Woman Working In Home Office On Phone Discussing Document On Telephone
At Credit Repair Lawyers of America, we have been fixing credit reports for a long time. Actually, 2008 marks our entry into the credit repair arena. We have our names, faces and biographies posted on our website. This way, people know with whom they are doing business. As lawyers, we are required to be honest and transparent in our dealings. Indeed, we are. So, here is my problem: credit repair companies that pop up and make false promises to consumers.
Today, a new company called “Absolutely Free Credit Repair.org” has come up on my radar. It is being promoted by a guy named Robert Childs. It appears that Mr. Childs is no stranger to fleecing people and is well known in our criminal justice system.
They promise to provide ” . . . limited FREE Credit Repair and FREE FCRA legal service in coordination with one of our national law firm partners for all identified FCRA errors.” They are not a law firm. They state that they are a 501(c)(3) organization. However, there is no physical address for this company. Moreover, there are no persons, faces or names, associated with this company. It’s a one page website with a button to click for “Contact us.”
They promise to “challenge ALL NEGATIVE ITEMS” on your credit report. No legitimate credit repair company is going to challenge all negative items on your credit report for a few reasons. First, there is a question as to whether credit bureaus have to respond to disputes posited by third parties such as credit repair organizations. I am personally handling 40 such lawsuits in Ohio and Arizona on this very issue. The credit bureaus know that when someone challenges all negative items on their credit report, that such disputes usually from credit repair companies, and not legitimate ones.
The second reason why legitimate credit repair companies do not challenge every negative thing is because there must be a good faith basis to challenge items on a credit report. Stating that something is not yours or is reporting incorrectly, when you know otherwise, potentially violates the Credit Repair Organization Act (“CROA”). No legitimate credit repair company is going to posit a bogus dispute to a legitimately reporting negative item.
Mr. Childs states that he has teamed up with McCarthy law in Scottsdale, Arizona to file credit repair lawsuits.
I called the phone number on the website to learn more about this company but the phone answering tree would not connect me with anyone. I pressed 0 to reach an operator, but to no avail.
Moral of the Story – I have been a guest speaker many times and always counsel people that the best way to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft is to use some common sense. In this case, absolutelyfreecreditrepair.org is a nameless, faceless organization that shows no address. It’s either owned or promoted by a known felon. Would you be willing to give your personal information to a crook or anyone associated with a known crook? Again, a little common sense goes a long way towards self-protection.
If you have been a victim of identity theft, call or email us at Credit Repair Lawyers of America. If you have questions, call or email me, Attorney Gary Nitzkin, for a free, no obligation consultation at (248) 353-2882.
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