Customer Reviews

Give Me Back My Credit!: One Woman's True Story of Surviving Credit Errors

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To descend into the depths of an outworn cliché, this book describes the mother of all credit problems. Through no fault of her own, the author and her husband are labeled as extremely poor credit risks. As amazing as it sounds, the problem begins when they try to prepay some of their home mortgage. However, due an error committed by the lender, their payments are misapplied and they end up being listed as in default. This then snowballs into an incredible problem as their "poor performance" is then reported to the credit agencies.
As these events unfold, they try to resolve the problem and talk to representatives of the company holding their mortgage. The representative is at first sympathetic and admits to their error. However, fixing the problem turns out to be an impossible task, as promises to change the records are unfulfilled. Legal action is launched against the company and rather than try to simply fix the problem the company throws an army of lawyers at them and engages in a great deal of arrogant nastiness.
It is not possible to say that this story has a happy ending. The stress over fighting the battle to get her credit restored destroyed her marriage and the stress led to some health problems. She eventually received compensatory monetary payments but punitive damages were denied by the judge. This book is a lesson in the vagaries of consumer credit law as consumers don't have all the legal rights that one would believe. The one good thing about the events in Denise's life is that it is an object lesson that you must pay very close attention to the bills you receive and be extremely pro-active in getting problems resolved as soon as possible.

Author Denise Richardson and I decided to exchange our literary works. I sent her my novel "The Kids on the Block," and Denise sent me hers; "Give Me Back My Credit." Even though "The Kids on the Block has some sad parts, for the most part it is humorous and hilariously funny. Denise's true story is, on the other hand, tragic, nightmarish and bloodcurdling to say the least. I do not expect Denise to have much humor left after what she went through in fighting an arrogant, error-plagued, contemptuous Mortgage Bank and the three national credit bureaus.

Denise is the Iwo Jima against corporate giant's who, not only ruined her credit, but made her life worse than a living hell.

If you are like me and feel safe and confident since your credit score is above the 700's do not be too complacent and seat on your recliner thinking all is good and well. I jumped out of my seat after reading the first two chapters!

In author Denise Richardson's book "Give Me Back My Credit" she tells how her nightmare and living hell began. She, too, thought and felt safe and confident that everything about her mortgage on the home she owned was better than best. She made it a point to make extra payments to the principal of the mortgage loan, and of course, her credit rating was excellent as well.

Years later Denise decided to refinance her home. Much to her astounding surprise, she finds out the Mortgage lender had made many dreadful, inexcusable accounting errors on her mortgage loan. The lender never credited the extra mortgage payment to the principal of the mortgage loan.

The mortgage lender had not only been misapplying those extra payments, but was using her money to their benefit. After she found out the inexcusable mistake the lender had been making for years, the mortgage lender refused to correct their accounting errors. Denise's nightmare and living hell began.

From face-to-face battles against the corporate giants to inefficient attorneys and courtroom dramas the fight to regain, restore and have the errors corrected by the Mortgage lender only compounded into a bigger nightmare. From there it spread like a cancerous disease to the three national credit bureaus of Experian, Trans Union and Equifax.
This is a story the reader will not forget. The reader will learn from it and, sadly to say, from Denise's nightmare.

I didn't think I needed to read "Give Me Back My Credit;" I was wrong! I hope the book finds its way to the halls of high school and college administrators and make the book required reading for all students.

If you feel you don't need to read her book, you, too, will be wrong.

This is a wonderful book... as much as it is terrifyingly real... the credit issues and the unbridled power of the "Big Three" to randomly destroy any life they choose... It is a smooth read... A hard to put down tale that leaves you shaking your head and wondering if you'll be next.
As extreme as this may seem...it is merely a drop in the tremendous bucket of Credit lies, deception and h3ll that people go through...
Great book.

I have been in the finance and credit field since 1993. In this time, I have reviewed over 4,000 credit reports, and have seen hundreds of credit reports with major errors on them. Trust me, major errors on credit reports are a very common occurrence.

Denise Richardson's story is an absolute nightmare. You can read the summary of what happened elsewhere here, so I need not recap it. But her story is absolutely compelling, and frightening, and you will get angry at the following when reading the book: large bank practices; collections agencies; the three major credit bureaus, the attorneys for huge multi-billion dollar corporations; our judicial system; and our Congress and regulators who are supposed to be protecting us, but instead are protecting the large corporations who are funding their campaigns and often actually writing the consumer laws and the federal regulations.

You won't be pleased about how the credit system works in this country after reading this book, but that in my view is a good thing. With knowledge comes truth, and with truth, comes power. Once you have a much better understanding how this system works (or doesn't work) by reading Denise's story, you will know how to protect yourself from a similar fate. The nightmare of incorrect and damaging errors showing up and staying on credit reports doesn't just happen to a few individuals like Denise...it happens to tens of millions of Americans.

Denise has a number of tips on how to protect yourself from credit errors. Two important ones are: Monitor your monthly payments to all major accounts, especially your mortgage, and monitor your own credit reports on a regular basis to make sure that errors are not being reported. (A personal note - after reading this book, I contacted my mortgage bank, and will now start monitoring my mortgage payments online. We have never received a monthly mortgage payment statement either.)

I mostly read this book looking at it from a credit standpoint, because that is the field I am in. However, this is a well told and inspiring story that moved me on a human level; of one woman who took on the giants of industry, and won. The toll it took on her life was immense, but she did not give up. I have a lot of respect for her. She fought a lot of battles in this book, and did not win them all. But in the end, she won the war.

Again, I highly recommend this book. You will be moved by Denise's story, and you will also learn steps you can take to protect your own good credit.

Denise's story requires a strong stomach; I had to put it down at times just to let myself settle down after reading the nightmare she went through. This book gives you the tools to monitor your credit health and to be aware of the steps to take to maintain it. Highly recommended.

Denise's story is shaking up the credit industry. In clear, concise and honest language she tells her painfully true story of what can and does happen to honest and innocent people. I am buying copies of GIVE ME BACK MY CREDIT for all my friends...especially students being offered unsolicited credit. An excellent, compelling read.

The author, Denise Richardson, holds nothing back in sharing her experiences with the "credit system." There's over 200 pages of information that can help you avoid the "hell" that she went through in dealing with creditors. There are 14 chapters detailing what happened to her and how she resolved the problems. It includes credit bureau errors, mortage problems, debt collectors, identity thieves and much, much more. Her experiences and resolutions can only help you avoid these financial problems, saving you countless time, money, and frustration !!

Give Me Back My Credit is a David and Goliath story and a must-read for anyone trying to correct errors on their credit report. All Denise Richardson did was try to pay off her mortgage ahead of schedule. Her reward for this should have been a life without debt or worry. Instead, it was the beginning of a running battle stretching out over 15 years and involving multiple law suits.

Although Denise has won each and every battle she has fought against some of the largest companies in the financial services industry, her victories have come at a high personal cost. Her book doesn't just tell her story. It also gives the reader needed information before starting any similar struggle, and tells us all how to avoid some of the most unpleasant of the pitfalls that she found facing her.

This is a spectacular book and I recommend it to everyone. There are very few books that help the general public to navigate the rough seas of credit reporting companies and agencies. Anyone who has been victimized by these companies will find familiar territory in the author's experiences, and will gain insights and proven remedies for dealing with the harshness of their reality. Thank you Denise!

Denise's first-person account is moving and her story is full of useful information and lists of important resources. It's unfortunate that she had to go through all of this, but she's written it down so we can learn from her experience. This book will help you understand the landscape of red tape and motivate you to cut through it.