American General Finance DISCRIMINATION after reaffirmation ripoff Muskegon Michigan

Actually, I am more than familiar with how the laws work- I filed pro se, thank you very much. I also know that after filing pro se, and representing myself, that they COULD in fact, contact me if they wanted to, and needed to.

I FINALLY heard from someone last week (more than five months!!!!) after filing a complaint with the BBB. They agreed to start sending me monthly statements, and that they would report to the credit bureaus. However, after checking my credit report today, nothing was reported yet. (What a suprise!) They also told me that they won't be sending me a monthly statement; I have to call for this.

And yes, they are discriminating against me. They are claiming that my debt was charged off. This is not true. I reaffirmed for the full amount. They claim that I am not in a normal loan. That is also incorrect. To re-affirm means that the debt is not discharged, and that I still owe on the loan. I also know that if I were a "normal status" customer, someone would have gotten back to me as soon as they could have.

I find it interesting that I can re-affirm with my local offices, and have all of the court information go through them, but they can mysteriously send all of my information to their "bankruptcy specialist" office in Indiana, and not tell me a freaking word about it.... very sneaky of them. Very scary and frightening that they can do this as well. AND not be required to let me know?! What kind of crackerjack deal is that? Sounds like very suspicious dealings to me!

There is no requirement in FCRA for any specific language to be used on credit reports, only that they be "accurate." In practice, they can even be inaccurate as long as what is reported is better for the consumer than the truth. This is because no one is REQUIRED by law to change anything on a credit report unless the consumer complains.

Consumers have tried to negotiate favorable reporting with creditors in exchage for substantial payment (for example, paying a seriously late account in full with a lump sum, and getting all the late payments removed from the credit report in exchage). The practice is NOT PROHIBITED BY THE FCRA LAW, but the credit reporting agencies try to stop it with restrictive language in their contracts with creditors. The legality of these restrictions apparently hasn't been challenged.

Now back to "A"'s case. If the debt has been properly reaffirmed, it is by definition NOT "included in bankruptcy" and cannot be reported as such. Since "A" has an agreement from AGF to "reage" the debt and accept $25.00 per month, and he or she has apparently been paying the $25.00 per month, it should be reported R1 "paid as agreed", the most favorable report.

The only reason to consider reaffirming an unsecured debt would be to get something favorable on the credit report. Most companies won't oblige you. It would be better to just include them and pay nothing.

Also it does not take 4 months to update a credit report. If the consumer files a dispute with the credit reporting agency, they will request verification of the account from the creditor, which must be delivered within one month. Then the updated information must be immediately put on the credit report. If the creditor doesn't respond in time, the entire account must be deleted.

Creditors can and do discriminate against someone who has filed bankruptcy, even if they have perfect credit post-bankruptcy. Many "prime" and "superprime" credit products will be out of reach as long as a bankruptcy appears on the credit report. Almost any reason except for those spelled out in the law can be used to deny credit. The major prohibited reasons are race, gender, age, etc. and source of income: welfare, SSDI, child support for example.

We have been discharged from our bankruptcy for 5 years and when we have tried to obtain a loan from American General, they have denied us the loan do to the bankruptcy. They say that is the only reason for turn down. They claim to give loans to people with poor credit and bankruptcy, yeah right!

I worked for American General Finance (AGF) for 8 years. During my 8 years tenure, I worked as Branch Manager for 2 years. I also worked for Equifax (a major credit reporting agency) for 1 1/2 years and for a local credit bureau for 3 years.

There is probably a good reason that AGF has not contacted you regarding your billing statements, etc. Is your bankruptcy a chapter 7? If so, is it discharged?

To address your concerns:

1) Just so you know: it can take up to 4 months for the major credit bureaus to update files on a persons credit report. Really! AGF sends their updates via monthly tape to each of the three major credit bureaus.

2) Regarding your bankruptcy: If your bankruptcy is not discharged, AGF can NOT contact you in any way, shape or form, at all, whatsoever. No returned telephone calls, no letters, no billing statements. No matter what your attorney may tell you. No matter what dates are on your reaffirmation of debtor form filed with the court. The bankruptcy laws are straight forward and they are inforced by the bankruptcy court and judges. Any creditor in violation of these rules and laws faces punishment. After your bankruptcy is discharged, you will get a billing statement. It may take up to a month for you to receive one. Then after your first reaffirmation payment is made, they will reage your account. When they do, it can take up to 4 months for this to show up on your credit reports. When it does show up, a statement will be below it stating: "reaffirmation of debt" or "account included in chapter 7". The account will not show a "rating" because it is included in a bankruptcy. After you pay off your account it will say "satisfaction of debt". Those are the laws per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

As far as the three items you want. Those all depend on when your bankruptcy is discharged, as explained above.

If your bankruptcy was already discharged, and AGF has received the official discharge papers from the bankruptcy court, then I would call AGF Headquarters in Evansville, Indiana, and make a customer complaint. You can always talk to the Director of Operations in the Michigan area and the District Manager as well.

As far as any discrimination after bankruptcy, those laws are referring to anyone who has filed bankruptcy, it's discharged and they are applying for new credit. Meaning you cant turn someone down for credit just for filing bankruptcy. However, AGF policies state: If a customer has filed bk and it's discharged and there are delinquent accounts or collections after the bankruptcy, they are denied credit. Due to the delinquencies, not the bankruptcy. If someone filed for bk and it's not discharged, they are automatically turned down, because you're not supposed to apply for credit during a bankruptcy, per the bankruptcy courts.

I assure you AGF does NOT practice discriminatory behavior regarding bankrupt accounts, they are just protecting themselves and following the federal laws.

Hope this helps!