Complaint Review: Strategy Credit Group The Kelly Group

I am writing to inform you of my complete dissatisfaction of dealing with Strategy Credit Group. Let me start by stating that I believe that I was deceived from our very first telephone communication, in addition I was given misinformation by their processor and sales associate on every occasion that I spoke with her.

I have done some research on the Credit Repair Organization Act as well. (We will get back to that later).

The Beginning:

My Father had recommended that I contact Strategy Credit after I was speaking with him about 5 items that were on my credit report that I was having difficulty removing / updating that were either not mine or were being reported in error. Strategy Credit Group you had given a presentation on their company and the services that they perform in regards to these matters. After listening to how my father described the presentation, I wondered how a company could LEGALLY remove accurate data from a person's credit report, as they ADVERTISE on their WEB SITE...

After leaving the sales rep (Holly Davidson) three voice mail messages, Holly contacted me on February 11, 2005. With a current copy of my credit report in her possession we went over the (5) five items that I wanted corrected on my credit report.

At that time I asked Holly how you could legally remove negative items from a person's credit report.

Here is where the deception started: I will paraphrase the best I can in our own words:

Steven: "Holly, how do you remove accurate negative information from someone's credit file legally?"

Holly: "Well Steven, we go back to the credit bureaus where we have people on the inside that we have working relationships with and we fax them documentation to prove that the accounts were never paid late. We have their secret fax numbers that allow us to contact them to have the information updated / deleted from your credit file. After it is deleted we rapid rescore your credit file to raise its score"

Steven: "Holly, how about the collection accounts?"

Holly: "Please don't tell me that you paid them?"

Steven: "Yes I did, I had to as a condition of my mortgage. I even paid two that did not belong to me!"

Holly: "You should never pay collections accounts, only pay them if the creditor agrees to delete them from your credit"

Steven: "Its too late, they are already paid. Is there still a way to get them off?"


Holly: "Yes, we can get them off! We will go back to the collections agency and plead your case with a detailed in depth story"

Steven: "How long will it take to get everything fixed? I have documentation to prove everything is being reported incorrectly"

Holly: "4 weeks at the earliest and 6 weeks at the latest."

Steven: "How much will this improve my credit score?"

Holly: "With the documentation you have, I would say conservatively it would be at least 50 points!"

On February 14th I sent in my contract with my advance payment of $1,450.00* (Under the Credit Repair Organization Act no Credit Repair Company is permitted to charge / collect any fee until the information is corrected. Furthermore, any contract / addendum that are signed waiving this right are null and void regardless of interpretation by the client. This is a stipulation that is outlined under the CROA and supersedes any contract or other documentation.)

"I will HIGHLIGHT the sections that Strategy Credit Violated."
CHAPTER 2--CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS(1)
SEC. 2451. REGULATION OF CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS.
Title IV of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (Public Law 90-321, 82 Stat. 164) is amended to read as follows:
TITLE IV--CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS''
Sec.
401. Short title.
402. Findings and purposes.
403. Definitions.
404. Prohibited practices.
405. Disclosures.
406. Credit repair organizations contracts.
407. Right to cancel contract.
408. Noncompliance with this title.
409. Civil liability.
410. Administrative enforcement.
411. Statute of limitations.
412. Relation to State law.
413. Effective date.
(3) Credit repair organization. -- The term 'credit repair organization'--
(A) means any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails to sell, provide, or perform (or represent that such person can or will sell, provide, or perform) any service, in return for the payment of money or other valuable consideration, for the express or implied purpose of--

(i) improving any consumer's credit record, credit history, or credit rating; or
(ii) providing advice or assistance to any consumer with regard to any activity or service described in clause (i); and

(b) Payment in Advance.--No credit repair organization may charge or receive any money or other valuable consideration for the performance of any service which the credit repair organization has agreed to perform for any consumer before such service is fully performed.
You have a right to sue a credit repair organization that violates the Credit Repair Organization Act. This law prohibits deceptive practices by credit repair organizations.
SEC. 406. CREDIT REPAIR ORGANIZATIONS CONTRACTS.(10)

(2) a full and detailed description of the services to be performed by the credit repair organization for the consumer, including--

(A) all guarantees of performance; and
(B) an estimate of--

(i) the date by which the performance of the services (to be performed by the credit repair organization or any other person) will be complete; or
(ii) the length of the period necessary to perform such services;
(3) the credit repair organization's name and principal business address; and
SEC. 408. NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THIS TITLE.(12)
(a) Consumer Waivers Invalid.--Any waiver by any consumer of any protection provided by or any right of the consumer under this title--
(1) shall be treated as void; and
(2) may not be enforced by any Federal or State court or any other person.
(b) Attempt To Obtain Waiver.--Any attempt by any person to obtain a waiver from any consumer of any protection provided by or any right of the consumer under this title shall be treated as a violation of this title.
(c) Contracts Not in Compliance.--Any contract for services which does not comply with the applicable provisions of this title--
(1) shall be treated as void; and
(2) may not be enforced by any Federal or State court or any other person.
SEC. 409. CIVIL LIABILITY.(13)
(a) Liability Established.--Any person who fails to comply with any provision of this title with respect to any other person shall be liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of the amounts determined under each of the following paragraphs:
(1) Actual damages.--The greater of--

(A) the amount of any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure; or
(B) any amount paid by the person to the credit repair organization.
(2) Punitive damages.--

(A) Individual actions.--In the case of any action by an individual, such additional amount as the court may allow.
(B) Class actions.--In the case of a class action, the sum of--

(i) the aggregate of the amount which the court may allow for each named plaintiff; and
(ii) the aggregate of the amount which the court may allow for each other class member, without regard to any minimum individual recovery.
(3) Attorneys' fees.--In the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under paragraph (1) or (2), the costs of the action, together with reasonable attorneys' fees.
(b) Factors to Be Considered in Awarding Punitive Damages.--In determining the amount of any liability of any credit repair organization under subsection (a)(2), the court shall consider, among other relevant factors--
(1) the frequency and persistence of noncompliance by the credit repair organization;
(2) the nature of the noncompliance;
(3) the extent to which such noncompliance was intentional; and
(4) in the case of any class action, the number of consumers adversely affected.

Elaine (The Processor)(NOt even sure if it is her real name because she will never furnish her last name) had sent me a (2) two page document listing my collection accounts with a paragraph reading "Are you able to pay off this account in 48 hours if notified by this office?"

This was my first warning flag! They have already been paid off and this is where I figured out their strategy. They are dangling a carrot in front of the creditors to get the deletion. However, the creditor already has their money, hence their bargaining chip. I then asked Elaine, How are you going to get a collection agency to delete an account that they have already been paid for? The processors have working relationships with the collection agencies and they will have their people do it.

Hold on a minute You are contacting the collection agencies? What about these secret fax numbers and inside people you have at the credit bureaus who are supposed to be deleting this information? Elaine replied Well, we usually don't deal with the credit bureau, that always causes a problem, we just have the creditors delete the information.

I went on to explain to Elaine that I have cancelled checks with restricted endorsements, cancelled checks showing the accounts were never paid late, delivery confirmations, certified mail return cards etc that would make her job a lot easier. Elaine then requested that I fax any pertinent documentation that I had to her. I then faxed in detail everything I had with the supporting documentation and a narrative to describe it in detail to make for a rapid correction.

A few weeks go by and I start receiving red flag letters from Trans Union and Equifax. I contacted Elaine on March 13th to inquire why I was receiving red flag letters. This is what the credit bureaus do when they determine that you are using a third party to dispute your credit. It also is a great way to have your dispute ignored, which they can do by law, if they believe that your dispute is frivolous or irrelevant!

I asked Elaine when she called if she was sending in dispute letters to the bureaus, and she replied, "Yes". I informed her that I don't need to pay a company $1,450.00 to send in dispute letters that I am perfectly capable at doing it myself. She stated that it was necessary to have my reports updated. I then inquired again, What about these inside people you have working for you, these secret fax numbers? As usual, she danced around the question.

I don't really know what Elaine does, or if this is even her real name. After doing a property search through a commercial database we subscribe to, I found that their address comes back to a business called The Mail Room. Not that I was surprised that they are hiding behind a PO Box, or as they like to call it a Suite.

For a processor it seems that Elaine never can answer a single question I present to her. Elaine's standard response is, I don't know, the processors are working on it

Around April 20th Elaine contacted me to inform me that she was getting no where with three of the 5 items I needed deleted. I told her that this was interesting to me being though I received a personally prepared letter (Not A Form Letter) from one creditor admitting that they had made a mistake in reporting my account as late and that they were going to correct it. Elaine then stated she needed a copy of the letter for her files. I asked, Why? Obviously as you just stated, you are getting no where with them if this is in fact the truth. So why would you need a copy of this letter? Elaine replied We need it for the file.


I had no intention of sending it to Elaine for the simple fact that she wanted it to Cover Her @*$ because she knew that at that point, almost 10 weeks later that Strategy Credit had done NOTHING to improve my credit file! Elaine wanted the letter to say, Here see we were able to get something resolved. Well, they didn't. I couldn't wait any longer and as we approached 8 weeks + I continued to fax one creditor a (18) page fax on a daily basis which was the same information that I originally sent Strategy Credit Group. Apparently their so called people never came into possession of the paperwork or they would have corrected the file. The reason I know this is because the letter was hand signed, in ink, by a representaitive of the creditor who is the credit dept supervisor for their local office, and she is the person I was dealing with when it originally showed up late on my credit.

A week later a second letter arrives from the same creditor stating that my account is being reported correctly and that the two lates will remain on my credit. At that point I had it. Ironically, Elaine had contacted me again to request a copy of the first letter. I then informed her that I received a second letter contradicting the first letter. She then requested that I fax both letters to her. I asked about the three accounts again and she stated that, they are refusing to cooperate, review my documentation, or detlete the incorrect tradelines. I then stated that I will have to sue both creditors and Elaine replied You probably will have to, at this point we can't do anything further for you.

At that time I filed a small claims law suit against both creditors citing specific violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most specifically section 611 (1) (A) for Willfull Non-Compliance

On April 28th Holly Davidosn contacted me to follow up on the Creditors Letters to see if I could fax them to Elaine. I returned her email requesting to speak with her at 1:00 PM on my cell phone. Holly called me and I voiced my concerns about Strategy Credit Group. Holly stated that if I sent the creditors Letters that she had a person inside at the creditor that was going to remove the lates and update the report in (5) five days. As promised, I had my wife fax the letters at 4:50 PM on April 28th to Elaine.

One April 29th at 11:00 AM Holly contacted me to see if I could withdraw my lawsuit because Strategy Credit Groups's secret person at the creditor was going to remove the lates, but would be upset if they were served with a lawsuit. I agreed to do so and went to the court to have them pull it out of the mail before they sent it out. I had recorded her last two telephone conversations on April 28th and 29th, this was the reason I requested she call me at a specific time. In New Jersey it is legal to record a telephone conversation on a digital cell phone recording device without the others parties consent / knowledge.

Thirty minutes after Holly and I spoke on the telephone Elaine contacted me responding to Holly's email to verify that I had withdrawn my lawsuit against the creditor I assured Elaine that I did so and that Holly had stated that the lates would be removed within 5 days in consideration of me vacating the lawsuit. Then Elaine stated, Well they can't remove ALL of the lates! I replied, What do you mean ALL of the lates, there are only two, two could hardly be described as all! Elaine replied, Well, they are agreeing to take off SOME of the lates, not all of them though. I replied again, Elaine, what is some of the lates, there is only 2 lates? Elaine replied, They are going to do whatever they can.

One of the creditors had received a lawsuit in the mail and emediately deleted the trade line form my credit and had their attorney send me a "Motion To Dismiss" if they agreed to delete the tradeline. I agreed and sent the dismissal to court. When confronting Elaine with this she stated that it was in fact Strategy that had it deleted.

I also had another collection account deleted from my credit because the creditor could not valiadte that it belonged to me, as I STATED SINCE THE BEGGINING... It did not belong to me!

After informing Elaine that I WAS THE ONE who had the other collection account deleted after they could not validate the debt, she insisted that I produce a deletion letter to prove this. Although I did not receive one I do have the confirmation from the credit bureau that the collection agency REQUESTED it be deleted because they could not validate the debt. I then asked Elaine if she had a deletion letter from the collection agencys if Strategy in fact had it removed, however, conveniently, the only time Elaine could answer any of my questions she informed me, They had a VERBAL confirmation that it was being deleted. Convenient! Unfortunately for Elaine, I have the WRITTEN documentation.


What has $1,450.00 gotten me? Broken promises, false advertising, incompetence, lies, deception etc etc etc.

Here is some FREE advice.

Let me share something you may be able to use in the future to remove negative information from people credit files It's what our tax dollars pay for: The Court System.

My wife had (4) four collection accounts on her credit. The collection agencies would not respond to certified mail or any other correspondence that we sent them. Originally, I was going to refer my wife to Strategy Credit until we reached the 10th week and it was apparent that the service was a fraud. This left us with no other alternative but to seek reprieve by filing a small claims lawsuit. We filed a complaint in small claims court on her behalf on April 22nd. On April 26th the defendants were served with papers. By May 1st all four defendants had agreed to settle to avoid going to court. In addition they agreed to delete any adverse information off of her credit report. Can you believe how simple that was? For under $60.00 and 2 weeks time I was able to remove all negative information on her credit report. Makes you wonder what you would pay $1,450.00 for.

In 2 weeks time I was able to contact all three remaining creditors and have the two collection accounts DELETED from my credit and the other account updated to show that it was never late.

It is pretty sad that with the amount of documentation that I sent Strategy Credit Group, easily proving my case, that they still FAILED!

MY ADVISE: STAY AWAY FROM ANY ENTITY THAT IS DISGUISED AS ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH CREDIT! No matter how Strategy Credit Group wants to classify itself (Consumer Advocate, Credit Advocate Etc) they are still a credit repair scam! I figured, it would be easier to pay $1,450.00 then to spend time typing letter, contacting creditors etc. to have my credit file updated. It was an expensive mistake.

Steven
Bridgewater, New Jersey
U.S.A.