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By Mike Roberts

The Credit Solution

Copyright 2012 by Mike Roberts

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Copyright Information: Copyright 2011, 2012 by Mike Roberts All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system or used in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical or digital, except as may be expressly permitted by applicable copyright laws or as expressly allowed by the publisher or the author in writing. Publisher Information: Published by Smart Consumer Solutions, LLC, 601 Van Ness Ave, STE E869 San Francisco, CA 94102. Disclaimer: All of the information contained in this publication is true and accurate according to the best information available to me at the time of publication. Please understand, however, that laws and credit industry practices and procedures are constantly evolving; so you should independently update laws, practices and facts before you take action. I do not accept any responsibility for errors or mistakes of any kind, or for any damages or losses that might result from the use of any information provided. Also, I am not a lender, a collection agent or a credit reporting agency. I am not an accountant or an attorney, and nothing in these materials is intended as professional advice. It is personal opinion only. I am providing it to you without any warranties or guarantees whatsoever. To obtain advice as to the tax or legal consequences of any action covered in these materials, or any action that you might consider based on these materials, you should consult an attorney, an accountant, or both. What I have tried to do here is simply offer solid, useful information that I have obtained through my own personal and business experience. Any action you choose to take based on any information that I provide, including forms and other attachments, is entirely your responsibility.

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Table of Contents Introduction: ................................................................................................... 4

Questions about Bankruptcy and Foreclosure: .................................................. 5

How long will my bankruptcy stay on my reports? ................................... 5

How long will my bankruptcy hurt my credit score? ................................ 5

Why do my discharged debts still show balances on my reports?............. 6

How low will my score go if I file bankruptcy? ......................................... 6

How will a foreclosure affect my score? .................................................. 7

How long will a foreclosure remain on my credit reports? ....................... 7

Questions about Credit Reports and Reporting: ................................................ 9

Why do I have a different score from each of the three CRAs? ................. 9

Can I use my highest score to force the other CRAs to match it? ............. 9

Can I get the CRAs to remove unauthorized inquiries? .......................... 10

The CRA keeps updating my old negative items. What can I do? ............ 10

I’m trying to pay off some old charge-offs. Is this wise? ....................... 11

An OC and a CA are both reporting balances for the same account. ...... 11

Is my bank legally required to report a 30-day late pay? ....................... 12

Are old closed accounts on my reports hurting my score? ..................... 12

Questions about Credit Cards: ....................................................................... 14

I can’t pay the minimums on $15,000 in card debt. What can I do? ....... 14

My credit cards cut my limits and my score dropped. What now? .......... 14

Should I get a debt consolidation loan to pay off my cards? .................. 15

Should I close the credit card accounts I don’t use? .............................. 16

Is it better to reopen an old credit card account or start a new one? ...... 16

Questions about Goodwill Letters: ................................................................. 17

Will a Goodwill Letter work with several 30-days on one account? ......... 17

Can I use a Goodwill Letter for an account in collections? ...................... 17

Will a Goodwill Letter work for a 30-day on a closed account? .............. 17

Should I send my Goodwill Letters certified, return receipt requested? .. 18

I sent a Goodwill Letter and it didn’t work. What’s Plan B? ..................... 18

Questions about Validation Letters: ............................................................... 20

Should I follow up a Goodwill Letter with a Validation Letter? ................ 20

I got no response to my Validation Letter. What’s next? ........................ 20

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The CA has ignored all my Validation Letters. Am I out of options? ....... 20

I got a Validation Notice letter but I didn’t respond. Now what? ............ 21

Questions about Investigation Letters: ........................................................... 22

Can I use an Investigation Letter for an accurate, complete item? .......... 22

The “Date Opened” on a credit card is wrong. Should I dispute it? ......... 22

The CRA said my dispute was “frivolous.” What did I do wrong? ............ 22

Can a CRA remove a disputed item and then reinsert it later? ............... 23

Questions about FCBA Evidence Request Letters: ........................................... 25

Can I use an FCBA Evidence Request Letter for a credit card account? ... 25

I can’t prove a negative item is an error. Am I out of luck? .................... 25

Questions about Accounts in Collections: ...................................................... 26

The collection agent keeps calling us and driving us crazy. Help! .......... 26

Old collection items were discharged, but remain on the reports. ......... 26

The CA’s law firm is threatening to sue me. Is this likely? ..................... 27

I got a computer printout from the CA. Is that enough “evidence”? ........ 27

What can I do about four medical collections that are 5-6 years old? .... 27

The statute of limitations is up, but the items remain on my reports. .... 28

Miscellaneous Questions: .............................................................................. 29

How do I remove accounts that were paid in settlement? ...................... 29

My scores are stuck at 650 or so. I don’t know why. Can you help? ....... 29

I don’t have time for all these steps. What are my options? ................... 30

I am going through a divorce. What can I do to protect my credit? ........ 30

Is it illegal to remove a negative item from a credit report? ................... 30

Should I use a debt consolidation company? ......................................... 31

What does “pay for deletion” mean, and when is it used? ...................... 31

Would the CRAs raise my scores if they knew why I couldn’t pay? ......... 32

Should I hire an attorney? ..................................................................... 32

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Introduction: For several months before I released The Credit Solution in final form, I offered a free video series on my website. The videos were sort of a forerunner to the final product, and the purpose was to get a lot of feedback from folks like you—feedback that I could use to make The Credit Solution as good and as valuable as possible. I was hoping for a big response. That’s exactly what I got. I was pretty sure that people would be interested in the topics I covered in the videos (times are tough, after all); but I have to admit that even I was surprised by the volume of the response I received. It was huge. Much of it took the form of thoughtful comments and suggestions, but many people just took the opportunity to ask me questions about the process of solving personal credit problems. Of course, I did my best to answer every question; but it wasn’t long before I noticed that many were very similar. I was answering basically the same questions over and over again. It turns out that many, many people have the same issues. I worked hard to cover all these concerns in The Credit Solution, and I think I succeeded; but I didn’t want to just leave it at that. I thought it would be helpful to put all the most important questions in a straightforward Q&A format and share them with everyone. So here they are—your questions, and my answers. Before we get started I want to cover a couple of technical points about how I decided to present this information.

1. I have done my best to delete or edit out all information that might be used to personally identify any questioner. To the extent that a question appears to provide personal information, that information is fictional. It isn’t real, and any resemblance to the circumstances of any real person is accidental.

2. Each individual question is in fact a combination of several similar questions I received. In most cases I just “boiled down” the language from several questions and rolled it into one in order to focus on a single issue.

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Questions about Bankruptcy and Foreclosure: How long will my bankruptcy stay on my reports?

Question: I just went through bankruptcy and got all my debts discharged as of about six months ago. My score is really low right now—about 500. My credit reports all show the bankruptcy, and I understand that it will probably stay on my reports for at least seven years. Is that true? Is there any way to get the bankruptcy removed early? Answer: Unless you find a way to get it removed, your bankruptcy will probably stay on your reports for ten years, not seven. This period runs from the date the discharge order is entered, not the date the original petition was filed. It’s true that most negative items must be removed after seven years, but in the case of Chapter 7 bankruptcies, Congress saw fit to extend the period an extra three years. As far as having your bankruptcy removed from your credit report is concerned, that is difficult to do if the bankruptcy is legitimate and is accurately reported. If there is anything about the way your bankruptcy is reported that is incomplete or inaccurate, you can try to get it removed through the Investigation Letter process. Bankruptcy courts are set up to respond to CRA investigation requests, however; and normally they are able to provide the necessary documentation to verify the entry.

How long will my bankruptcy hurt my credit score? Question: I went through bankruptcy just over one year ago. I just got all my credit reports and my scores are really low. Is there any hope of raising my score while my bankruptcy remains on my reports? Answer: Yes, there is. Even though your bankruptcy might remain on your reports for years to come, there are steps you can take right now to start diminishing its effect on your credit score. At the moment your score is low because of the bankruptcy, no question; but it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can start to establish a new, positive credit history going forward from here, using the methods I lay out for you in my Build Your Credit from Scratch report. Within a few months, as your bankruptcy fades further and further into the past and as you build up a recent, positive payment history, you’ll see your score improve significantly.

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Why do my discharged debts still show balances on my reports?

Question: I didn’t want to file bankruptcy, but in the end I had no choice. I had a ton of credit card debt that I couldn’t pay once I became unemployed in 2009. I listed each of my delinquent cards on my Chapter 7 petition, and I received a full discharge from the bankruptcy court about a year ago. My old credit card companies stopped bothering me when I filed bankruptcy, and I have not heard from them since; so I thought I was all set with them. But I got my credit reports just a week ago, and I was very surprised to see two of these old cards listed on my report as active accounts with balances. These are the same balances that I thought were discharged in bankruptcy. Can these credit card companies still come after me for these old debts? If not, can I get these items removed from my credit reports? Answer: If your credit card debts were accurately listed on your bankruptcy petition and the court granted your request for a discharge, then the debts are gone. There’s a good reason why you haven’t heard from the credit card companies since you filed. They know they’re out of luck. As far as removing these items is concerned, you can send Investigation Letters to the CRAs. Any debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy should show a zero balance. If it doesn’t, then the listing is an error, and it is made to order for the Investigation Letter process.

How low will my score go if I file bankruptcy? Question: I have a friend who went through bankruptcy and she told me her credit score went down 250 points. Should I expect that to happen to me if I file bankruptcy? Answer: There isn’t any way to know in advance exactly how far a score will drop because of a bankruptcy. It varies from person to person. The reason is that people file bankruptcy for different reasons, and the number of accounts (debts) discharged varies a lot too. Generally, the greater the number of accounts discharged in a bankruptcy, the greater the damage to the credit score. It also matters what the score was before the discharge. If a person with a 650 score files, the drop will be greater that it would be for a person whose score is 475 at the time of filing. Your friend’s experience is pretty typical. If you have a decent score now, and if you have a number of credit cards and some other debt that will be discharged, you should expect to see your score drop by at least 200 points; and it could more.

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How will a foreclosure affect my score? Question: I have managed to avoid foreclosure so far, but I’m way behind on my mortgage and at this point I think foreclosure is probably inevitable. I’ve never been through anything like this before. I used to have good credit, but with my recent missed mortgage payments, my score has dropped a lot. If the bank forecloses, what will happen to my score? Answer: If your bank forecloses, you can expect your score to fall far lower than it is now. The only thing worse than a foreclosure, from a credit score point of view, is a bankruptcy. Your score is likely to go down by 100 to 200 points, depending on how far it has already dropped by the time the foreclosure is reported. Depending on which state you live in, the appearance of the foreclosure on your credit report might not be the end of the bad news. In some states, like New Hampshire and certain other Eastern states, a foreclosing bank is allowed to sue you in court to try to force you to pay for any deficiency remaining on the debt after the foreclosure sale. In other places, like California, this isn’t allowed. If you have a deficiency (most people have a big one) and your bank sues you in court, you’ll soon have a judgment on your credit report to go along with your foreclosure. This will do still more serious damage to your score.

How long will a foreclosure remain on my credit reports?

Question: I have a foreclosure on my credit reports right now because I lost my home to the bank about two years ago. My score dropped a lot in the period leading up to the foreclosure, and still more when the foreclosure was completed and the bank took the house. It’s still very low. How long will this black mark remain on my reports? Is there any way to improve my credit in the meantime? Answer: You can expect to see your foreclosure on your credit reports for seven years after the date of the foreclosure sale. As with bankruptcy, you can challenge the foreclosure entry on your reports if there is anything inaccurate or incomplete about it. I don’t have statistics to back this up, but I think the chances of getting a foreclosure removed through the Investigation Letter process are better than they are for bankruptcies. Here’s why: With foreclosures, the CRAs have to send the investigation request to a bank (creditor), not to a court. I think this increases the likelihood of success. The bank probably isn’t expecting any more money from the foreclosure process, and has little incentive to take the time and effort to provide the requested information.

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As far as improving your credit in the meantime is concerned, there is a great deal you can do. Follow all the steps in my Build Your Credit from Scratch report. Within a few months, your score should start to show significant improvement.

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Questions about Credit Reports and Reporting: Why do I have a different score from each of the three CRAs?

Question: I have 592 at Experian, 605 at Equifax and 618 at TransUnion. What gives? Answer: It’s very normal for the three major CRAs to report different FICO scores. There are two reasons for this. First, they all use the same basic mathematical calculations (software programs); but each company tweaks its own system just a little. This almost always accounts for at least a small difference. Second, don’t forget that not all lenders and CAs report to all three CRAs, so the three companies might not be working with exactly the same information; and even if they do get the same information, each CRA is prone to make errors and mistakes. Different mistakes will lead to different results.

Can I use my highest score to force the other CRAs to match it?

Question: I have different scores from each of the three CRAs and the reports don’t match either. On a couple of important points they are very different. This seems sloppy and very unfair. Don’t they legally have to report the same information about me and don’t they each have to give me the same FICO score? Can I use my highest score to force the other two CRAs to match it? Answer: You make a very good point that this system is sloppy and unfair. These CRAs are private companies, however, and there is no law that requires them to report the same information or calculate the same FICO score for each consumer. And no, you won’t have any luck getting one of the CRAs to change your FICO score because another CRA gave you a higher number. The three CRAs are competitors, and they all believe they are doing it “right.” Their only concerns are to avoid legal trouble and collect fees from lenders who request information. The two CRAs that assigned you a lower score will be happy to know that the third CRA came in higher because they believe this puts them at a competitive advantage. Lenders are more likely to request reports from CRAs that issue lower scores.

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Can I get the CRAs to remove unauthorized inquiries? Question: I just got my report and I see that Bank of America has put two inquiries on my report in the past six months. I don’t have any accounts with them. Is this hurting my score? If so, what can I do? Answer: Whether these inquiries are hurting your score depends on whether they are “hard” or “soft.” A hard inquiry is one that you authorize when you apply for credit. If you actually applied to Bank of America for a loan or a credit card in the past several months, then these inquiries are hard, and they may be having a negative effect on your score (at least temporarily). If you didn’t apply to Bank of America for any credit, then what you’ve seen on your reports are probably inquiries that the bank ran without asking you. Banks and credit card companies do this all the time before sending out “You’ve Been Pre-Approved!” offers. Inquiries like this are “soft,” and they don’t hurt your score at all. Take another look at your reports to see how these new Bank of America inquiries are categorized. All three CRAs make it clear on their reports whether an inquiry is authorized or not (whether it is hard or soft). If you didn’t apply for any credit from Bank of America and you see that the inquiries are being counted against you, then you can use the dispute procedure (Investigation Letters) to challenge them.

The CRA keeps updating my old negative items. What can I do?

Question: I have a couple of collections items on my report that are older than seven years. They are staying on my credit reports because they keep updating? At this rate, they’ll never go away. What can I do about this, if anything? Answer: A CRA is allowed to keep reporting most items for seven years from the date of first delinquency. I’m not sure what you mean by “updating,” but it isn’t unusual for a creditor to report a new “date of first delinquency” if there is any later activity on the account. They particularly like to do this if you request an investigation on the account. If that is what is going on here, it is illegal. You have every right to challenge the accuracy of these listings through the Investigation Letter process. These are old items, and the investigation (assuming the creditor responds to the CRA’s evidence request) will reveal that they are beyond the seven-year period. They should soon disappear. If the creditor doesn’t respond to the CRA’s request for information within 30 days (a likely scenario), they’ll soon come off your report for that reason.

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I’m trying to pay off some old charge-offs. Is this wise? Question: I ran into some tough times about four years ago and I had a couple of accounts that I couldn’t pay anything on at all. In the end the creditors charged them off and that’s how they’re listed on my credit reports. These days I am doing much better financially, and I feel like I should pay these debts. Is this wise? I want to pay what I owe these people, but I don’t want to hurt my credit if I can avoid it. Answer: If you have the ability to simply pay these old debts, then you’ve certainly turned your finances around in recent years. Congratulations. As it happens, you have an opportunity here to do more than just avoid damage to your credit. You should be able to improve it. Right now these old charge-offs are on your reports and they’re hurting your score. You can probably get rid of them. I recommend that you offer to pay the debts, but only if the creditors agree to remove the items from your reports. This is called “pay for deletion.” Contact each creditor and say that you’re willing to pay the debt, but only on the condition that the creditor will notify the CRAs to remove the item. Once you get verbal agreement, follow up with each creditor in writing. Before you pay, make sure you get an authorized representative’s signature on a letter stating that the creditor agrees to the deletion.

An OC and a CA are both reporting balances for the same account.

Question: I have an old credit card account that went to collections. The credit card company (OC) is reporting a balance due on this account, and so is the Collection Agency. I’m getting hit twice on the same account. This can’t be right. Is there anything I can do about this? Answer: First of all, you’re correct. This is not right. When an account goes to collections, the original creditor should start reporting it as charged off, transferred or sold, depending on whether they sold the debt to the CA or just asked the CA to collect it. Regardless, the amount showing as owed to the OC should be zero. It is essentially a closed account. So, you have a couple of options. You can write to the OC, point out the error and ask them to correct it. They might do it, and this will help you a little; but the negative item will remain on your reports. A better option is to dispute the OC entry using the Investigation Letter procedure, and at the same time to challenge the CA entry using a Validation Letter. The Investigation Letter process makes sense for the OC entry because that entry is an error. The Validation Letter is your best option when you’re

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dealing with an item reported by a CA and that item remains unpaid. One more thing: Don’t forget about the statute of limitations. Unless you know for sure that the statute has expired and the creditor can’t sue you in court, think through the issues that I outline in The Credit Solution before you take action.

Is my bank legally required to report a 30-day late pay? Question: I was about 35 days late on a car payment recently, and I called my bank to ask that they not report this to the CRAs. The person in the credit department told me they were legally required to report the payment as 30 days late, and that if they didn’t they would be violating federal law. She said they had no choice. Is this true? Answer: I believe that what this person told you is completely false. I’m not a lawyer, but I’m very familiar with the laws that apply to this situation. I don’t think your bank is under any legal obligation to report anything to anyone. Your bank isn’t required to report your 30-day late payment, and if they don’t do it, nothing bad will happen to them. I’m sure it’s their policy to report all 30-day late payments, and they don’t want to go against their own internal policy; but that’s all it is-an internal policy. It’s not the law. The federal laws that pertain to lender behavior have to do with accurate billing and truth in lending, not credit reporting. The answer you got from the credit department, though it is nonsense, is not at all uncommon. I suggest that you try a different approach. If you’ve only got this one blemish on your account with your bank, this might be a good situation for a Goodwill Letter. If it’s only been a month or two since you missed the payment, you might want to wait another few months before making the request. Write your letter to someone else in the bank, maybe a loan officer or branch manager. You might get a very different response.

Are old closed accounts on my reports hurting my score?

Question: I have a three old credit card accounts that still show up on my credit reports even though then have been closed. Are these old accounts doing anything to drag down my FICO score? Should I try to get them removed? Answer: Whether these old accounts are hurting your score depends on why they were closed. If you closed them voluntarily, and your payment history on the accounts was good, then the fact that these accounts are showing up on your reports today isn’t doing your score any harm. If, on the other hand, the credit card companies closed any of these accounts

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due to payment problems, then they certainly are hurting your score. If that is the case, you can try getting them removed through the Investigation Letter process. Let me make a separate point about closing revolving accounts. For accounts that are in good standing, it’s not a good idea. There are two reasons for this: First, the “older” your open accounts are, the higher your credit score will be. When you close an old account, you take it out of the mix and you lower the average age of all your accounts. Second, when you close an old account, you lower the amount of credit you have available for use. It’s better to just leave the account open, even if you don’t use it. That way the credit limit on the account is counted in the calculation of your utilization rate.

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Questions about Credit Cards: I can’t pay the minimums on $15,000 in card debt. What can I do?

Question: For a long time I had three credit cards and I paid the balances down to zero each and every month. Then I lost my job and we still had to eat. I started using the cards to buy groceries and other necessities, and before long I was making only minimum payments. Today I’m back to work, but I make less now than I used to make at my old job, and I have so much credit card debt now (about $15,000) that I can’t even make the minimum payments. I don’t know what to do next. Help! Answer: This is a very tough situation, and it’s all too common these days. You’re not alone. There are no simple answers for you, but I have a couple of suggestions that might help. First, work your way through the exercises in The Credit Solution Workbook. You might find some ways to squeeze a few extra dollars out of your current budget so that you can start making some progress on these cards and still make ends meet. Second, you might want to consider negotiating with your credit card companies to lower your balances. I go into the details and the mechanics of how to do this in a separate program I developed called Negotiate with Your Creditors and Settle Your Debts. In broad terms, it would work as follows: You negotiate with the card companies independently and make the best deals you can. If the total you then owe is low enough, you can try for a debt consolidation loan to pay them all off at the reduced balances. After that you’d have a single monthly payment that you could handle at your reduced level of income. I should note that this process will cause your credit score to drop significantly, but right now that’s a minor issue compared to having all your cards go into collections. Once you’re up and running and making payments this negative history will fade into the past and eventually be outweighed by your good payment history.

My credit cards cut my limits and my score dropped. What now?

Question: I have three credit cards, and I’ve had these same three cards for several years. The limits used to be $3,500, $5,000 and $6,000. I used the cards pretty actively, and sometimes I didn’t pay the balances down to zero at the end of the month; but I was never late on any of them. My credit score was very good. Now the two larger cards have dropped the limits to $2,000 and $2,500 respectively. I still use both cards at about the same level as I always did, so now my utilization rates

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on those two cards are much higher. My score has dropped. What can I do about this, if anything?

Answer: Well first of all, to start with the most obvious step, you could call these two card companies and ask them to restore your old limits, or at least raise them. The chance of them agreeing, now that they have taken the action to lower your limits, is pretty low. If you decide to make the call, start with an informal discussion and see what the lay of the land is. Don’t make the request until someone gives you an indication that you’ll probably get a “yes” to your request. The reason is that a request to raise your limit will result in an “inquiry” on your reports. Otherwise, you need to do one or both of two things: (a) Start using your credit cards less (and thereby stay under 30 percent of your new limits), or (b) get some more credit cards. If you get new cards, you can do a balance transfer to spread out the balances so that you’re under 30 percent on all your cards, including your new ones. After that, spread out your monthly credit card use among all your cards (both new and old). The new cards will be “new credit” on your reports, so your score will go down a little when you open them; but if you can get all your utilization rates under control the long term net effect on your score will be worth it.

Should I get a debt consolidation loan to pay off my cards?

Question: I have about $10,000 in credit card debt spread out over four cards. I’m way over the 30 percent utilization rate on all of them and the interest rates on the balances are averaging 27 percent, so this is a bad situation all around. My bank will give me a low interest debt consolidation loan to pay them all off. Right now my credit scores are in the mid-600s. I’m thinking this is a good idea. What do you think?

Answer: I agree with you. This should work out well for you. Right now your high card utilization rates are putting a serious dent in your scores. When you take out this new consolidation loan, your scores will probably dip even lower for a short period because this is new debt. Before long, however, the very low utilization rates should catch up and the net effect should be better scores. From a personal finances point of view, this makes sense as well. Right now you’re paying credit card interest to the tune of $2,700 per year. That’s a killer number. The rate on your new loan will be much lower, and it will enable you to start making some headway in lowering the principal balance. This is a good thing. It would be worth doing even if it wasn’t going to improve your credit scores.

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Should I close the credit card accounts I don’t use? Question: I have been working hard to improve my credit and so far I have managed to pay off and close down two credit card accounts that used to carry big balances. I thought this would really help my score. There has been some improvement, but not as much as I expected. Am I doing something wrong in closing down these unused accounts?

Answer: I don’t recommend closing unused credit card accounts. From the point of view of getting your scores as high as possible, it’s better to keep these accounts open, even though you don’t use them. This all has to do with the utilization ratio. The more open cards you have (within reason) with balances below 30 percent of the credit limit, the better. When you close down an account, you no longer have it available, and it no longer counts in calculating your utilization ratio. I recommend requesting that these accounts be reopened. You don’t need to use them much (just make an occasional charge to keep them active), and you’ll soon see your scores improve. There are two points to keep in mind here. First, requesting to reopen an account likely will result in another inquiry. This will have a minimal negative effect on your score. Second, your creditor might want to just give you a new account. If that happens, your credit score will drop further because you’ll have “new credit” on the books.

Is it better to reopen an old credit card account or start a new one?

Question: I have only one active credit card account right now, and I was thinking I should have at least two more. I have had other cards in the past, but I closed them because I wasn’t using them. The decision to close these old accounts was mine. The credit card companies would have been happy to continue with me because my payment history was excellent. Now that I see how a couple of extra cards could help my score, I’m torn between opening two new accounts and trying to reopen a couple of these old ones. What do you think? Answer: I definitely would try to reopen the old accounts. Either way you go, you’re going to take a slight hit to your scores because there will be a couple of new “inquiries” on your reports. You won’t be able to avoid that; but what you want to do here, if possible, is make sure you don’t end up with “new credit” on the books. Your old accounts have excellent credit histories, apparently, and you want to get the benefit of that when you reactivate them. Call the companies, and make sure in advance that they will report your old credit histories on the reactivated accounts, and that they will list the accounts with “open” dates going back to when you originally started using those cards.

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Questions about Goodwill Letters: Will a Goodwill Letter work with several 30-days on one account?

Question: I have a pretty bad payment history on one of my credit card accounts. I have several 30-days on my report for that account. I have been paying regularly lately, so I was thinking a Goodwill Letter might be an option. What do you think? Answer: You can give it a try, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up for this account. Goodwill letters work best if there is only one minor infraction and you can point to a special “bump-in-the-road” circumstance that caused you to miss that one payment. It sounds like “several” 30-day late payments will be hard to explain. A better option is the FCBA Evidence Request Letter.

Can I use a Goodwill Letter for an account in collections?

Question: I have a good relationship with my bank, but several months ago I was out of work for awhile and one of my accounts went to collections. I have since paid it off. Can I use a Goodwill Letter to get it removed from my reports? Answer: Well, there is no harm in trying a Goodwill Letter in this situation, but typically results are not good. Your chances might be better than normal if your relationship with the lender is really good, but I still wouldn’t count on it. The reason is that it costs a lender time, effort and money to send an account out for collections, and the more hassle an account costs, the less forgiving the lender tends to be.

Will a Goodwill Letter work for a 30-day on a closed account?

Question: My credit scores are pretty good, but I do have a 30-day on an account that I closed about a year ago. I’m sure it’s hurting my score. Do you recommend using a Goodwill Letter in this situation? Answer: You can try it. There is no downside, and you might get lucky; but there is no incentive for the lender to cooperate in this situation. The value of doing business with you in the future doesn’t exist. To remedy that you might consider asking to re-open the account along with your goodwill request.

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On the question whether this old negative item is hurting your score, I doubt if it’s doing that much damage. If you closed the account a year ago, then the 30-day late payment is fading into the past. It does less and less damage as time passes and you continue to make timely payments on all your cards and other debts. Unless you’re contemplating a major loan in the near future and you know that a difference of ten to fifteen points on your score will affect your interest rate, working to get this removed might not be worth the trouble.

Should I send my Goodwill Letters certified, return receipt requested?

Question: I want to send out some Goodwill Letters, and I’m thinking I should send them certified, return receipt requested. There are two reasons for this: First, if I don’t get action, I want to be able to take the next step right away. Second, I want the lender to understand the importance I’m placing on the request. Do you recommend this? Answer: No, I definitely do not recommend sending Goodwill Letters certified. Just put stamps on them and send them first class mail. Here’s why. The message of a Goodwill Letter is that you’re asking for a favor, and that you know you need that favor because of your own fault and no one else’s. A certified letter sends exactly the opposite message. It says you want to be able to prove receipt because you intend to hold the lender responsible. I believe this puts the lender in a defensive mindset, which will work against you. I know that using regular mail means you won’t know when the letter is delivered; but this is preferable to using a delivery method that will, in my opinion, kill any chance that the letter will be effective.

I sent a Goodwill Letter and it didn’t work. What’s Plan B?

Question: About a year ago I had a single 30-day late payment on a credit card that I have had for almost six years. One blemish; that’s all. Otherwise I always paid on time. I sent a Goodwill Letter, and here’s the answer I got: “We are unable to update any information that was reported correctly.” Obviously, they don’t value their relationship with me, and I am angry now. I want to push the issue. What should I do? Answer: Well, this is frustrating, for sure; but I wouldn’t give up on Goodwill Letters just yet. Credit card companies are big institutions, and one hand doesn’t always know what the other is doing (in fact, they usually don’t know). You might send the letter to a different department, or if you have the name of anyone in the company you can send it to that

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person. You also might try calling, using a very friendly tone, to see if someone there can suggest who would be the best person to send the letter to. If a second letter fails, you can send an FCBA Evidence Request Letter, or you can try disputing the entry by requesting an investigation through the CRAs.

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Questions about Validation Letters: Should I follow up a Goodwill Letter with a Validation Letter?

Question: I sent out a Goodwill Letter to my credit card company and got no response. Should I follow up now with a Validation Letter? Answer: No, you should not use a Validation Letter in this situation. It’s very important to understand that Validation Letters are only for unpaid accounts that are in collections, and they only go to collection agents. They don’t go to original creditors. I’m assuming you are now current on your account, so you can follow up here with a FCBA Evidence Request Letter. If that fails you can try an Investigation Letter.

I got no response to my Validation Letter. What’s next? Question: It’s been almost two months since I sent the CA a validation letter. They have stopped harassing me, and that’s good; but I’m not sure what to do next. Do you have any suggestions? Answer: I’m assuming your Validation Letter included the demand that the CA communicate with you only in writing. If so, and they’ve stopped calling you, you got some benefit from the letter. As far as what to do next is concerned, you should check your credit reports. Very often when a CA gets a Validation Letter, it will just delete the item from the reports and not even bother to respond in writing to the consumer. This might be the case with your item; and if it is, you’re done. If your negative item has disappeared from your reports, you’ve accomplished your goal, and there’s nothing else you need to do. If the item remains on your reports, you can now follow up with another letter. I lay out exactly how to do this in the Workbook that is included as a bonus with The Credit Solution. You’ll find step-by-step instructions there.

The CA has ignored all my Validation Letters. Am I out of options?

Question: I’ve followed all your suggestions about using Validation Letters to get rid an unpaid collections item on my reports. The CA agents don’t call me anymore; but otherwise they’ve just ignored me. They haven’t even written to me, and the collections item is still showing

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up on all my reports. What’s next for me? Am I just stuck with this negative item on my reports? Answer: It’s an unfortunate fact of life that sometimes CAs just ignore their legal obligations to consumers. This is less common today than it used to be, but it still happens. In your case, you can now take your fight to the next level by filing a complaint with the FTC or by filing suit against the CA in federal court. You also have the option, if you can find anything about the report entry that is inaccurate or incomplete, of writing an Investigation Letter to the CRAs. Whether you’ll want to take any of these additional steps will depend on how much money is owed, whether the statute of limitations has run, and how old the item is. If the amount is large and you can’t pay if you get sued, you might want to leave well enough alone. For a detailed discussion of the statute of limitations considerations, please see Chapter 7 of The Credit Solution. You should also keep in mind that if the item is really old, its harmful effect is lessening with time and it will soon fall off your reports of its own accord.

I got a Validation Notice letter but I didn’t respond. Now what?

Question: I had an account go to collections not long after I lost my job. I soon got a notice from the CA that they had the account for collection, but I didn’t send out a Validation Letter within 30 days. I did remedy the situation within the next couple of weeks, but by then the collections item was showing up on all three reports. Am I stuck with this negative item on my reports because I dropped the ball by not sending my letter within 30 days after the Validation Notice letter? Answer: No, you’re not in the great position you would have been in if you’d responded within 30 days, but you can still try to use the Validation process to get the item removed. The problem with waiting longer than 30 days to respond to a Validation Notice letter is that it allows the CAs to do just what your CA did to you. They immediately reported the item; and now it is on your report. If they had received your letter sooner (within the 30 days), they would have been prohibited from reporting the item in the first place. From your point of view, this would have been much better.

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Questions about Investigation Letters: Can I use an Investigation Letter for an accurate, complete item?

Question: I have a paid collections item on my credit report. It’s true that the item went to collections and it’s true that I paid the amount due. The account shows a zero balance. Now that I’ve paid the account, I don’t see why this item should remain on my reports and hurt my credit. This seems unfair to me. Can I use an Investigation Letter to get it removed? Answer: As I understand your question, you want to use an Investigation Letter to challenge an entry that is complete and accurate. Technically speaking, this is not an option. The language of the Fair Credit Reporting Act makes it clear that the dispute process is for items that are incomplete or inaccurate in some way. Normally, this requirement doesn’t present much of a hurdle. There is almost always something about an entry that doesn’t quite pass muster due to the sloppy record keeping methods of creditors, CAs and CRAs alike.

The “Date Opened” on a credit card is wrong. Should I dispute it?

Question: Equifax is reporting that I opened a Capital One credit card account back on 5/2002, when in fact I didn’t open the account until 5/2004. Otherwise they are reporting the account correctly and my payment history is spotless. I just want my reports to be completely accurate. I assume that if I challenge this wrong date, they will fix it. What do you think? Answer: I think that if you dispute this item, Equifax will likely fix it or delete it. Neither of these results is good for you. If the account has a solid history, the older it is the better. If the account is removed, or if the “Date Opened” is changed to 5/2004, your score will go down. I recommend that you leave this matter alone and do nothing. This is an error that is helping you, not hurting you. The Fair Credit Reporting Act doesn’t assign the consumer any responsibility for maintaining the accuracy of credit reports. That obligation falls on the credit bureaus. I would ignore this.

The CRA said my dispute was “frivolous.” What did I do wrong?

Question: I sent off a dispute letter to TransUnion in which I listed several errors, omissions and inaccuracies with many different accounts. I thought they would at least respond to each of my issues, even if they

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didn’t agree with me; but they just wrote back to say that they thought my letter was frivolous. Apparently they don’t intend to do anything else, and all the items I challenged remain on my report. What good is this dispute process if they can just brush it aside by saying it is frivolous? Answer: The Fair Credit Reporting Act does say that a CRA doesn’t have to investigate if it “reasonably determines” that a dispute is “frivolous.” The law doesn’t say exactly what “frivolous” means; but a lengthy list of challenged items covering several different accounts might very well meet the test. Regardless, it’s a good bet that when the CRA saw your long list of problems, they just said to themselves, “No way are we going to do all this work. We’ll just throw this letter in the ‘frivolous’ pile.” You never want to give the CRAs an excuse to designate your dispute as frivolous. That’s why I normally recommend that a dispute letter include no more than three or four items. You want to give the impression that you’re pointing out a couple of serious problems with your report, not that you’ve combed through your report to find every conceivable issue with every one of your accounts. You have the right to respond to the letter you received, but I suggest that you let two or three months go by and then write a new dispute letter. This time identify only two or three of your most serious issues. Don’t make any reference to your previous letter. There’s a good chance you’ll get a better result.

Can a CRA remove a disputed item and then reinsert it later?

Question: I had an item on my reports that was killing my score (an old charge-off), so I challenged it using the Investigation Letter process. I checked my reports after 30 days, and lo and behold, the item had disappeared. My scores were better, and I was happy. Now I’m not happy. I just got my updated reports, and the old charge-off is back. It’s like it never left, and my scores are down again. What is this all about? Can they do this? Answer: What happened to you is called “reinsertion.” It is very common, and you were wise to keep updating your reports. At least now you’re aware of the problem and you can take action. Many people don’t catch this when it happens, and their FICO score pays the price. Here’s why this is such a common problem: The CRA has only 30 days after getting a dispute letter to do one of two things: (1) produce evidence that the entry is correct or (2) remove the entry from the report. They don’t produce the evidence themselves; they have to get it from the creditor. If they don’t hear back from the creditor within the 30-day period, they have no choice but to remove the item. But, if the evidence

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arrives a few days or a few weeks later, and it tends to prove the accuracy of the original entry, the CRA will just start reporting it again (they will “reinsert” it). That’s what happened to you. The CRA is supposed to notify you in writing if an item is reinserted, but they don’t always do it. You can call them on it, but that isn’t a process that is likely to get your negative item removed. You’re better off choosing one or the other of these options: (1) You can request to see the creditor’s certification of accuracy and completeness. Maybe you’ll see something there that is clearly wrong or incomplete. (2) You can send a new Investigation Letter challenging the new item, as amended. This way you’ll be treating the new entry as a new error or omission.

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Questions about FCBA Evidence Request Letters: Can I use an FCBA Evidence Request Letter for a credit card account?

Question: I see how the “creditor confusion” technique would work with an installment loan. Can I use the same kind of letter for a credit card account that has some old, serious late pays? Answer: Yes you can. The FCBA Evidence Request Letter isn’t limited to any particular kind of account. I assume this account is current now, or that it was closed after it was brought current. If that doesn’t work out for you, you can try the Investigation Letter process.

I can’t prove a negative item is an error. Am I out of luck?

Question: I just got all my credit reports (for the first time ever) and I was surprised to see a late pay item on an old account that I thought I always paid on time. This entry is for about three years ago, and I have shredded my records (maybe not a good idea). Anyway, can I use the FCBA Evidence Request process if I can’t prove that the entry is wrong? Answer: Yes. You don’t have the obligation to prove anything. It’s up to the creditor to provide the evidence.

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Questions about Accounts in Collections: The collection agent keeps calling us and driving us crazy. Help!

Question: I have two accounts in collections. My husband lost his job a year ago and there is no way we can pay. That doesn’t seem to matter to these people. They just keep calling, even though I have said over and over that we can’t send them any money. We are becoming really frustrated and we’re to the point where we hate to answer the phone because they are becoming more abusive. Is there anything we can do about this? Answer: A couple of things: First, it is not a good idea to talk with collection agents on the phone. These people are highly trained and one of their purposes is to get you to say things on the phone that they can use against you. Unless you have had the same training they have had (I’m guessing you haven’t) you can easily make an important mistake and you won’t even know it. Second, and maybe more important for you, yes there is something you can do about this. You can make them stop. Just get the correct mailing address for the agency and write to them using something along these lines: “I require that you communicate with me only in writing, and only at the address provided above. You may not contact me by phone at any time, for any reason.” They are required by law (the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) to honor this written request, and they usually do.

Old collection items were discharged, but remain on the reports.

Question: I have some old collections items listed on my reports that were discharged in bankruptcy over six years ago. This seems like overkill to me. Can I have them removed since my bankruptcy is already on my report? Answer: You might be able to get them removed, but not for the reason you raise. Accounts that are discharged in bankruptcy can still show up legitimately on reports as long as it’s clear from the entry that the account was discharged and it shows a zero balance. They definitely should not appear as open or as currently past due. You can use the Investigation Letter process for this situation. Provide any proof you have that the contested item was included in the bankruptcy.

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The CA’s law firm is threatening to sue me. Is this likely?

Question: I got a call this afternoon from the collection agency’s attorney. She told me that if I don’t agree to the terms she is offering (a payment plan), she will bring suit in court tomorrow. Can she do that? Is this legal? Do you think she will do it? Answer: The answer to “Can she do that?” is yes. If she is a member of the bar in the jurisdiction where suit would be brought, she has the power to do exactly what she is threatening to do. It is legal to threaten suit in negotiations as long as the threat is made in good faith. What this means is that attorneys are not allowed to threaten suit when they have no intention of carrying out the threat. The more important question is whether she is bluffing. There is no way for you (or me) to know the answer to that. That’s what makes it such an effective tactic when it is used. If you are sued, there is at least some prospect that she’ll still agree to the deal she is offering now, but she is going to tell you at first that this deal is off the table. You’ll have to make your own judgment here. If you are sued, you might be able to negotiate a deal that includes having the suit withdrawn. You’ll have to just weigh things and decide.

I got a computer printout from the CA. Is that enough “evidence”?

Question: I sent my CA the Validation Letter that you recommend. They sent me a copy of a computer printout from their files. There is nothing here showing that the original creditor even sent them this debt for collection. This looks pretty flimsy to me. Is it enough? Answer: The answer to no, it’s not enough. It looks pretty flimsy to the Federal Trade Commission too. Some years back the FTC issued an opinion stating that this tactic is not sufficient to meet a request for validation. You need to write to the CA again, and this time attach a copy of that FTC opinion letter. There is a copy of it in the Appendix to The Credit Solution, and you’ll also find information there about what to put in the follow up letter.

What can I do about four medical collections that are 5-6 years old?

Question: I have four old medical collections items that remain unpaid and are still on my reports. I assume they will fall off in another year or two, but I want to buy a house this coming summer. I’m afraid that if these collections remain on my reports this will inflate the interest rate I’ll

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have to pay on my mortgage. The amounts range from $250 to $1300. I believe the original creditors (three doctors and a clinic) still own the debts, even though they have hired a collection agency to try to collect. What can I do to get rid of these things in the short run? Answer: I think you’re in a strong position to negotiate a “pay for deletion.” This is a classic case where that technique has a good chance for success. I assume that if you’re thinking of buying a home and putting up a down payment (a requirement these days) you have some cash. Use it to negotiate the best deal you can, and refuse to pay anything until they agree to delete these items. As old as these items are, the statute of limitations has probably expired (you’ll want to confirm that), so there isn’t much they can do to force you to pay at this point. Chances are they’ll look at your proposed payments as “found money” and agree to a deletion.

The statute of limitations is up, but the items remain on my reports.

Question: I know for a fact that the statute of limitations (three years) has expired on a couple of unpaid collections on my reports. I wrote to the CA demanding that they remove these items immediately now that they no longer have the power to sue me. They replied that the CRAs allow them to leave the items on my reports. Can they do this? Answer: Your question highlights a very common misunderstanding of the relationship between a statute of limitations and the credit reporting system. The fact that a statute of limitations has expired on a debt has no effect on the right of a creditor or a collection agency to keep reporting the debt to CRAs. Nor does it have any effect on the CRAs’ right to keep displaying the item on their reports. It only affects the creditor’s right to bring suit to collect that debt. I’m not surprised you got the answer you received. They’re not going to remove the item because the statute has expired. Of course, now that you know they can’t sue you, this opens up a range of other options, including Validation Letters, Investigation Letters, and “pay for deletion.”

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Miscellaneous Questions: How do I remove accounts that were paid in settlement?

Question: About two years ago I had an account in collections and I was able to negotiate a settlement. I thought this meant that the negative item would be removed from my credit reports, but I was sadly mistaken. It’s still there. What should I have done differently? Is there anything I can do about this now? Answer: What you could have done differently is get the creditor to agree to delete the account from your credit reports as a condition of payment. This is called “pay for deletion.” Of course, it’s too late to do this now because the account is paid and you have no leverage. At this point, all you can do is to try getting the item removed. Review the entry carefully to try to find something about it to dispute. Then use the Investigation Letter procedure. That’s your best option.

My scores are stuck at 650 or so. I don’t know why. Can you help?

Question: I have only one credit card and no debt at all other than my mortgage. I pay my credit card down to zero every month and I’ve never been late. Still, my scores are around 650 and they just sit there. They don’t budge. Any suggestions about what I can do to raise my scores would be welcome. Help!

Answer: I can think of a couple of reasons why you’re stuck in the mid 600s. First, the best scores go to people who have a long history of using various kinds of credit responsibly. You’ve been very responsible (you’re doing great on that factor), but you have only one loan and only one credit card. If you had a couple of other cards and an installment loan or two, you’re scores would go up. You can probably get an unsecured installment loan pretty easily, with your payment history, and you should consider it. You could just put proceeds aside to fund the payments and the loan would only cost you a little interest and the transaction costs. I would also apply for a couple of name brand credit cards. You don’t have to use them much, and if you keep the balances low, you’ll get the benefit of a strong utilization rate across several cards instead of just one. These steps will increase your scores, and if you’re thinking of a major financed transaction anytime soon (buying a home, refinancing your current home, or buying a nice car), they will be well worth your trouble. You’ll save a great deal of money if you can get your scores up into the 720 range.

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I don’t have time for all these steps. What are my options?

Question: I need help with my credit, but I just got a new job that requires a lot of travel. With family responsibilities and my new work load, I don’t have time to do all the things that you recommend to rehab my credit. Can I hire someone to do this for me? Can I hire you to do it? Answer: The answer to your first question is yes. You can certainly hire someone to handle this process for you. In my opinion, an ordinary person, using the methods that I lay out in The Credit Solution and the bonus publications that go with it, can get the same credit improvement results that the professionals can get. Still, I know that not everyone has the time or the inclination to do this. If you’re thinking of hiring someone, I suggest that you call Lexington Law. They specialize in helping people with credit problems, and you can talk with them and decide whether their approach makes sense for you. The answer to your second question is no. I do my best to contribute to forums and I try to provide good, sound information; but I’m not available to take on individual cases.

I am going through a divorce. What can I do to protect my credit?

Question: I’m a mother of two teenagers, and right now I’m in the middle of a divorce. The marriage is ending after 18 years. Based on what my attorney is telling me about my future finances, I can see that the credit consequences of this divorce might not be good for me at all. What can I do to protect myself? Answer: It’s true that divorce can have a very negative effect on the credit of one or both of the parties; but there are steps you can take to help yourself. This is such a widespread issue that I have put together a special report called Your Divorce and Your Credit—Like Oil and Water, They Don’t Mix. If you have The Credit Solution, you also have access to this report already. It’s one of the bonuses. Just go through it as soon as you can. You should read the whole report, but the section entitled “What to do if you’re in the middle of your divorce” is the part that will be most helpful for you.

Is it illegal to remove a negative item from a credit report?

Question: I recently talked with my credit card company about removing an old negative item from my report. I thought they might be willing to do it because I’ve had the card for years and except for this one problem

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my payment history is excellent. They told me that there is nothing they can do. The man I talked to said that under the law, once a late payment has been reported there is nothing the creditor can do have it removed. He said that to remove it would be illegal. Answer: I believe that what this person told you is false. I’m not an attorney, but I bet he isn’t either. The fact is that creditors have negative items removed from credit reports every day. They do it all the time. Talking any more with this particular person probably is a waste of time, but there are other steps you can take to try to get this item removed. I would write a Goodwill Letter to someone else at the company and see how that goes. If that fails, you can try challenging the item through the Investigation Letter process.

Should I use a debt consolidation company? Question: I simply can’t pay all my loans. I’ve been out of work for months, and though I recently started a part time job, there is nowhere near enough monthly cash flow to handle all my debts. I’m considering a debt consolidation loan. Does that sound like a good idea? Answer: I generally don’t recommend debt consolidation loans unless you’re going to use the money to pay off balances that you’ve already negotiated down very significantly from their previous levels. Right now, with no ability to pay all your debts, you’re in a prime position to negotiate. You’ve got some leverage. You can say to your creditors, “Look, I’ve been out of work for many months, I’m still only working part time, and I simply can’t pay what you say I owe you. I could, however, pay you $______.” A quick look at your credit report today is likely to convince a creditor that it isn’t likely to see any more from you than the amount offered. Talk to a reputable bank and see if you can get a debt consolidation loan, and if you can, see how much you can realistically afford to borrow if all your unsecured debt is paid off. Then you’ll know how much money you’re trying to divide up among your unsecured creditors.

What does “pay for deletion” mean, and when is it used? Question: I’ve heard about something called “pay for deletion.” It sounds too good to be true. Is it real? When is it used? Answer: Yes, “pay for deletion” is a real debt settlement technique. When you use it, you’re essentially saying to a creditor that you will pay a certain amount to satisfy an old debt, but only if the creditor agrees in writing to delete any reference to the debt from your credit reports. It can be used any time you’re negotiating with a creditor to satisfy a debt, but

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it works best when the statute of limitations has run on the debt and the creditor knows he can’t sue you to collect any of the amount owed.

Would the CRAs raise my scores if they knew why I couldn’t pay?

Question: I went through a really bad divorce that really hurt my credit. Before the divorce, my spouse failed to pay on many of our joint debts and when I found out about it the damage was already done. After that, I was ill for several months and unable to work. I have always been responsible with money, and I did the best I could during the divorce and while I was sick. I’m really feeling like a victim. Now that I am working again, do you think the CRAs would raise my scores to a decent level if they saw that this is really a “hardship” case? Answer: The unfortunate answer to this question is no. The CRAs have no interest at all in helping people who have been victimized by unfortunate circumstances. They only have one concern, and that is to report the information they receive from creditors. That’s it. When it comes to individual consumers and their problems, the CRAs don’t care. This doesn’t mean that you can’t improve your credit. It only means that explaining to the credit reporting agencies why you fell on hard times isn’t going to help you. Now that you’re employed again, you should be able to use the various tools in The Credit Solution to help yourself.

Should I hire an attorney? Question: I’m really not very good at negotiations and I’m not the aggressive type. I’m thinking of hiring an attorney to help me rebuild my credit. Is that a good idea? Answer: This can be a good option for people who don’t want to deal with things on their own, for whatever the reason. It’s true that sometimes the lenders, CAs and CRAs don’t take individual debtors seriously at first, and it can take a little while to impress upon them that you’re not going to just quietly go away. If you have an attorney, this can make a strong first impression and get things moving. In the end though, if you have the time and energy or if you can’t afford an attorney, you can do just about everything on your own that your attorney would do for you, except provide experienced courtroom representation. Just follow the steps in The Credit Solution, use the Workbook, send out the letters and follow up, and you should get a good result. If you do decide that an attorney is the way to go, do it right. DO NOT

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stop in at a general practice firm and try to get help there. Credit repair and debtor representation is a specialty, and it requires knowledge and experience in that area of the law. Lexington Law is one well-known option, but there are others. Make sure the firm you hire specializes in helping people in your situation.