I never thought much of it.  I was CONSUMER STUPID and just went about my life.  I invested in a piece of property with a friend in the interim and life was good.  I was building a career, building assets, and truly working diligently for a better future.

In fact, I mistakenly assumed I could not get a loan unless I was married or had a co-signer.  As a single person, self sufficient I lost too many opportunities for advancement because of what I have learned the hard way about the intentional misinformation reported by the credit reporting agencies.

I was first shocked into the reality of my dire situation when I received a wage garnishment.  I didn’t even know that it was a garnishment.  It was listed as a loan repayment #1 on my paycheck.  They were taking 50% not leaving enough funds available to even pay my mortgage let alone car insurance, food, utilities.  My employer told me the money was being sent to “some plumber” and I was provided a name and address.  This was bad information because the alleged plumber was a court officer who was very sympathetic but said he just sent the money my employer sent him to Citibank’s lawyers.  The court officer took me to a court clerk who pulled the records and I learned about a Citibank account where I allegedly defaulted.  I paid $500 (that I didn’t have) to a lawyer to find out that I was served improperly and that the garnishment was illegal.  I also found out that I had the right to get specific information to prove how the debt originated. 

To get representation in court, I would have to pay another $2,000 which I didn’t have.  Please keep in mind $2,000 seems to be the magic number for retainer fees.

I pulled all of my records and found the letters from 2000 surrounding the stolen computers and appeared before a judge trying to explain I was never properly served and told her the bill did not belong to me.  I was handed a card by the judge who asked if it was my signature on the certified return receipt and my address.  I told her it was not and she made an assessment that I was lying without checking my signature.  Citibank successfully stole approximately $7,000.  Once they received their money, they sent a letter of apology stating they acknowledge the bills were not incurred legally and that I had no responsibility.  I called up their lawyers to request refund of the money they admitted they were not entitled to. This was June 2006.  Of course, they didn’t respond to that.

I requested legal assistance to get the money back and was told it would cost $2,000 up front to initiate any action, but was told they could get me a lot more in the long run because of Citibank’s gross negligence.  If I had $2,000 in the beginning, they would have never been able to illegally seize assets they weren’t entitled to. 

As a result of this Citibank saga, I pull my credit reports and I am shocked to see on all three reports a total of 50 different trade lines not belonging to me or not recognizable.  I start writing to the credit reporting agencies disputing their information as well as the individual creditors.

It took about six months for them to figure out personal information.  They had me living at addresses I never lived at.  My alias names were both my mother and grandmother.  I was told by the credit reporting agencies I was married to my father, I was later married to a former roommate and I had a half dozen last names and variations of my social.

Eventually, the personal information was corrected, but the damage was done.  I was being hounded by collection agencies and attorney’s constantly alleging I was their debtor. 

Once the letters from the creditors started rolling in, the harassment started to cease and about 75% of the trade lines were deleted.  But there were a few that lingered on and I started filling complaints with every consumer group, the Federal trade Commission, the Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Banking and Insurance, and any other agency I could uncover.

One of the trade lines in particular was a Bank of America tradeline.  Bank of America has purchased Fleet and I was told the code for fraud had dropped off during the transfer of data in their computers and that the charge off was an error on their part.  They confirmed my new account was in excellent standing.  They sent a letter confirming they asked the credit reporting agencies to delete the trade line.

Two of the three agencies complied, but Trans Union decided I was putting in too many inquiries and Lynette Fullwood elected to contact my employer (a separate division owned by Bank of America) by email and freely discussed personal information.  The information surrounding that old account and my letter as well as a history of my battle with their agency was discussed with a secretary of the insurance division.  Our Operations Manager and the secretary put me through several hours of inquisition surrounding the old identity theft.  I immediately complained about Lynette’s disclosure of personal information to individuals within the company outside of the credit card division that could easily verify validity of the document.  Lynette’s response was to indicate she called the FBI on me because I was committing fraud and she didn’t like me.  I became pro-active and contacted the FBI to find Lynette’s pitbull she threatened me with and they thought it was pretty funny.  Another intimidation tactic used by Tans Union to persuade me to drop fighting for my civil rights.

I had recently received a promotion to manage a satellite office and because of Lynette’s interference specifically stating my character was in question, my supervisor reneged on the title change, relocation expenses (of course after I paid the money out of pocket to move) and refused the pay increase that was to go along with it.  Stated reason was that they were afraid that headquarters would instruct them to terminate me because of Lynette’s disturbances.

I wound up suffering constant scrutiny and Lynette’s disturbance caused significant stress that reduced my performance as well as the onset of high blood pressure and chest pains.  It was determined that supervisor harassment was the primary cause of the health problems and I was placed on disability. Eventually, I was informed while out on disability, I would receive a demotion to a position that would require another relocation at my expense.  The company indicated they were putting me under the direct counsel of the woman Lynette had turned against me to ensure I didn’t lose any accrued time and pension benefits.  I could not afford to accept the offer and because of Lynette’s activities and her conversations with this member of management about the entirety of my disputes, I was denied a severance package of 24 weeks pay, plus my insurance was canceled without the benefit of COBRA and I lost nearly $30,000.  The bank is still to this day holding about $10,000 in retirement funds that they have out and out refused to transfer to a private investment fund as allowed by law.

Because of Lynette’s interference from Trans Union and ongoing harassment, the employer refuses to have any discussion and refuses to pay the agreed upon severance.  So I pay a lawyer $200 for my rights.  Then I am referred to another lawyer who I paid $750 to start a claim (this lawyer couldn’t even account for the money upon request) and Bank of America sent him conflicting information.  The lawyer then requested an additional $2,500 to pursue my severance claim and suit against Lynette Fullwood for the inappropriate actions taken by Trans Union.  I did not have $2,500 to pay, therefore I could take no action.

So every response and stall letter Lynette sends throughout this 18 month period, I send a letter back to her personally.  I was so angry I figured if she had nothing better to do with her time, I could easily fill it with so much documentation surrounding my personal investigations and requests for specific information regarding her efforts that she would be more than willing to do the right thing to make me go away.

In the meantime Lynette sends a letter regarding a Chrysler repossession stating she received information from Chrysler proving I did have an account and my car was repossessed.  I never had a loan with Chrysler and Chrysler confirmed in writing they have no record of me or my social in their files.  They confirmed all the credit reporting agencies delete the trade line.  Chrysler even called Lynette Fullwood on 3-way and Lynette refused to tell them what information she received to justify the trade line listing.

Now here is the best one and with a known violator of the FDCPA.  I had a charge off with Discovercard.  Discover alleges the account was solicited through a mail in my name to an address where I never lived.  They also refused to talk about the trade line listing because I did not accurately answer one or more of their challenge questions correctly.  DO YOU THINK MAYBE THEY HAVE THE WRONG PERSON?  The account was charged off in 1999 for nonpayment.  What about that statute of limitations?  Discover sends a letter instructing the credit reporting agencies to delete the tradeline listing.  Not one agency will comply because Discover had sold the bad debt to a junk debt buyer – Weltman Weinberg and Reis.  These people are a piece of work and the principals need to be locked up for fraud. 

Weltman Weinberg and Reis initially sent a letter in the mail.  It was a court document phishing for personal information stating that they were suing “Jane Doe” for that Discover Card account.  I brought the document to the County Court House and learned from the court clerk, the document was never properly filed and that it was used fraudulently.  

This law firm is not a law firm.  On their websites they say they are a legal professional association and not a law firm.  So, the last time I checked the firm is pretending to be a law firm for intimidation. 

During the whole Trans Union/Lynette Fullwood fiasco, some man starts showing up at my place of employment asking a lot of questions and looking for someone with my first name but a different last name.  The guy was told the person didn’t work there.  Next thing I know, I get a hysterical call from my 70+ year old mother while I am at work.  There was a man who had a man at her door waving a gun in her face alleging he was there to arrest me for nonpayment of that Discovercard bill.  He evidently was screaming demanding to know my address, my phone number, and where I worked.  He told my mother if she was any kind of mother she would cooperate and maybe he would go easy on me.  Thankfully he scared her so much with his terroristic threats she couldn’t remember my personal information.

Then the terrorist goes back to my place of employment and questions people in the lot.  He then winds up in another part of the state again looking to serve some alleged court documents to my first name/different last name.  I was called into the lobby where I worked as acting office manager and told the guy all court documents and summons regarding employees could not be accepted through the local office.  It needed to go through the legal department for compliance and I provided him an address.  The guy started screaming uncontrollably because he wasn’t going to go through the legal department.  He wanted information from the branch.  I requested he leave the premises and not to return.  The man flashed his “gun” and it was apparent it was a toy gun with the orange tip removed.  I had a business card, which turned out to have fraudulent information and phone numbers on it.  The documents the guy was pawning off, were the same Special Civil part Court Documents phishing for personal information.

The last personal contact was when they found my current address.  The thug call bangs on my door last spring dressed in gray sweats claiming to be maintenance with my apartment complex.  I know all of the maintenance guys and didn’t know this guy so I told him I needed to call the main office to confirm he was legit.  The guy threw an envelope, hand written with my name on it and grabbed my arm.  The man used profanities alleged he know I was using two names and if I didn’t pay my bill he was going to see to it I never worked again and that I lost my place to live.  I took self defense and the guy was hurting as he ran off to the main road and I called the main office and the police to report the incident.  Same thing, illegal use of court documents (still in the other persons name) phishing for information.

Now, I complained a million times to Discover and they claim to hold no responsibility over what the junk debt buyer does.  They allege they can share personal information (even if it is inaccurate) to anyone they choose. 

Now these extortionists of Weltman Weinberg and Reis, have been accessing my credit reports for no legitimate purposes.  I have notified the credit bureau they were to be denied access to my reports and the credit reporting agencies have all disregarded me. 

Now the date of last activity on this old charge off from 1999 is listed as a current charge off with date of last activity being charged off this very month.  Discovercard has been made aware that every month the date of last activity is updated to reflect the current month as are the credit reporting agencies.  Discovercard verbally stated on the phone that Weltman Weinberg and Reis must be fraudulently reporting the trade line in Discovercard’s name and updating that date of last activity.

And the kicker, no one is able to supply any information to validate the identity of the person they are trying to collect from.  

So I research attorney’s and to get all three credit bureaus, the alleged law firm, and Discovercard before a judge with representation we are looking at $5,000 retainer to start and I was told they would probably ask for more.

These are the worst of the saga, and the items still ongoing.  Look how long this story is and there is so much more with America General and their debtor Mrs. Shoeford’s who defaulted furniture winding up on my report.  And many more.

Trans Union and Equifax both have refused to provide free annual reports and refuse to investigate any discrepancies.  I was told if I paid a monthly fee with Trans Union’s Credit Watch service they would fix my credit report.  I signed up and of course it was another Trans Union lie.  What I did learn is that no one in Trans Union will ever be able to help because my credit profile has been flagged as a “trouble maker” and the guy  would not elucidate but indicated that was bad because my credit will NEVER reflect accurately unless I sue.

Now we do have a new issue where I was defrauded by a predatory lender.  I was offered a charge card through Juniper Bank and it was marketed as being a preferred provider of a professional association I belong to and partnering with a legitimate firm I do business with.  I called them up and went over the terms and conditions.  I explained my credit situation and stated I wanted only a $500 credit limit but the flexibility to pre-pay for business travel purposes. I was told not a problem.

Within my first month of holding the card, I pre-paid and additional $1,000 by electronic transfer because I knew I was extending my stay.  I called the bank to confirm he transfer.  I was embarrassed at the hotel 4 days later by their denial of a $750 charge.  I called to complain and only then did I learn they put a hold on all pre-payments for 45 days. 

I immediately canceled the card and requested full refund of the “overpayment”.  The card gave me a lot of trouble about refunding that money until I threatened to go file a complaint myself in small claims court.  I received my refund.  After the account had been closed a fraudulent insurance charge was approved to the account and a bill as received.  The bill was for a $25 insurance premium plus #4 overlimit fee because the account was closed.  I called to dispute and sent a letter US Postal to confirm to their requested PO Box.  The next month, I received another bill for another $25 insurance premium plus $34 overlimit fee and a $34 late fee with 30% interest on that initial; $25 and $34.  I got the department of insurance involved about the fraudulent insurance billing and the insurance carrier put through a credit for everything they billed.  The credit card company now has me in collection for over $600 which is solely interest and their fees.  I sent proof via FedEx and my package was marked return to sender – refused.  They refuse to sign for any evidence.  I sent a Fed ex to their collections agency and to date no word yet, however, I am gearing up to start round 2 with the Trans Union where this crap is inappropriately listed on my credit report as a default.

Now I have been detailed, I have kept records, I have written to my assemblyman, senators, my Governor, the FTC, the Consumer Affairs people, Department of Banking, Attorney General at the State and Federal Levels, and the whole 9 yards.  Everyone passes the buck.  No one wants to enforce the laws already in place.  No one wants to address the issues.

I don’t blame the private attorney’s charging fees because I understand they have expenses they need to cover and pay for but they are part of the problem and not part of the solution.  The credit card extortion racket and the Credit Reporting Agencies KNOW that the average citizen cannot afford legal fees and they know that most people won’t have the intelligence or the resources to take action against them.  I have been saying for years there are a million better solutions. 

Believe me, I wish I could get face time in front of the powers that be.  It’s been unreal the harrowing experiences and the loss of employment, and the way the system has railroaded me for years.  I’m in a much better place than so many others out there because these companies drive people to the edge.  They drive them to the grave from medical issues, stress related issues, suicide, and more.  I have the inconvenience of not being able to obtain credit for less than an extortion rate of 30%.  Too bad for me, I am deterred from doing more business with white collar criminals and facing more harassment.  I will never own a house unless I pay cash up front.  I will never have a new car unless I pay cash up front.   Is that such a bad way to live?  I look dirt poor compared to counterparts I work with, but I live debt free.

I have to wait until I save money for a medical procedure I need.  I can’t afford all the dental work I need to have that insurance won’t cover and I have to pick and choose like roulette which medications I will pay for each month.

It is difficult to live without credit the way I do, and it can be quite stressful especially when your necessities are not being met but all in all, I am better off without them.  If only I could get the mess cleaned up, I could finish my degree and be eligible for a higher paying job.  This is what I strive for.

Civil Rights and protection under the laws already in place are reserved for the wealthy because your middle income brackets and below just don’t have the financial resources to ensure their rights will be upheld.