hey boredhousewife.

the problem is it's really hard to sue equifax and transunion in Canada.
Other wise the process would be easier for the consumer.

Since we have to go through consumer protection, mediation, equifax and transunion get off much lighter.

Tank does this apply to the Canadians though. It sounds dang right good we tyrant them back. But what do you do with the 3 other tyrants Equifax, Transunion and Experidan from screwing us up too?

Again,

http://www.lhcreditrepair.com is shut down.
The Fedreal Trade Commission ( "FTC" ) has filed a lawsuit against Rudolph Joseph Strobel a/k/a Lee Harrison and LeAnna Ruth Harrison, both individually and doing business as Lee Harrison Credit Restoration , Credit Restoration , And Lee Harrison AssociatesCredit Restoration , alleging that they have engaged in deceptive practices relating to the advertising, marketing, promotion, offering for sale, sale, or provision of credit repair services. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has issued a Preliminary Injunction prohibiting the alleged practices. You may obtain additional information directly from the FTC.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/09/lhcr.shtm

Ray, I agree with you on your fine points in being that Canadian laws differ from U.S. law. Because of this fact, much of what you say I'm sure is spot on correct.

In sharp contrast though, the U.S. has very specific laws which govern Credit orgs, and as such are tighly regulated, but only if you push the issue and have time to force it down peoples throats.

39 court cases against credit collection companies, all filed in a public venue, which were all settled within 3 weeks of filing, are evidence of my theory put to practical use. Bear in mind that these are all debts under $10,000 each, and I had recordings to prove abuse and other violations in a court of law. In one case I sent one of my recordings via email to the opposing attorney who called me back within 36 minutes to settle with me on the spot, and furthermore mailed me certified funds for $6,000 USD for my trouble, if I would settle and not disclose the settlement agreement details to anyone.

I have included all of this information to people on this site, because Monty has the most efficient, well planned web site anywhere in the world which related to credit repair and orgs.

I only wish he would expand his website to include U.S. topics more freely as well.

I responded to the points in your lengthy post because many of the laws in the U.S. don't apply to Canada.

1. True, that's why you guys have budhibbs.com.

2. Most debt buyers don't sue debtors; if litigation was viable, the original creditor would have done so and not sold the debt off for a pittance. Debt buyers may or may not have the documentary evidence of the individual debt's ownwership, but it's usually a moot point because they prefer to use blackmail through intimidation (like we've just seen with Natale Offices) and hitting debtors' credit files with hard inquiries and collection activity reporting dates in the "collections and public records" sections of their credit bureau files. There is no corresponding "Validation of Debt Document" law in Canada.

3. There is no corresponding automatic $1000 plus expenses law in Canada for collection agencies who violate any provincial collections act. Too bad; Deanna Natale and George Krieser would lose their yachts if there was.

4. In Canada, Small Claims Court costs and modest paralegal fees considerably lower the practical threshold for litigation.

5. Boy, you got that right!

6. A good friend of mine just spent 17 days in a hospital ACU. The bill for the room itself was $5000 per day. We're lucky to have government health insurance plans in Canada. However, you can't take anyoone to court in Canada over a medical bill you don't agree with.

7. I saw a guy do that along time ago. I figured for sure he'd win, but the judge inexplicably threw out the case. Our judges are notoriously fickle, something anyone who's worked in insurance litigation would be well aware of.

8. You can't sue persons, natural or corporate, for putting incorrect information on your credit reports. The various provincial consumer reporting acts involve a reverse onus principle whereby the submitter of the information has 30 days to prove the its validity or it has to be removed.

9. You are allowed to secretly record YOUR coversations with another party in Canada under our Privacy laws if it's for a licit reason. But you'd be wasting your time recording abusive phone converstions with collection agents 99.99999% of the time in this country. They occur a 100,000 times a day, so obviously, the law is not enforced. A collection agency or a collection agent has never lost their licence in a single instance. If the agent loses their job, they still keep their licence, and move to another agency down the street, Every couple of years a miserable firm like George Krieser's Total Credit Recovery gets taken to Small Claims Court by some outraged debtor, where they receive a slap on the wrist. A negligable, nay miniscule cost of doing business.

11. I've seen lots of court cases but have never seen an instance where a judge would consider an offer of $1 a month to be a "good faith" offer. That just infuriates the judge and keeps the interest accumulating. The last 2 people I saw who that tried that both got hit with a $1000 a month repayment orders. One was an actual lawyer, herself who had the misfortune to wind up as a defendant.

Provicial collection agency acts mandate a sliding scale of surety bonds to be deposited depending on what debts are being collected. As far as I know, this is one area that's rigidly enforced.

12. As stated, the occasional person does this but for "punitive" or even "aggravated" damages to be awarded, the collection behaviour must be reall egregious, .....and even then, not much ever happens. How do you think Natale Law Offices get away with the stuff they do?

13, 14. Despite your 39 cases, and Angella's, most collection agencies do defend themselves in Small Claims or even Superior Court. Thay have a lot more money than the debtor; that's why the guy was in debt in the first place.

14, 15. Those procedures don't apply in Canada. However, if you dispute an item that's on your credit report with a credit bureau, there's a chance that sometimes they may fail to respond. But of course, they could just stick the same item, whether true or false, on there 3 months later.

15. You can't litigate for a court order to remove a credit bureau item in Canada.

16. OK

17 et al. I believe people should perform their own credit repair but that's just my opinion.

Ray

(everything below is my opinion)

After my adventure with Lee Harrison, I began analyzing how the credit system in the U.S. Works, and after months of careful study, I realized things most people do not even know. There’s the “book” way and there’s reality guys. Here is my BASIC advice on how to fix your credit quickly;

1. All credit collection agencies use illegal tactics, because so very few people actually respond, so it’s cheaper for the collection agencies to violate the law, and in extreme cases “settle” than to abide by the law 100% of the time. You can use this to your advantage. They call it “acceptable risk”
2. Collection agencies want their money up front, and will try and bully you to get it all up front, use this to your advantage. Problem is almost all of them purchased your debt for pennies on the dollar from the original creditor, and usually have nothing but a slip of paper that shows you owe the debt. I’ve never seen any creditor actually have the contract or original paperwork you signed, and they certainly can’t provide you the proof of debt IAW the FDCA “Validation of Debts”
3. Fact: Every time a collection agency violates the FDCA, they owe you $1,000.00 USD plus reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
4. Most debts are too small to even waste time on, so it’s cheaper for collection agencies to “settle” with you, instead of hiring an attorney in your area, paying a retainer and then possibly losing in court. You have the home field advantage.
5. Most credit collection employees are idiots, and have little or no education, and are certainly not aware of the law as they should be, and even if they do, they do not follow it. Use this to your advantage.

6. Medical bills are the worst and just “kill me” per say. These morons typically have a lot of audacity, and will bill you $5.99 for a freaking aspirin or $90.00 for a bandage. BULLSH*T I say!!!. Request an itemized statement from the provider, go through it line by line, and list every overcharge and every fake charge for something you never received. Sue them, and let them explain to a judge why they charged you $5.99 for an aspirin. Insurance fraud is a felony crime, and in my two cases, the hospital dropped my entire $15,945.12 bill, after I filed suit against them for fraud. Not only did I file suit, but I files a complaint with the Texas Dept of Insurance, Fraud division and I was told these companies do this all the time, but no one ever disputes it. Investigate it people, the companies steal us blind. Think about it; the average American who has health coverage pays on average $300-$500 per month for their family coverage. On top of that your company id paying an additional amount of $900-$1500 for you per month making these insurance companies rich.

7. If your insurance company refuses to pay a medical bill, sue them in small claims court, I don’t care what the contract says. Let them explain to a judge why they won’t pay. In four separate cases with BCBS, they paid the remaining bill before it ever went to court in response to my suit.

8. If a doctor bills you for some B.S. crap, dispute the debt, ask for substantiation and then sue them if they try and place it on your credit file. If everyone starts to “dispute and sue” these doctors when they pull this crap, medical expenses will come down eventually. Just because you are a doctor does not mean you can charge me whatever you want, when ever you want, because you have $250,000 in college loans to pay off, buy a second house on the beach, and give your wife a new Mercedes convertible for Christmas. Get real people, let’s fight back.

9. Record everything if it’s legal in your state. Be careful though, not all states are legal, and in some states like Michigan it’s a felony. Most states have a law which regulates the recording of telephone and personal conversations. For example, Texas (among many) allows a person to record any and all conversations (even by phone) as long as you are a party to it. Go buy a Digital pocket recorder which records in MP3 format (all of them now) and capable of downloading to your computer. (RCA Digital Voice Recorder Model Number: RP5036)

10. Record EVERY single conversation you have with EVERY single creditor, carry it around with you, and record every conversation where they threaten you, call before 8am or after 9pm your time, and every time they discuss your debt with someone other than you. Each violation is $1,000 they owe you.

11. While you talk to them offer in “good faith” to make small payments, if they refuse to accept, log these these telephone calls for future use. A judge will look very poorly at a creditor who refuses even $1 per month in payments, since you are trying to pay “in good faith”. Watch them squirm in court, if they every get there. In Texas (and most states) a credit collection company, must have a surety bond of $10,000 in order to collect money from you. 99.3% of creditors do not follow this law, and are in violation of the law, which allows you the right to sue them.

Texas Finance code 393 Texas Finance Code § 392.101. BOND REQUIREMENT. (a) A third-party debt collector or credit bureau may not engage in debt collection unless
the third-party debt collector or credit bureau has obtained a
surety bond issued by a surety company authorized to do business in
this state as prescribed by this section. A copy of the bond must be
filed with the secretary of state.
(b) The bond must be in favor of:
(1) any person who is damaged by a violation of this
chapter; and
(2) this state for the benefit of any person who is
damaged by a violation of this chapter.
(c) The bond must be in the amount of $10,000.

12. Once you have your recorded phone calls, and once you have sufficient evidence that the collection agency violated the law you are ready to proceed.

13. File against the creditor in your local small claims court, in fact, file against all of them at once. In my experience (39 cases) they all (100%) called me to settle out of court before the trial.

14. The FDCA says that if you dispute a debt in writing, the creditor must provide you proof, in writing, that you actually owe them a debt. In 39 cases, and in 39 certified mail requests, not one ever provided proof. This is cause for a suit IAW the law. (primarily they never respond, because they have nothing to send you. See # 2 above)
15. When you file, bluff them on the claim form. For example; every single one of my claim forms stated the same thing. “Defendant violated multiple sections of the FDCA. Defendant was recorded IAW Texas law, making threatening & illegal comments which violate the FDCA in multiple communications. Defendant refuses “good faith” payments & refuses to provide substantiation of debt in direct violation of the FDCA. Plaintiff seeks court order to remove credit entry, and injunction relief to force defendant to stop performing collection activities as they are not licensed or bonded IAW Texas law to perform credit collections.

16. Sue for the maximum allowed by your small claims court.

These are the basics guys. I helped a friend of mine from Corpus Christ 64 days ago, get over $96,000 in debt removed completely from her credit report, by following my advice. She filed suit against 16 creditors on the same day, and within 19 days they all called her to settle. You have to be a hard azz, and you stick to your guns when they call. Tell them you will dismiss the case if they completely remove the entry, never to be replaced on any credit file and do not sell, rent, exchange or otherwise transfer the debt to anyone else or any other company or entity. Don’t get cocky and demand money unless you really have a rock hard case, with plenty of hard proof to back it up. In a case like this, sue the crap out of them, and actually take them to court, don’t settle unless it’s easy for you.

In most states, credit repair companies are tightly regulated, Research their BBB history before paying a dime. In Texas, the law says that any company providing credit repair, must have a $10,000 surety bond which must be held in trust at a federally
Insured bank or savings association located in Texas.
(b) The name of the depository and the trustee and the
account number of the surety account must be filed with the
Texas Secretary of State, Statutory documents division.

Make sure when they send you the settlement agreement in writing that it says the previous. Do not say, or admit or disclose any information other than that. Be forceful and do not back down. These attorneys think they are smart, and will try and bully you into backing down when in reality they are a bunch of pansy pencil pushers, and that is why they are sitting behind a desk settling cases. Trial attorneys are the ones to respect, they are the ones who will go to court and fight, but you almost NEVER see these guys except in big cases like murder or large insurance cases.

Worse case scenario, if they don’t want to settle say “ok then, see you in court” and hang up the phone. They will call you back I assure you. There is more to this whole thing, but in essence this information has proven to work perfectly, and I’ve demonstrated it on more than one occasion in 2007 & 2008 winning more than 39 settling them before court ever conveiened. Call me if you have questions, I will help you for free & walk you through the entire process. This is not a joke. If the credit collection people can play dirty, why can’t we? It’s dang well time we played hard ball back. Grow some cahoonus and join me in fighting back against these people.

(214) 727-5354

Well, I guess every Captain Ahab needs a Moby Dick to harpoon - and you certainly put a harpoon up his a**.

Poor Lee Harrison [or whatever the heck his name is]. I guess he made a mistake not hiding out in South America along with all those Nazi medical doctors.

After you've finished with him, it sounds like the only job he'll ever get is that of a collection agent.

I wasn't being facetious. You certainly did a great job.... but all for 850 bucks? Your talents could have been better utilized working for the Simon Wiesenthal Center chasing down those Nazis hiding out in South America.

Point No.10 makes it sound like Strobel may have taught you something else. Does it cost $99.95 to find out this "secret method" of credit repair, or is it free?

Ray

The Texas Finance Code, Chapter 393 (which regulates Lee Harrison credit restoration) states;

§ 393.402. SURETY ACCOUNT. (a) The surety account of a

credit services organization must be held in trust at a federally

insured bank or savings association located in this state.
(b) The name of the depository and the trustee and the

account number of the surety account must be filed with the

secretary of state.

§ 393.403. AMOUNT OF SURETY BOND OR ACCOUNT. The surety

bond or account of a credit services organization must be in the

amount of $10,000.

§ 393.404. BENEFICIARY OF SURETY BOND OR ACCOUNT. The

surety bond or account of a credit services organization must be in

favor of:
(1) this state for the benefit of a person damaged by a

violation of this chapter; and
(2) a person damaged by a violation of this chapter.

(everything below is my opinion)

In order to get some resolution for those ripped off, please do the following in the exact order that I list. I've already done this, perfected it, and made all the mistakes. Call me if you have questions;

1. Call Anne Lejurene with the Federal Trade Commission in Dallas (214)979-9371 and tell her your story.
2. Call Century Bank in New Boston, Texas to inquire about the $10,000 surety bond account # 5834111, which protects those injured by credit repair organisations. (903) 628-2582

3. Call Sharon Shaw, the assistant district Attorney of Texas and file a complaint. Ask for her specifically. ( 806) 747-5238
4. File a complaint with the BBB in Dallas Texas
5. Call Ken Ford the attorney who filed my domestication in Dallas. (214) 505-7162/214 265-9652
6. Look up process servers in Texarkana Texas, and locate one to serve the suit papers to the below. Do this before filing in small claims. Certified mail does not work, trust me.
7. File in small claims court using the following information;

Rudolph J. Strobel, Leanna R. Harrison & Lee Harrison Credit restoration
(Address removed. Email me for this)

8. Drivers license #'s removed. Email me for this.

9. You may list the law suit (Cause # 06SC526) I’ve already won in the 18th Judicial Court in Wichita Kansas, (316) 660-5630 and even call and get a copy of the judgment if you like to include with your suit. This will go a long way towards proving punitive damages, which have already been won and a precedence set for cause.

10. When you are done with all of this, call me back, and I’ll tell you how you can get your credit PERFECT in less than 90 days, all by yourself, and never pay a penny to anyone to do it for you. I perfected the method, and you can do it yourself. I had over 122K removed from my credit files in less than 6 months, and taught myself how to do it without any problems.

I hope that this helps.

Duane Davis
(214) 727-5354

Actually this entire event was a pain in my neck, and really not worth the countless months, hours and pain stakingly tedious days spent researching and tracking his slippery butt down, so it was actually sort of anti-climactic per say. He ended up paying me +/- $7,000 in a certified check, but in the end I pretty much broke even with all of the study, fees, court costs, travel, postage and whatnot, so in retrospect, I probably would not do it again. I will tell you, that had he been a nice guy, and not said the event reckoning words ""F" you, I got your money, good luck finding me" and the tenacity hardening falsified remarks to the BBB, where he out right lied to them, I probably would have just chalked it up to a lesson learned and forgotten the whole thing. His speech and conduct, and his antagonizing spirit, led me to the relentless path that was chosen, and will see thus far until it's end.

This man's actions and words in written responses to the Kansas court, to me and to various agencies proves in my opinion, that he is not only a con-artist, but also a crook, a thief and a liar who prey's on the innocent to supplement his income. Furthermore his verbiage in the aforementioned letters and documents show his severe lack of education, sensibility and the exponential arrogance he portrays, since he felt he was "untouchable" because of his sneakiness and use of ficticious names and addresses.

There is ALWAYS someone smarter, more motivated and better educated, who will seek the truth. My next objective is to see him criminally proscecuted, and to petition the State of Texas to change the Credit Repair laws to proscecute those offending or violating the law, and to stop using the broad verbiage to exploit those who have a lack of knowledge in the genre of e-commerce.

All he had to do was be a nice guy.....Personally I'd love to spit on him to be honest, and what's so funny about all of this is that I've stood before him twice in a public place and talked directly to him twice, and he had no idea who I was. He also had no idea that thoughts of causing him physical harm were present in my mind at that very moment. My professionalism and my self-control allowed me to smile, shake his hand and be warm and friendly, all the while never allowing him to know who I really was.

I'm glad at this point, that I did nothing, and the legal retribution I sought, is seeing the light of day. There much more to come though, I assure you. This is not over........Another chapter is afoot.