Gestapo in America

So, my daughter gets this call from a collection agency.

They tell her she owes $143 to the cardiology department of a local medical center, and the bill goes back to 2006.

My daughter has never seen a bill from them. She was never contacted by them. She knew nothing about this, until the collection agency called.

Now, the annoying part of this is she is being treated like a deadbeat, and no one will believe her when she tells the truth.

She will pay the $143, gladly, if she truly owes it.

But the huge problem that has been created is that, since this bill was referred to a collection agency, it will go on her credit report, unless she miraculously can get the cardiologist to undo what they have done with the collection agency, which is highly unlikely.

The same thing happened to me years ago, and that collection agency referral is still on my credit report. It dropped my credit score by more than 100 points, and I can’t get it off.

This is what you would expect in Russia, not in America. There is nothing you can do, no appeals, no rectifying errors, no recourse. No nothing.

Oh, they say you can write the credit agencies, but that’s a joke. I did that, and several months later, I got form letters that basically blew me off. I tried calling and could never reach a live person.

The three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, answer to no one. If they are regulated, it is in name only, because U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore could not help me in my past circumstances, and undoubtedly would be unable to help my daughter.

We citizens have, in short, no rights whatsoever. The credit bureaus can find you guilty, and there is not even a method to plead innocence.

This credit bureau system is wrong and un-American. Without any say-so from a citizen, they can, by lowering your credit score, make you pay higher interest rates, or even be refused a loan, because their computers spit out scores based on data fed it. And that data may or may not be correct.

When Congress takes up reforms in our financial system, it would be a wonderful thing if they would create a system of appeals where an individual can really go and get a real ear when a credit bureau is using erroneous or incomplete information.

If you have your own credit horror stories to tell, e-mail them to me. I will publish several and pass them all along to Rep. Moore. Since the Democrats are supposed to be more sensitive to the little people, and since Democrats rule everywhere, perhaps we can finally get justice.

Wouldn’t it be great if the arrogant and omnipotent Experian, Equifax, and Trans-Union finally had to deal with real people with real clout over this Gestapo-like triumvirate.

Contact Steve Rose at srose@sun
publications.com.

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