) survey from 2004 revealed that 34% of the credit files surveyed in their small scale study contained errors or inconsistencies.

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

    “It’s a bit like David and Goliath in many cases – so we are providing the benefit of our experience to tackle the big guys on the consumer’s behalf,” he says.

    The concept and formation of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs has interesting origins. Forced to declare bankruptcy on his Promotions Business following a bad business partnership, Mr Doessel’s experience led him to a passion for the finance industry – particularly in cases of helping the underdog.

    He formed a highly successful non-conforming mortgage brokerage Mortgage Now – in 2004 which by 2006 was placed as a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards.

    Then by 2008 he was faced with two major obstacles – Cancer and the Global Financial Crisis.

    “Once I had recovered from cancer I found that the lending market had changed significantly. Suddenly, alternative lenders were folding and there was little way for those people who genuinely could service a loan but for their bad credit rating to obtain credit,” he explains.

    After extensive study of Australian credit reporting legislation, he devised a framework to correct credit rating errors. Mr Doessel found demand was massive for this service, and the business quickly took off.

    “It’s nice to do something which helps out people who would otherwise have never had the time, knowledge and skill to fight their own case. When I send people back off to their broker or lender to buy their dream home, that feeling is worth its weight in gold,” he says.

    For the future, Mr Doessel is hoping MyCRA can increase their level of success by improving the frequency of removal and closing the gap on their current default removal rate.  My CRA has a previous track record of up to 91.7% of cases having a default removed.

    The team hope to accomplish this through further increasing skill level and team numbers, building even better relationships with creditors, and continuing to educate consumers on credit reporting.

    With Mr Doessel’s heavy involvement with the Credit Repair Industry Association of Australasia (CRIAA) as an executive member, MyCRA has a strong policy of maintaining consumer advocacy and industry standards.

    MyCRA has also recently begun a Premium Corporate Partnership with the Finance Brokers’ Association of Australia (FBAA).

    /ENDS.

    Please contact:

    Graham Doessel – Founder and CEO MyCRA      Ph (07) 3124 7133

    Lisa Brewster – Media Relations  MyCRA              Ph: 0450 554 007
    media@mycra.com.au

    http://www.mycra.com.au/ www.mycra.com.au.blog

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

    http://www.startupsmart.com.au/business-planning/10-trends-from-the-2012-startupsmart-top-50/201203285875.html?displaypage=unknown
    http://www.mycreditfile.com.au/about/
    http://www.mycra.com.au/media/television.php
    http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/09/1076175103983.html