The 5/21/09 FTC email in response to my DeVry / Experian complaint:

Thank you for contacting the Federal Trade Commission. Please find attached information that may assist you.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.pdf

The 5/21/09 FTC LETTER attached to the e-mail.   I got the FTC Ref. No. 22829876. And that’s it.  MANY hours wasted.

Sure, Experian deleted the account and my client is happy, but what about the MANY MILLIONS whose FICO scores are lowered due to this systemic malicious false credit reporting?

Are they all supposed to pay me to get those deletions?

WHY should anyone have to pay to get the complete and accurate credit reporting they are entitled to by law?

NEXT:  my letter to the new FTC commissioner.  Will have to do some research.

I’ll be publishing the NAMES of the people who choose to destroy America INSTEAD of enforcing consumer protection laws.

Maybe one day we’ll have proceedings similar to the Nuernberg Trials and at least some of the people in charge will be prosecuted for treason and their crimes against the American people.  If nothing else, their friends and neighbors ought to know what scum they are and shun these corrupt bastards.

And of course I hope that YOU will do your patriotic duty and stop financing the crooks.

STOP paying your unsecured debts to the big banks if you’re (nearly) judgment-proof.

If you lose your job, leave the system.  Become independent – LEGALLY stop paying income tax and sales tax  and stop being a SLAVE!

Of course my client is still out the money he paid to me to dispute and then to contact DeVry directly.   And I worked umpteen hours UNPAID to prepare the FTC complaint, write to DeVry and Experian about it, etc.

Nobody should have to go through this again to get ACCURATE reporting and I sure hope the FTC will take action.

The exhibits remained the same and here is the updated complaint:

To:

Federal Trade Commission                                May 7, 2009
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

Re: Complaint # 1 — Credit bureau Experian and DeVry intentional reporting of late payments long after accounts became collections

This is the first of a series of complaints published at my new blog http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info/.  After six devastating years of litigating as pro se consumer with no legal experience in the incredibly corrupt American judicial system, this is my hopefully final effort to document how America is destroyed by its government, regulators and major corporations.

The FTC and FRB easily could have prevented the current economic crisis by enforcing consumer protection laws.  ALL regulators ignored my numerous complaints about credit reporting and FICO credit scoring, my submissions in response to the FTC and FRB requests for public comments[1] and even my 2003 federal lawsuit.[2] The FTC, FCC, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and its VP James McAfee were named defendants, but chose to obtain dismissals instead of addressing the issues and preventing the credit crisis.

Since President Obama promised change, I am hoping that the FTC will once again investigate consumer complaints and TAKE ACTION.

Should the FTC choose to continue to ignore me, I will of course widely publicize its refusal to enforce consumer protection laws and hopefully convince many millions of (near) judgment-proof Americans to vote with their money and to STOP paying their unsecured bank debts.

The Experian and DeVry reporting of LATE PAYMENTS after accounts were charged off.

DeVry deliberately and maliciously reports student loans to Experian with LATE PAYMENTS after the loans became collections and even while their former students make timely payments in good faith.

Experian refuses to delete the obviously incorrect late payments despite receiving my client’s factual dispute and knowing that the account was a collection years earlier.

Enclosed are the following documents:

• Exh. A:  3/3/09 CreditFactors letter to DeVry
• Exh. B:  3/3/09 Response by Barbara Jones, DeVry
• Exh. C: 12/12/08 Experian myFICO reporting of DeVry student loan
• Exh. D: 12/30/08 Experian investigation results, verifying the late payments
• Exh. E:  3/8/09 Experian reporting of the DeVry student loan on the consumer disclosure with the late payments after the account became a collection

Exh. E, the Experian credit reporting:

Account History:

Collection as of Feb 2004 to Feb 2005

180 days as of Dec 2005 to Apr 2007, Mar 2005 to Oct 2005, Aug 2003 to Oct 2003 [emphasis added]

Inexplicably, DeVry started to report the student loan collection as “180 days late” in 3/05, a year AFTER the account became a collection.

My client factually disputed with Experian in 12/08:

Please delete all late payments after the DeVry account was charged off and provide the scheduled deletion date.

Experian issues:

1. Experian failed to implement procedures to ensure maximum accuracy of credit reports.

Any first year programmer ought to be capable of writing a simple routine to either reject this obviously incorrect reporting of late payments after charge-off/collection or to automatically delete the incorrect late payments.

2. After receiving my client’s written dispute in 12/08, Experian failed to correct the reporting and it instead VERIFIED the obviously incorrect late payments on 12/30/08. [Exh. D]

There was NO need for Experian to forward the dispute to DeVry as its own reporting documented that the account had been in collection since 2/04.

3. Experian FAILED to disclose the scheduled deletion date. [Exh. E].

Experian FAILED to disclose the scheduled deletion date even AFTER my client specifically requested the disclosure in his 12/08 dispute and apparently Experian does not plan on ever deleting this collection.

Experian reports about 50% of my clients’ charge-offs and collections without the deletion dates and I don’t believe that it ever provided the scheduled deletion dates in response to my clients’ written disputes. Experian simply IGNORES the requests for the scheduled deletion dates of derogatory accounts.

Apparently Experian re-ages millions of charge-offs and collections and reports them indefinitely.

4. Experian FAILED to disclose the reporting of the disputed DeVry account with its investigation results. [Exh. D]

While consumers can access the Experian report online, not everybody has internet access.

DeVry issues:

1. DeVry verified the late payments with Experian after receiving my client’s dispute. [Exh. D]

2. I then contacted DeVry by telephone and finally spoke with Barbara Jones, DeVry Loan Administration Manager. She stated that DeVry DELIBERATELY reports these late payments after student loans became collections.

3. On 3/3/09 I faxed my concerns to Ms. Jones and she responded by fax that DeVry in fact deliberately reports student loans with late payments after they became collections. [Exh. B]

Exh. C is the DeVry account as reported on Fair Isaac’s myFICO report. It states:

Your FICO score evaluates how recently that missed payment occurred and in general, the more recent, the more impact it has on your score.

Of course the reporting of a charge-off or collection lowers the FICO scores, but as the derogatory account becomes older, the impact on FICO scores is less severe – UNLESS the account is reported as CURRENTLY DELINQUENT with NEW late payments.

As I have documented through my own litigation as well as client work, Experian is determined to force as many consumers as possible into sub-prime, high rate and high fee loans.

Experian STRIVES to destroy the FICO scores of GOOD people who experienced financial problems many years earlier.

Just about ALL mortgages require minimum FICO scores and are rated according to FICO scores.

I hereby request that the FTC immediately:

1. order DeVry to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and to delete ALL late payments after collection / charge-off for ALL student loans.

2. order Experian to implement procedures to purge all late payments reported for accounts after they were charged off or became collections.

3. order Experian to properly delete all charge-offs/collections after 7 years and to disclose the scheduled deletion dates on all consumer disclosures.

4. assess appropriate fines against Experian and DeVry and order restitution for all affected consumers and reimbursement of my client’s $535 fee paid to me. ($385 and T150, trado payment can be arranged at http://www.tradobank.org)

These systemic FCRA violations greatly contributed to the economic crisis, forcing GOOD people into horrible loans and eventually homelessness and even suicide/murder.

The FTC can’t reincarnate the dead and I don’t expect it to buy back the homes for the many thousands of home owners who lost everything because their FICO scores were artificially lowered by systemic and malicious incorrect credit reporting.

I DO expect the FTC to finally take action and to enforce the law.

I provided the draft of this complaint and the exhibits to Devry and Experian on 4/28/09, posted at http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info.  Attorney Chang advised that he forwarded my email to the Experian in-house counsel and I provided my client’s identifying information today to Mr. Chang for further Experian investigation.

DeVry requested a new power of attorney for my client on 5/5/09, continues to report the late payments after the account became a collection and today DeVry senior counsel Sarah L. Fischer wrote that “DeVry University follows all applicable laws, rules and regulations in its business practices.”

Clearly, it is up to the FTC to once again ensure compliance with consumer protection laws.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, preferably by email as I do not enjoy the luxury of postal service and I only receive my snail mail every few weeks.

Sincerely,

Christine Baker

c: posted at http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info and at other sites

[2] Posted at my CreditCourt site at http://forum.creditcourt.com/discus/messages/803/803.html

The purpose of publishing all the correspondence is of course to DOCUMENT the willfulness of these FCRA violations.

Experian attorney Chang’s email:

Ms. Baker,

I did receive the copy of your FTC draft complaint.  Thank you.  I forwarded it on to Experian’s in-house counsel for review, however, because the complaint had all of the consumer’s identification information redacted (which was no doubt for privacy purposes) Experian was unable to assess the factual validity of the allegations in relation to him.

I understand your allegations pertinent to the FTC include assertions of systemic incorrect reporting of late payments by that particular creditor, and obviously, if you deem it necessary to file that complaint with the FTC, Experian has no say in that.  However, Experian’s in-house counsel requested that the consumer contact Experian directly, or in the alternative. to have that consumer contact me so that we can attempt to resolve any issues he may have from my end.  As you are aware, Experian is unable to conduct any meaningful investigation pertaining to him without his direct consent or at the direction of his legal counsel.  Thank you.

Regards,

Edward

Edward S. Chang, Esq.
Jones Day

My response with my client ID for Experian:

Mr. Chang,

Please provide my client’s info to the Experian counsel:  [redacted]

There is no need for my client to waste more time and money on this matter as he already personally submitted his factual dispute to Experian, see Exh. D, the 12/30/08 Experian investigation results, verifying the late payments

Thanks,

Christine Baker

And today’s email from DeVry senior cousel Sarah L. Fischer:

Ms. Baker:

I am sending this communication in response to your May 5, 2009, email.

DeVry University follows all applicable laws, rules and regulations in its business practices.

Sarah L. Fischer

Senior Counsel

DeVry Inc.

I find it quite offensive that they would wait until the LAST day to request the totally unnecessary power of attorney and this is nothing but a delay tactic.

We’ve already discussed my client’s account in great detail and the correspondence is included with the exhibits.

The FTC complaint is about DeVry’s credit reporting procedures — NOT my client.

He is one of many former DeVry students whose credit is maliciously destroyed by DeVry and I sure hope that a class action firm sues on behalf of ALL DeVry victims.  As of today, the DeVry Experian reporting is unchanged.  Looks like they’re just wasting my time.

Here’s our correspondence:

To: Credit Factors

Attn: Christine Baker

Re:  [redacted]

This is in response to a complaint letter on behalf of [redacted]. Upon review, DeVry’s legal counsel has noted that we are unable to respond to your letter as the student has not authorized us to do so.

The Limited Power of Attorney document that we have on record for [redacted] expired March 19^th, 2009.

The following is DeVry’s standard FERPA release form.  The student would need to complete the form giving Credit Factors permission for us to release account information.

<<FERPA release.doc>>

The student can fax the signed form to 630.574.1963  or scan the signed form and email it to kchabez@devry.com.

Thank you.

Kathy Chabez

Service Center Solutions Manager

DeVry Inc.

My response:

Ms. Chabez,

I forwarded your email to my client.  However, my FTC complaint is about the DeVry and Experian credit reporting PROCEDURES to report late payments after accounts became collections and NOT specific to my client.

I wrote on 4/28/09:

Please submit any corrections within seven (7) days.

I had planned on mailing my complaint to the FTC today, please let my know by tomorrow whether it contains any incorrect statements or conclusions.

Sincerely,

Christine Baker

Delay tactics …

Via fax to 630-382-2915 – 5 pages including cover

April 28, 2009

Re: Notice of DRAFT FTC Complaint about the intentional and malicious reporting of student loan late payments after collection to Experian

Please forward this fax to your legal department for review.  The exhibits are posted at http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info.

Please submit any corrections within seven (7) days.

Should I not hear from you, I will assume that my FTC complaint is factual and accurate and I will submit it to the FTC next week.

Sincerely,

Christine Baker

My notice to attorney Edward Chang with Jones Day, currently representing Experian in my federal suit:

Mr. Chang,

As discussed at the deposition, attached is my DRAFT complaint to the FTC with the exhibits, also posted at http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info

I intend to submit the complaint to the FTC on 5/4/09 and I will assume that the complaint is factual unless I hear from you or Experian by then. Please contact me with any questions or concerns, Sincerely,Christine Baker

I don’t expect DeVry to respond since its Barbara Jones and its legal department already reviewed the issues and they determined that it’s perfectly fine to destroy their former students’ credit by reporting these late payments in violation of the FCRA.

While Experian verified after my client’s dispute, but I hadn’t contacted them directly.   Whether they care about the FTC complaint depends on whether they still control the FTC.  The previous commissioner was a former Jones Day attorney and Jones Day has been representing Experian for many years.

Of course I’m hoping that class action attorneys will sue on behalf of ALL DeVry students with defaults.  DeVry ADMITTED that it deliberately violated the FCRA and Experian VERIFIED the obvious incorrect reporting and it has NO procedures whatsoever to ensure accurate credit reporting.

http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info/4-28-09-Exh-all–Experian-DeVry-opt-pub.pdf

Exh. A:  3/3/09 CreditFactors letter to DeVry

Exh. B:  3/3/09 Response by Barbara Jones, DeVry

Exh. C: 12/12/08 Experian myFICO reporting of DeVry student loan

Exh. D: 12/30/08 Experian investigation results, verifying the late payments

Exh. E:  3/8/09 Experian reporting of the DeVry student loan on the consumer disclosure with the late payments after the account became a collection

I will make an effort to post the individual exhibits with the credit reporting and explain what to look for on a slow day.

To: Federal Trade Commission

Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

DRAFT dated April 27, 2009

Re: Complaint # 1 — credit bureau Experian and DeVry intentional reporting of late payments long after accounts became collections and despite timely payments.

This is the first of a series of complaints published at my new blog http://credit-reporting-collection-ftc-complaints.info/.  After six devastating years of litigating as pro se consumer with no legal experience in the incredibly corrupt American judicial system, this is my hopefully final effort to document how America is destroyed by its government, regulators and major corporations.

The FTC and FRB easily could have prevented the current economic crisis by enforcing consumer protection laws.  ALL regulators ignored my numerous complaints about credit reporting and FICO credit scoring, my submissions in response to the FTC and FRB requests for public comments[1] and even my 2003 federal lawsuit.[2] The FTC, FCC, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and its VP James McAfee were named defendants, but chose to obtain dismissals instead of addressing the issues and preventing the credit crisis.

Since President Obama promised change, I am hoping that the FTC will once again investigate consumer complaints and TAKE ACTION.

Should the FTC choose to continue to ignore me, I will of course widely publicize its refusal to enforce consumer protection laws and hopefully convince many millions of (near) judgment-proof Americans to vote with their money and to STOP paying their unsecured bank debts.

The Experian and DeVry reporting of LATE PAYMENTS after accounts were charged off.

DeVry deliberately and maliciously reports student loans to Experian with LATE PAYMENTS after the loans became collections and even while their former students make timely payments in good faith.

Experian refuses to delete the obviously incorrect late payments despite receiving my client’s factual dispute and knowing that the account was a collection years earlier.

Enclosed are the following documents:

Exh. A:  3/3/09 CreditFactors letter to DeVry

Exh. B:  3/3/09 Response by Barbara Jones, DeVry

Exh. C: 12/12/08 Experian myFICO reporting of DeVry student loan

Exh. D: 12/30/08 Experian investigation results, verifying the late payments

Exh. E:  3/8/09 Experian reporting of the DeVry student loan on the consumer disclosure with the late payments after the account became a collection

Exh. E, the Experian credit reporting:

Account History:

Collection as of Feb 2004 to Feb 2005

180 days as of Dec 2005 to Apr 2007, Mar 2005 to Oct 2005, Aug 2003 to Oct 2003 [emphasis added]

Inexplicably, DeVry started to report the student loan collection as “180 days late” in 3/05, a year AFTER the account became a collection.

My client factually disputed with Experian in 12/08:

Please delete all late payments after the DeVry account was charged off and provide the scheduled deletion date.

Experian issues:

1. Experian failed to implement procedures to ensure maximum accuracy of credit reports.

Any first year programmer ought to be capable of writing a simple routine to either reject this obviously incorrect reporting of late payments after charge-off/collection or to automatically delete the incorrect late payments.

1. After receiving my client’s written dispute in 12/08, Experian failed to correct the reporting and it instead VERIFIED the obviously incorrect late payments on 12/30/08.  [Exh. D]

There was NO need for Experian to forward the dispute to DeVry as its own reporting documented that the account had been in collection since 2/04.

1. Experian FAILED to disclose the scheduled deletion date. [Exh. E].

Experian FAILED to disclose the scheduled deletion date even AFTER my client specifically requested the disclosure in his 12/08 dispute and apparently Experian does not plan on ever deleting this collection.

Experian reports about 50% of my clients’ charge-offs and collections without the deletion dates and I don’t believe that it ever provided the scheduled deletion dates in response to my clients’ written disputes.  Experian simply IGNORES the requests for the scheduled deletion dates of derogatory accounts.

Apparently Experian re-ages millions of charge-offs and collections and reports them indefinitely.

1. Experian FAILED to disclose the reporting of the disputed DeVry account with its investigation results. [Exh. D]

DeVry issues:

1. DeVry verified the late payments with Experian after receiving my client’s dispute. [Exh. D]
2. I then contacted DeVry by telephone and finally spoke with Barbara Jones, DeVry Loan Administration Manager. She stated that DeVry DELIBERATELY reports these late payments after student loans became collections.
3. On 3/3/09 I faxed my concerns to Ms. Jones and she responded by fax that DeVry in fact deliberately reports student loans with late payments. [Exh. B]

Exh. C is the DeVry account as reported on Fair Isaac’s myFICO report. It states:

Your FICO score evaluates how recently that missed payment occurred and in general, the more recent, the more impact it has on your score.

Of course the reporting of a charge-off or collection lowers the FICO scores, but as the derogatory account becomes older, the impact on FICO scores is less severe – UNLESS the account is reported as CURRENTLY DELINQUENT with NEW late payments.

As I have documented through my own litigation as well as client work, Experian is determined to force as many consumers as possible into sub-prime, high rate and high fee loans.

Experian STRIVES to destroy the FICO scores of GOOD people who experienced financial problems many years earlier.

Just about ALL mortgages require minimum FICO scores and are rated according to FICO scores.

I hereby request that the FTC immediately:

1. order DeVry to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and to delete ALL late payments after collection / charge-off for ALL student loans.
2. order Experian to implement procedures to purge all late payments reported for accounts after they were charged off or became collections.
3. order Experian to properly delete all charge-offs/collections after 7 years and to disclose the scheduled deletion dates on all consumer disclosures.
4. assess appropriate fines against Experian and DeVry and order reimbursement of my client’s $535 fee paid to me.  ($385 and T150, trado payment can be arranged at http://www.tradobank.org)

These systemic FCRA violations greatly contributed to the economic crisis, forcing GOOD people into horrible loans and eventually homelessness and even suicide/murder.

You can’t reincarnate the dead and I don’t expect you to buy back the homes for the many thousands of home owners who lost everything because their FICO scores were artificially low.

I DO expect you to finally take action and enforce the law.

[-- a statement about feedback from Experian or DeVry, if any]

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, preferably by email as I do not enjoy the luxury of postal service and I only receive my snail mail every few weeks.

Sincerely,

Christine Baker

c: posted at [this URL]

[2] Posted at my CreditCourt site at http://forum.creditcourt.com/discus/messages/803/803.html