Credit Cards, Rating, Repair Possible Class Action * * * Attorney Needed

[Adverse]

I have a possible class action matter involving consumer credit scores.

Please reply here with a way to contact, or send me a PM.

Thanks.

 

[jharris352]

You are going to have to have a lot more than that to get an attorney to even want to listen.

 

[Adverse]

How do you know how much I have? Are you clairvoyant?

 

[jharris352]

Well to start with you are on a FREE LEGAL FORUM. Go look for a lawyer. You aren't real bright, I was referring to what you put on the post. Class Actions are very expensive animals for the attorney. No attorney with that kind of money is going to be cruising free legal sites looking for bare bones posts about "Possible" class actions against FAIR ISAACS scoring models. And if one did happen to see you, he/she isn't going to CALL YOU. If you want an attorney, find some that specialize in Mortgages and Credit and send them a letter explaining what you have.

So no, I'm not Clairvoyant, but I am dead on target!

 

[Adverse]

. . . You aren't real bright . . .

Forum Rules

4. APPROPRIATE CONDUCT At all times members are to have respect for each other
- - - - - -

You have strange way of being respectful . . . or of earning my respect.

(Although your abusive tone is not unlike some attornies I have known.)

 

[seniorjudge]

jharris352 gave you correct legal advice.

 

[jharris352]

I believe that would fall under you get what you pay for. Especially when it's free and you are mouthy about it. Good luck, if you have a case sending it is writing to a few attorneys will get you the results you want.

 

[Adverse]

and you are mouthy about it.

I didn't realize I had been, but, then, the level of mouthy we are receiving from our neighbor is much greater than what I may have exhibited here.

OTOH, you can't be exposed to nastiness and hate without some of it rubbing off.

On the Internet, things don't always come across the same as they would in person, and one's personality hardly ever does, at least until Internet buddies become more familiar with each other.

 

[jharris352]

You are very right. If I knew more about the case I might could help you frame if for an attorney. I spent 15 years in the mortgage and title business and I personally hate the Fair Isaacs scoring model. There is nothing fair about it. If you don't want to broadcast the details, then do what I suggested and send it in a letter to several attorneys who handle mortgage cases. Good luck.

 

[Adverse]

OK, you sweet-talked it out of me. :hugs:

Here's my beef.

Recently DW & I decided to refinance a loan on a lake lot/future home site down the road. I used LendingTree.com because of all their bragging about putting lenders in competition with each other.

In total, nine lenders/brokers checked our credit scores, which were 760 & 780. We did not not take a loan from any of the Lendingtree referrals.

We did, however, redo the loan with our local bank, which had the original loan.

When they checked our credit report, our scores had fallen to 725, with the notation Too Numerous Recent Inquiries. Our credit worthiness was lowered simply because we tried to improve our finances, which we, in fact, did to the tune of $450/month.

If using referral sites like lendingtree.com hurt our credit scores, it likely hurts many, maybe millions, of people's credit score. That is wrong. But if it does, then the consumer should be warned.

FWIW, Experian, TransUnion & Equifax have not cooperated in providing us our credit reports, but that is not my complaint.

 

[jharris352]

Well, first credit reports list 4 reasons for the state of the score, that would only be one of them. Secondly, did you have a copy of your credit before Lendingtree started pulling your credit. Lendingtree isn't in control of your score and since scores are proprietary in nature they don't even know if anything they do will hurt your score, and finally what are your damages? Potential damages don't count.

So, Lending tree can't be shown to be responsible for the "damage" which is a relative lowering of your score. But the lower score is the natural result of doing ANY credit activity.

Its not that I don't agree with you. Credit scores suck for many many reasons. But this isn't a cause of action. I've been working on framing a cause of action against scores for years. Its tricky because of the way they have formed it. You are welcome to send it to attorneys if you want. Good luck.

 

[Adverse]

did you have a copy of your credit before Lendingtree started pulling your credit.

Lendingtree did not pull our credit scores. If that was the case, just one inquiry, it might have been OK.

The problem is that 9 companies pulled our scores in a matter of a few days. I can see now (now that I know how it works) how that would be suspicious, and if I had been forewarned (which is what I am suggesting), I probably would not have used lendingtree.

It is not lendingtree that lowered our scores, it is the nature of lendingtree, how it works, and the consumer should be told, IMO.

As far as what scores I am reporting, the 760/780, that is what the first lender to contact me said. They either pulled it while we were on the phone or had already pulled it. Other lendingtree referrals reported the same figures.

The 715/725, were from our local bank pulling them a little over a month later.

Nothing about our finances, employment, or anything else, other than the inquiries, happened during this time, nor did the latter credit report mention anything except Too Numerous Recent Inquiries. That, specifically, was the reason.

 

[jharris352]

I hate to disagree with you but credit reports ALWAYS show 4 reasons for the state of the score. The number one might have been inquires but there were 3 more. That's done on purpose so you can't prove causation which would be a key part of your lawsuit. Now one thing bothers me, several years ago the scoring model was changed. Inquiries of the same nature (mortgages) that occur within 7 days of each other are suppose to count as ONE inquiry. When you go car shopping, dealerships and car pulls all count as ONE pull. So, I'm curious if this happened or not.

I'm not against you, I'm just telling you that these guys have put this whole thing together to prevent you from doing what you want to do. Sorry.

 

[Adverse]

My full Experian report shows 5 inquiries on May 26, another on May 29, another on June 5, and another on June 25, a repeat by a company that did one on May 26.

It shows no potentially negative information.

The latter report, from our bank over a month after the lendingtree inquiries says under Regulatory Messages, 1. Fact Act: The number of inquiries on the consumers credit file has adversely affected the credit score with no derogatory information found on the file.

 

[jharris352]

But you are arguing only one point of causation. What damages do you have? Quantify them. How long will they last? You have no damages even if they admitted "wrongful" liability.

 

[Adverse]

It seems so obvious as to not warrant the energy to put it in writing, but most consumers who do not have a bias in the matter would find it shocking and unfair that the mere act of seeking information on how to improve their finances would negatively impact their credit rating.

 

[jharris352]

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket but we aren't talking about what is fair. You are asking if there is a cause of action here. You have no right to a credit score. You can't force someone to give you a good one, and if they give you a bad one, unless you can show that it is libelous you can't sue. Even if you can show that they "unfairly" gave you a lower score, you first have to prove causation (that they did it) and second you have to prove damages in a quantifiable way.

I'm not making up the rules as I go along. I know this isn't what you want to hear, and I don't think it is fair, it is the law however. Now I'm not saying you have no case at all, I'm just saying you aren't the first to think about this in depth nor the first to be annoyed that something so fundamentally unfair is so well cloaked in legal armour.

For now, there are just too many problems with any credit scoring suit. If you were to bring one it would have to be able to show that you were harmed in some quantifyable way, not in some unknown way.

 

[Adverse]

I've clearly stated my gripe and will let folks take it however they want.

 

[Adverse]

Actually, this matter is a small part of a much more involved unfair lending practice case currently at my state's AG and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

 

[jharris352]

I think the AG is where it will eventually come to a head.