PLEASE HELP—Credit Consolidation Company Ruined My Credit!!
Ok..I'm going through the roof here. Yesterday I pulled my credit report only to find out that the two cards that I consolidated under Debt Free Arizona, Inc. have been defaulting to the tune of 15 (90+) counts, about 6 (60+) counts and 5 (30+) counts.
I called up Debt Free to get the scoop and they told me they've made every payment since July 2002, when I enrolled, and that I am current. They call the bank and were told they were current.
So I call Providian Bank myself to find out what's going on. First they tell me that I owed $195 that was never paid, yet Debt Free never mentioned anything to me. All I was told back in 2002 was that the debt agreeements were accepted by Providian and I was current as of then.
Well, this afternoon a rep from Debt Free conference calls Providan and they tell me that the reason my accounts have been reported past due for the last 18 months is because Debt Free never called to re-age the accounts. I have no idea what that means, but basically they are telling me that once it's on there, it can't get taken off.
Providian claims that they require debt management companies to place a call to re-age the accounts. Debt Free claims it's supposed to be done automatically.
At this point, I want to know what legal rights I have and what actions I can take to get this resolved. I shouldn't have to pay for someone else's mistake. I live in New York and lost my job right after the attacks of 9/11. I am furious that I entrusted my financial situation after 9/11 to a company that supposedly is there to help me recover from debt overload.
On a final note, one of my accounts will turn 7 years old in October. If worst comes to worst, could I not pay off the account in full and then request the bureaus to remove after October?
I have spent the last few years trying to rebuild my credit and this is a definite setback of inmense proportions. I can use any help and advice any of you can give. And sorry that this is so long..but I'm in desperate need of help.
Thank you all,
Camilo Machado 
You need specialized help. This is a good board, but you need to go over to
www.creditboards.com
www.creditnet.com
www.creditinfocenter.com
www.artofcredit.com
and others, where the real experts hang out. Help is out there.
UUGGHH !! The same exact thing happened to me. I have 2 Providian credit cards and both of them came up 30 days late almost 6 months in a row. I made payments ON TIME to Consumer Credit Counseling. When I pulled up my report you can imagine my suprise. I also had a credit card that I owed the exact same amount as when I started. I am now wandering the internet trying to learn how to fix my own credit. My credit score was affected tremendously because of my "desperate" attempt with a counseling service. Just be careful with who you choose to help you. They may harm you instead.
Never use these companies. Take control of your own debt and sleep at night.
A similar thing happened to me and the lesson learned was "Take Control of your own Credit".
What many of the credit repair companies do is to negotiate a better rate, but while you're repaying the debt the account is listed as 'derogatory'. I was even paying extra on the account to the tune of over $50/month from the original monthly charge.
SOLUTION: Call the creditors and start paying them directly. In addition, call the credit repair company and formally terminate your relationship with them.
The best thing that the credit repair companies did for me was to get me in the habit of not just paying my bills, but paying OFF my bills. My guess is that you have these skills mastered so break free of the credit repair companies and do it on your own.
You can also negotiate payment terms and rates just as these companies do. Take control of your finances and you'll make slow and steady progress. After a Fico around 520, I was able to get it above 600 and purchase my first home in about 14 months. Slow and steady...
wow. i'm sorry to hear about your problem. i'm however grateful that you shared this with everyone. at least i know something else to check now. "re-age" the accounts.
about that October 7 year thing, the 7 years is from the date of last activity - so you may not be able to get that thrown off, if you've been making payments on it (late or not).
good luck with your resolution.
How horrible - I am so sorry to hear of your situation. I can only share my wisdom having cleaned up my own credit after a dovirce 8 yrs ago and working with Providian.
First - the re-aging process is simple - the bank or credit card company agrees to re-age your account so that your status becomes "current" instead of "30-60-90 days late" and you begin making the agreed upon payments. With a debt counseling service, this should be automatic but I'll say this - Providian breaks the law and they make their own rules. They are HORRIBLE to deal with. (my own experience was that I stopped payment on a check I wrote to them because I mistakenly paid them twice within a couple of days - and they CLOSED my credit line because they said my payment was not honored by my bank and reported to the credit bureau - "account closed by credit grantor - 3000K over the credit limit" !!!!!!!!!!!!) The only thing that worked with them was hiring a lawyer for about $250 I got him to write a letter claiming that they were fraudulently report information on my credit file and that they were subject to fines - etc..... according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It worked - the negative info was removed.
Iin your situation - because of a technicality they are clearly reporting information that is not correct - just by the nature of your agreement with the debt service agency Providian is automatically agreeing to re-age your account - "calling them" to initiate it is Bull.
Get a lawyer - it's worth it.