| Comment Number: | 514719-00063 |
| Received: | 4/19/2005 8:20:12 AM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Tammy Black |
| State: | WA |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Notice of Proposed Study on the Effects of Credit Scores and Credit-based Insurance Scores on the Availability and Affordability of Financial Products |
| Docket ID: | 3084-AA94 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
We are in the process of purchasing a home. We thought! Our credit scores were good and we were approved for a loan. Note this was PRIOR to us giving any monies for downpayment, ordering up the inspection, etc., Last week we were advised that a recent judgment was placed on our credit report, thus lowering our scores and the lender backed out. The judgment being used on our credit was NEVER communicated to us by the attorney that we hired or the courts. We had NO idea that you could have this information show on your credit history for going to court to defend yourself. Back to the judgment. It was for an eviction of our month to month lease on a house that we had leased for 3+ years. It was not for unpaid rents. But apparently the judgment reads that it was. The judgment was only for the payment of legal fees & court costs. Those were paid out of our original deposits with the landlord. The actual reason for being in the court in the first place was an over zealous couple trying to sell their 1/2 million dollar house & not caring that we leased the house for 3 + yrs. These homeowners whom my husband met during a 5 minute encounter during the 3 plus years we rented their home, had been swayed by an incompetant realtor. This same realtor had never stepped foot in the house during the entire time the house was on the market (6 months). This agent told the homeowners that the house would show better if nobody lived in the home. We knew that his suggestion was only to cover his lying butt that he wasn't sending anyone to the house to look at it. We were sent to court as they stated they had served us a 20 day notice back in December. However, they never did, they only telephoned our property manager and she wasn't in agreement with them and said that she didn't want to serve anything and to sit tight. We ended up going to court to defend that fact and to get the judge to give us more time. The timing was unbelievable. It was not only Christmas of 2004 but my mother in law had just passed suddenly the day after Christmas. The homeowners told our Property Manager they would give us to the 10th of January. We again waited for this 20 day notice and it was never served. What was served instead was an eviction notice. We hired an attorney and proceeded to court to defend ourselves and hopefully get the owners to allow us to stay in the house until they at least sold it. The lawyer for the homeowners had a last minute stunt arranged and had the Property manager show up and lie and state that she posted a 20 day notice at the property. It was our word against hers and we never recorded her phone conversations. The guilt she has on her shoulders now is HUGE. So...we get 2 weeks to move & they get awarded all of the court costs involved. Now we get this information that this judgment is on our credit report and it's not being shown paid of which it has been. We called and demanded that the attorney for the homeowners show that this is "satisfied". Meanwhile, we contact this same Property Manager and ask her to write a letter on our behalf. You know that old story, don't burn a bridge! Her letter arrived within a couple of hours and it confirms that we were NEVER behind in rent payments in 3 plus years and that we are EXCELLANT tenants. Can that information be used to get the "judgment" revoked in the courts? We are still trying hard to get approval on this house or we lose 10,000.00 in earnest monies in one more week. We want to be pro-active and get this taken care of now. I need to know which direction to go first? We have only given the letter from the guilt ridden property manager to our Mortgage broker for him to submit with our loans. Will sending it to the credit bureaus help immediately or what? Do we have any recourse to sue the homeowners for defaming our name with this negative credit reporting info? Please help asap... Thank you.