(1) A
credit services organization, its salespersons, agents, and representatives, and independent contractors who sell or attempt to sell the services of a
credit services organization may not do any of the following: (a) conduct any business regulated by this chapter without first: (i) securing a certificate of registration from the division; and (ii) unless exempted under Section 13 -21-4, posting a bond, letter of
credit, or certificate of deposit with the division
in the amount of $ 100,000; (b) make a false statement, or fail to state a
material fact,
in connection with an application for registration with the division; (c) charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration prior to full and complete performance of the services the
credit services organization has agreed to perform for the buyer; (d) dispute or challenge, or assist a person
in disputing or challenging an entry
in a
credit report prepared by a consumer
reporting agency without a factual basis for believing and obtaining a written statement for each entry from the person stating that that person believes that the entry contains a
material error or omission, outdated information, inaccurate information, or unverifiable information; (e) charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration solely for referral of the buyer to a retail seller who will or may extend
credit to the buyer, if the
credit that is or will be extended to the buyer is upon substantially the same terms as those available to the general public; (f) make, or counsel or advise any buyer to make, any statement that is untrue or misleading and that is known, or that by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading, to a
credit reporting agency or to any person who has extended
credit to a buyer or to whom a buyer is applying for an extension of
credit, with respect to a buyer's creditworthiness,
credit standing, or
credit capacity; (g) make or use any untrue or misleading representations
in the offer or sale of the services of a
credit services organization or engage, directly or indirectly,
in any act, practice, or course of business that operates or would operate as fraud or deception upon any person
in connection with the offer or sale of the services of a
credit services organization; and (h) transact any business as a
credit services organization, as defined
in Section 13 -21-2, without first having registered with the division by paying an annual fee set pursuant to Section 63J -1-504 and filing proof that it has obtained a bond or letter of
credit as required by Subsection (2).
Sixteen percent of the consumers found
errors that either would have likely had a
material effect on their
credit score (3 out of 30), or the effect was uncertain (2 out of 30).42
In the second phase of the study, 31 % of participants (40 of 128) found errors in the credit reports, and 12 % (15 of 128) found errors that would have a material effect on their credit score
In the second phase of the study, 31 % of participants (40 of 128) found
errors in the credit reports, and 12 % (15 of 128) found errors that would have a material effect on their credit score
in the
credit reports, and 12 % (15 of 128) found
errors that would have a
material effect on their
credit scores.