Massachusetts Credit Repair
There are terrific benefits to folks seeking credit repair in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The most experienced credit repair expert, Chuck Rosseel of National Credit Guidance is located right in central Massachusetts.
Chuck has been helping good people with bad credit reports for over 23 years. You can discover exactly how Chuck and National Credit Guidance can help you right here, Best Massachusetts Credit Repair.
State law in Massachusetts allows you to receive a free copy of your credit report from any credit reporting agency. You might be familiar with the three major credit bureaus, Experian. Equifax and Trans Union but you have the right to a free credit report from other credit reporting agencies like ChexSystems, a company that often prevents people from even opening a simple checking account.
Another benefit for Massachusetts residents considering credit repair is that the Bay State has some very powerful laws regulating credit reporting, collection agencies and creditors. For example, did you know that it is illegal for a collection agency to report your negative account information under the collection agency's name to any credit reporting agency?
This is a huge benefit for residents of Massachusetts when it comes to credit repair. I have used this statute to cause collection agencies and credit bureaus to delete negative credit items. Most collection agencies are not even aware of this powerful consumer law. They violate it everyday but if you know how to "educate" a collection agency about this Massachusetts rule it can have a tremendous impact on improving your credit score.
Another reason consumers in Massachusetts are better able to deal with abusive collection agency tactics is because the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has toughened the rules for collectors. Widespread abuses in small claim cases were the subject of a 2006 investigation by the Boston Globe Spotlight Team. After the series, called "Debtors' Hell" was published, the chief of the state district courts, Lynda M. Connolly, appointed a committee to amend court rules.
You have to realize what was going on before The Supreme Judicial Court approved these sweeping changes. Massachusetts consumers were victims aggressive debt collection bullying tactics, seizing cars in the middle of the night and, in extreme cases, threatening debtors with jail time.
According to boston.com "The Spotlight series, called “Debtors Hell,’’ found that debt collection lawsuits by credit card companies and third-party collectors accounted for the majority of more than 100,000 small claims filed annually with the state’s 70 district courts. From 2000 to 2005, collectors filed 575,000 such lawsuits, or one for every 11 Bay State residents."
boston.com also reported, "The new standards, which take effect Oct. 1, will require debt collectors to provide basic evidence about the money they want to collect and to prove that debtors have been properly notified of when to appear for court proceedings. They also call for clerk magistrates who oversee small-claims hearings to review all payment agreements and to ensure that collectors are not illegally tapping disability or Social Security income as a source of debt payments.
Small claims courts are intended to be a venue for individuals to initiate legal action when $2,000 or less is at stake, without the expense of hiring a lawyer. But in Massachusetts, all too often the opposite was happening: Large, sophisticated financial firms and a handful of bare-knuckled debt collectors were hiring lawyers to sue people who had no legal representation. When they did show up for court, consumers were often confused, belittled by court staff, and unaware of their rights as they were pressured to settle debts, sometimes in courthouse hallways.
When debtors did not show up or did not pay as agreed, some aggressive collectors would seek permission to tow their cars, often without notice, the Globe found. The tactic left many defendants without a car and with hundreds of dollars in additional fees.
Among the new requirements:
■ Creditors must certify that they have verified a defendant’s current address to help ensure that the defendant has received a mailed notice of the legal action against them and has a chance to mount a defense.
■ Plaintiffs must notify the court in writing when a small claims judgment has been paid in full. This is meant to help consumers clear their credit reports after paying a debt.
■ Magistrates are expected to rule in favor of a defendant if the debt collector or other plaintiff fails to appear in court, just as they often rule for the plaintiff when defendants fail to appear." source boston.com
So if you're a Massachusetts resident being bothered by a collection agency or one who is suffering with misleading bad credit reports give Chuck from National Credit Guidance today 508-293-1050.
