     The Wordsmith (Wordsmith) | Monday, September 11, 2000 - 12:35 pm 
I spent about a year cleaning severely negative, inaccurate information off of my reports from the big three CRAs. The process ended earlier this year, about five months ago. I have completely clean reports from all three to verify this.
But I'm paranoid that the inaccurate information, which belonged to someone else with my same name, is somehow still connected to me in a way that is not shared on the basic consumer report and that it is not "really" gone. Fueling this paranoia is the fact that I still get solicitations for "crappy" credit cards i.e. secured, with high interest rates, low credit lines and annual fees -- in short, the kind of offers I would expect with severely damaged credit. (I do receive offers for "real" cards as well and I should note that my credit history is perfect, and I have "real" cards with high credit limits.)
Am I getting these solicitations because my name is still on old mailing lists, or are these "crappy" credit peddlers using (inaccurate) information that I can't access?
I plan on buying a car soon and am concerned that my credit history will still be misrepresented.
Thanks in advance for any input. |
| Shylock (Shylock) | Monday, September 11, 2000 - 04:27 pm
The undesirable solicitations are coming from the fourth credit repository Innova. Unlike a credit reporting agency Innova does not give out credit reports on anyone and, as such, is exempt from much of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Innova collects credit information on you and gives your name out to people on promotional lists. No credit information is given out, rather a credit grantor will give out a list of criteria that is their 'target market.' For example a subprime card might look for someone with no lates in the past 24 months, one active tradeline that has less than 50% used and a serious delinquency in the past 5 years.
Innova will match up the credit information they have on you with the grantor's requirements and will sell your name and address to them. If you apply for credit the credit grantor will turn to one of the big 3 to get another perspective on you and ensure you meet their qualifications.
There is no way to find out what Innova has on you or to challenge it's accuracy. Personally I wouldn't worry about it, but if you are concerned you can always call (888) 5-OPTOUT. If you listen carefully to the message you will hear that the line is for opting out of all four credit repositories, including Innova. |
