Thinking of purchasing a house or refinancing your home? Your credit score plays a significant role when applying for a mortgage because it helps lenders determine how likely you are to repay your debts. According to recent research, you will need a credit score of 580 or higher to secure a Federal Housing Administration loan to purchase
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft are notorious for partnering with third-party companies that can produce inaccurate or incomplete background checks.You’ve probably read scary news articles like the stories about the Somali war criminal who passed an Uber background check and the Chicago Lyft driver with a criminal history who was charged with raping a
Becoming an authorized user to a credit card account can be a good way to begin to establish a credit history without being liable for any charges or balances. However, you also take on some risk as an authorized user. Your credit report will show both the good and the bad credit habits of the primary user,
Did you know that as many as 1,000 people are mistakenly included on the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File each month? Because of errors like this, credit reporting agencies can easily mark a living person as deceased. Most often, this happens if a creditor reports an account or accounts as being associated with a
On May 2nd, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency that protects American consumers, filed a complaint against Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com, two of the largest credit repair companies. The suit alleges that the companies violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by requesting and receiving upfront payment for their credit repair services. The TSR stipulates
Original article by Mike Curley – Law360 (April 1, 2019, 3:58 PM EDT) A California magistrate judge has kept alive a suit alleging Whole Foods affiliates have been selling foods containing allergens under a false hypoallergenic label, ruling that the court has jurisdiction because one affiliate runs Whole Foods’ website, which serves the state. In
Jim Francis of Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C. argued his case Kidd v. Thomson Reuters Corporation to the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals at a session held at the UConn School of Law on February 4, 2019. In Kidd v. Thomson Reuters, plaintiff Lindsay A. Kidd brought a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) putative
Consumer protection attorney Jim Francis, of Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., appeared in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to argue an appeal of the Sergio Ramirez v. Trans Union LLC class action settlement. In 2017, Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C. PC represented the plaintiff Ramirez, whom TransUnion mistakenly confused with someone
An investigative news report for Philadelphia exposed the story of Nicole Landen, whom the Social Security Administration falsely declared dead and mistakenly placed her on the Death Master File. Consumer Protection Attorney Jim Francis explained that Social Security errors are not easy to fix, especially once the credit reporting agencies are notified. Once someone is
Are you a victim of identity theft? Or do you suspect you may be? With historic data breaches making headlines in recent years, such as at Equifax and Marriott International, millions of consumers around the world are at risk of their information being exposed. Fortunately, you can take extra steps to protect your information and