Don’t Be Tricked by Credit Bureau STALL TACTICS!

Daniel Rosen  00:00

Hey credit heroes. Today's podcast is all about bureau stall tactics, what they are, how the bureaus  use them to intentionally disrupt your credit repair process and everything you need to know to fight back and get results. So you better stick around.

Daniel Rosen  00:18

So the big question is this, how can we take our passion for helping people with their credit and turn it into a successful business without taking loans, without spending a fortune by bootstrapping it from nothing? So we can help the most people and still become highly profitable. That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Daniel Rosen, and welcome to Credit Repair Business Secrets. Okay, if this is your first time listening to my podcast, every week, I cover industry news, financial tips, and entrepreneurial advice for bootstrapping your business from nothing. This show is the very best how-to guide for business owners and there is no other podcast like it. So be sure to click that subscribe button now and get ready to start changing lives.

Daniel Rosen  01:11

Okay, so today we are going to talk about bureau stall tactics, which are what the credit bureaus do to delay the credit repair process and discourage people from using credit repair services. I'm going to cover what to expect once you've begun the dispute process. I'm going to go over the types of stall tactics that the bureaus are using today. And I'm going to go over the best responses that you can have to their tactics, and most importantly, how to keep yourself and your clients from getting discouraged when the bureaus  start playing games. But before we get started, this podcast is brought to you by Credit Hero Score. Credit Hero Score is the only credit monitoring service that integrates directly with Credit Repair Cloud. Get instant access to your credit reports and scores by signing up for a seven day trial for only $1. Sign up right now at creditheroscore.com.

Daniel Rosen  02:13

Okay, let's get into this. Whether you are a fixing your own credit, helping a friend or family or you have a credit repair company, it is important to remember that most of your time will be spent waiting for results. And when time is money, every minute counts right. Now, a stall tactic or a stall response is a very common practice that the bureaus use to slow and extend the credit repair process. Now, whether you believe their reasons for stalling and playing games are mean or they're just being lazy. Know this, the bureaus ultimate goal is to discourage you from repairing credit, because that costs them money. And these tactics are very effective for confusing and even scaring people who don't understand what they are. And if you don't recognize and prepare for the stall tactics, it may even cost you some clients. But don't worry, the thing to remember is stall tactics are very, very common. They're also very, very annoying, but they are a standard part of the process. All of the bureaus use stall tactics and nearly everyone who repairs credit has to go through this. Now stall tactics are one of the reasons why we say the keys to credit repair are pressure, persistence, and keeping the law on your side. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the bureaus must send a written response to your letters. That means after you send your first round of dispute letters, you put them in the mail, you should expect Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to each mail a response. And all three bureaus keep completely different records, so all three will send different responses. The bureaus have 30 days from the date they receive your letters to respond, but the process can take as long as 45 days, although most responses are under 30 days. Now, one or more of the bureaus may completely fail to respond. But if that happens, don't worry, they are required under federal law to conduct an investigation and respond, you just need to sometimes politely remind them to comply with federal law. In Credit Repair Cloud we have a letter library that has over 130 letters in it and it includes the exact no response letter template to use in this situation. That all being said, you will probably receive responses from all three bureaus. Now those responses will either be investigation results, letting you know whether or not the disputed information was modified or removed. And then you can do a happy dance with your client. Or the response might say that the item was verified, which you can challenge. Or you may just get a stall letter. And at this point in the industry, it seems like the stall letter has become the bureaus' default automatic first response to everything. Here's why this is important. When their stall letter is successful, this usually causes a person in a desperate financial situation to just give up. And we can't let that happen. You can't give up and you can't let your clients give up. You've got to keep them informed and updated throughout the process. Explain to your clients what stall tactics are and how to fight them. And if you don't, they might think it's your fault in the process for taking so long. And remember, all correspondence from the bureaus including the stall letters, they are sent directly to your client. And if your client isn't expecting them, these letters might freak them out. These letters can make your client think that credit repair is a bad thing. So be prepared to reassure them. Tell them not to worry when they get these letters in the mail, and remind them that credit repair is a waiting game. And this is just a stall tactic. And this is what the bureaus do. And tell your clients they must forward all the letters to you, which they can easily do in their portal if you use CRC. If you establish realistic expectations for how long their credit repair may take, and you explain their role in the process. And if you do this all early, you will have a great chance of keeping them calm throughout the process. The most important thing to remember is since bureau stall tactics are part of the process, then your responses to the stall tactics are also part of the process. If you have the correct responses for each stall tactic, you will make the process as fast as possible, you will break through the walls that they built and you will eventually make serious progress. But you must keep applying pressure, you must keep being persistent, and know that you have the law on your side. So here's what you need to know. As stall tactics become more and more common every day, it is essential that you learn how to recognize and fight back against them.

Daniel Rosen  07:47

Now deciphering these stall tactics. They may seem complicated, but they're really not. They're essentially all saying the very same thing. They're saying we refuse to comply for whatever reasons. A stall letter can take several forms. It might say, Oh, we received a suspicious request to access your credit file. It might say, Oh, your request was deemed frivolous, and it will not be investigated. It might say that the bureau or furnishers requires additional documents to verify your identity. Or it might even say that the request you sent was not legible. Now, each of these stall tactics will slow the process down by another 30 to 45 day wait period, every time. Do you see why this can be so frustrating? And that's exactly what they want. That's their goal to frustrate you. Your communication pattern is basically once a month. And that's if they don't ghost you. So just know that this is all designed to get you to give up. But don't. As I was saying there are three primary types of stall letters - suspicious request, frivolous request, and insufficient identification. Now insufficient identification is pretty self explanatory, but it can also be tied in with a response that's considered a suspicious request. A suspicious request. That seems to be the most common stall letter response, and I'm going to cover that in depth in just a moment. The frivolous request it usually happens when you attempt to dispute too many items or every single item on the report all at once. And in our basic disputing course, we recommend that you don't dispute more than a handful of items at a time with each credit bureau. Sure you can dispute more if you want to, but if you try to dispute a zillion things all at once, the credit bureaus may automatically deem your disputes as frivolous and essentially throw them all out. And now you're fighting that, too. And you'll have to start over. So don't put yourself or your clients in that position. Okay? In my opinion, the only true justification for disputing more than five items is a case of real identity theft. But that's a separate topic. Now back to the primary types of stall tactics. Let's talk about the suspicious request. TransUnion, for example, has really increased their use of stall tactics, which includes sending form letters like this one. It says, we applaud your recent efforts to take charge of your credit, we want you to know we are on your side. Sure, sure, you are. And we're here to help support you on your path towards credit health. We recently received a request that included your information, but it didn't appear that you are a properly authorized third party sent it to us, we take the privacy and security of your data very seriously. So we won't process requests unless they come directly from you, or an authorized third party. If you are working with a third party, such as a credit repair company or credit clinic, they have to identify themselves in their communications to us and provide proof that you've authorized them to communicate with us on your behalf.

Daniel Rosen  11:30

And the letter goes on and on. Well, at first glance, the letter sounds acceptable. It provides helpful information, support options, and reminders of your rights by law. And I'm glad that the bureaus are concerned about consumer security and financial safety. But when you constantly see these types of letters, and they all seem to be automatically sent to everyone working on their credit, you realize it's just a very well constructed stall letter. And not only that, it implies that you've done something wrong, or that working with a credit repair organization is wrong, when it's actually your right under the law. This letter and one similar to it are often referred to as accusation of credit repair. You will probably receive a letter like this no matter how you prepare your documentation, even if you're working on your own credit, and you just pulled some letter templates off the internet, so don't worry. And as a reminder, if you are repairing your own credit, or you're working with a credit repair organization, either way, technically speaking, all credit disputing is done by the individual. Credit repair companies are simply providing the document processing. And all this letter really means is that your timeline for credit repair just got 30 to 45 days longer. You'll probably need to resend your previous letter with a minor tweaking or an addition of another form of ID. You could even just handwrite in the corner of the letter, Oh, sorry, here's my pictures of my additional ID and then resend it. Just remember stall tactics are designed to discourage you. And when people experience enough of them, they usually just give up. And that's exactly why the bureaus do this. They want you to walk away because it saves them time and it saves them a whole lot of money. But if you keep applying pressure, if you are persistent, and you keep the law on your side, you will succeed. And if the process goes on and on and on and the bureaus continue to stall, you do have options. You may want to file a complaint with the CFPB or the FTC or your state attorney-general or even bring in an FCRA attorney to take them to court. We cover stall tactics and stall responses in our Credit Repair Cloud basic disputing course and in our advanced disputing course. They include step-by-step letter-by-letter responses to each stage of the disputing process. And our letter library and CRC has over 130 templates to help you to craft the perfect letter including a response to the accusation of credit repair. We also provide support and our amazing Facebook community allows you to get your questions answered by 1000s of credit experts. And I know this process can be slow and very, very frustrating. And that's because the bureaus they designed it this way. And that's why we're here to help. And now for my favorite part of the episode our community highlight. Every week I'm featuring one of our credit heroes inside our Credit Repair Cloud Facebook community so that you can see firsthand what real people are doing as they launch and grow their business. And today's spotlight is on Justin Carter. Justin recently posted a picture of a brand new car and the words - he followed the plan and executed. Justin went on to explain what the car picture meant to him.

Daniel Rosen  15:14

He said, "It's the little things for me. My client cried to me, he got one of his dream cars. He made me cry. I can't believe how far I've come. I've tripled my income. And I'm now at 150 active clients. I'm still a one-man team. I can't wait for the future, so much to learn, and so many more people to help. Keep pushing, credit heroes". Wow, isn't that amazing? I keep saying credit repair is all about applying pressure, being persistent and keeping the law on your side. And if you follow the plan and execute dreams can happen. So congratulations, Justin, keep pushing. And I'm going to end by saying if you don't already have a Credit Repair Cloud account, check it out. It's the software that most credit repair businesses in America run on. Just sign up for a 30 day free trial at creditrepaircloud.com/freetrial. And if you'd like me to hold you by the hand as you launch your very own credit repair business, check out our Credit Hero Challenge. It's a live experience that has helped tons of credit heroes to get their first clients, to get certified in disputing, and to gain confidence as they launch their credit repair business on a solid foundation so they can change a whole lot of lives and make a great living in the process. We're starting the next challenge very soon, so you want to join before the door is closed, or you're gonna have a long wait until the next one. So sign up now at creditherochallenge.com. And if you're finding value in the things that I share on this podcast, be sure to click to subscribe and leave me your questions and your comments below because I read each and every one of them. And be sure to visit my blog if you'd like to read the show notes. And if you have a question that you'd like me to answer, drop it down in the comments, and I'm going to answer it during a later episode. And remember, don't get discouraged, be persistent, apply pressure and keep changing lives. Want a fast track to creating an amazing business that helps people changes lives and makes you a great living in the process that I'd like to invite you to my free online training at credit repair cloud.com/free Training. In this free training, you will learn how to get clients willing to pay you even if you're just starting out how to get easy credit repair results without being an expert, and how to get all the clients you'll ever need without paying for advertising. Again, this training is absolutely free. Just visit credit repair cloud.com/free training