Sentences with phrase «use of a credit counseling agency»

The FICO scoring system no longer factors in a consumers use of a credit counseling agency.

Not exact matches

Although the use of «fair share» is nearly ubiquitous among credit counseling agencies, its continued use led to sharp criticisms of the credit counseling industry.

(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for each entry from the person stating that that person believes that the entry contains a material error or omission, outdated information, inaccurate information, or unverifiable information; (e) charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration solely for referral of the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).

Usually, non-profit consumer credit counseling agencies require you to refrain from applying for any new credit or use any existing credit for the length of the DMP — around four years.

A credit repair business and its salespersons, agents, and representatives, and independent contractors who sell or attempt to sell the services of a credit repair business, shall not do any of the following: (1) Charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration prior to full and complete performance of the services that the credit repair business has agreed to perform for or on behalf of the consumer; (2) Charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration solely for referral of the consumer to a retail seller or to any other credit grantor who will or may extend credit to the consumer, if the credit that is or will be extended to the consumer is upon substantially the same terms as those available to the general public; (3) Represent that it can directly or indirectly arrange for the removal of derogatory credit information from the consumer's credit report or otherwise improve the consumer's credit report or credit standing, provided, this shall not prevent truthful, unexaggerated statements about the consumer's rights under existing law regarding his credit history or regarding access to his credit file; (4) Make, or counsel or advise any consumer to make, any statement that is untrue or misleading and which is known or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading, to a consumer reporting agency or to any person who has extended credit to a consumer or to whom a consumer is applying for an extension of credit, with respect to a consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity; or (5) Make or use any untrue or misleading representations in the offer or sale of the services of a credit repair business or engage, directly or indirectly, in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deception upon any person in connection with the offer or sale of the services of a credit repair business.

You ought to be aware of credit counseling agencies and organizations that charge a high up - front or every month fee for signing up for credit counseling or a debt management plan, pressure you to make voluntary contributions or use another name for fees, send you free pamphlets contained with information about the services they provide without requiring you to provide personal financial information such as charge account numbers with balances, try to enroll you in a debt management plan without spending the time to review your current financial situation, offer to sign you up for a debt management plan without trying to help you with budgeting and money management skills, or require that you make payments into a debt management plan before your current creditors have accepted you into the program.

«The new record high credit card use is seen by some as a sign of confidence in the economy, but more debt is more potential for financial hardship — especially during times of unemployment and times of reduced income,» said Melinda Opperman, executive vice president of the credit counseling agency Credit.org in an email interview.

So, not all credit counseling agencies claiming to be legitimate really are so it is very important to make sure the company you are going use is a member of one those organizations.