Hi there! I’m Chuck Rosseel and I started Credit Scoop News to help good folks keep up to date with what’s happening in the credit repair industry and the credit reporting industry.
Background
I’m a graduate of Boston College with a BA in English literature and a minor in Business. I started a successful credit repair business in 1987 and have worked on thousands of credit reports. In the 1990’s I worked with many other credit repair company owners to get laws passed in Congress that recognized our industry as a much needed, valuable service to help consumers navigate and deal with a complex, often unfair and broken credit reporting system.
Met The Bigshots
We had some successes and some failures. We lost some battles with government agencies, the major credit bureaus, banks and insurance companies. We would fly to Washington DC and plan to meet with Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen. Almost without exception these important politicians would agree to meet with us. We usually had at least one member of our group who was a constituent of a politician we wanted to meet.
It was grueling work but also quite thrilling because we met with the top decision makers, not just their staffs. I recall Joe Kennedy, Maxine Waters, Joe Moakley, John Kerry and several other big shots being extremely gracious with their time, support and suggestions. Without exception these government representatives listened to us intently and genuinely seemed to care about the important consumer credit issues we discussed.
We weren’t confident that all the provisions we fought for would be passed but our passionate concerns about the business-killing sections of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) did seem to have some impact in delaying its passage. CROA (or some form of it) had been around for years and we would have been pleased had it just fizzled in committee as it always had in the past. However I greatest concern was the restrictive regulation, the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
In The Dark Of Night It Was Over For Credit Repair Companies
Powerful forces from the opposing side managed to slip CROA in at the last moment with the Department of Defense Appropriations Act – 1997, which itself was later included within the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Bill when the country was facing a government shut down. President Bill Clinton signed it into law.
Credit repair companies now had a few months grace period to prepare for life under CROA and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). You can read what a horror that can be like in my article, Are Credit Repair Companies Legitimate?
These new laws and regulations meant we couldn’t collect any fees until a year or more after a client signed up. No business can survive under those conditions. I did stay interested and active in consumer credit
Today credit repair companies use a sectional services pricing model. First they offer you a consultation with a credit audit which you pay for a few days later. Then they work on processing your disputes and challenges which you pay for the following month. Some only charge you after an item has been deleted or corrected in your favor. This seems reasonable and allows credit reporting companies to receive revenue so they can profit and hopefully flourish. However, there’s a huge problem with this cash flow method.
The Federal Trade Commission claims it is a violation of CROA but more importantly it is most definitely a violation of TSR. Very unfortunate for credit repair companies but that is the law. Credit Scoop News will keep you informed about these important issues.
