Scandal explodes with 3 credit bureaus - Often give perks to the rich and fix errors faster

[ck4829]

You see their ads on TV, they're used more and more; for loans, to get a home, and to get jobs. People act like they're predictors of human behavior, but is this how a predictor of human behavior is supposed to act?

Celebrities, politicians, judges and other "well-connected" people receive preferential treatment from credit reporting companies, the New York Times reported, citing consumer lawyers and legal documents.

"The rich, the well-connected, the well-known and the powerful" will receive help from U.S.-based workers to fix their credit reports at Equifax Inc., Experian Plc and TransUnion Corp., and errors are usually taken care of immediately, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified lawyer.

Experian said politicians in an election year may have their files taken offline so creditors and others can't access the information without the bureau's permission, the newspaper said. The company said it didn't have a preferential list, the Times said.

David Szwak, a consumer lawyer in Shreveport, Louisiana, told the newspaper he has sworn testimony from former Experian workers that there is a preferential list at the company.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/14/bloomberg1376-LL8Q5M1A1I4H01-4BVO7HO401CCE77TRELSGTJJKK.DTL

[Bubba Kush]

1. Complete amnesty is requested

to start a clean slate.

[ellie]

2. I remember reading an

article about a guy who took on the credit bureaus and then was charged with some sort of unrelated and unsubstantiated felony. A SWAT team was waiting at his house for him. It was very tinfoil-y at the time. I don't remember reading any follow up and it was over 10 years ago.