Scary Credit Repair Stories: Giant Banks Are Out to Hurt YOU!

Today, in honor of Halloween month, I thought I’d kick off my October Scary Credit Repair Stories series with something I’ve NEVER shared publicly before… something SUPER scary… very real… and potentially devastating to you and your clients IF you don’t know the truth about giant banks and how to protect yourselves and your clients from them! 

In 2010 my life looked VERY different than it does right now. In fact just about the only thing that is the same is my relationship with my girlfriend, Grace! 

EVERYTHING else in my life was upside down. 

I had just finished battling a bank error that nearly ruined my life by ruining my credit. I was living off of top ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner… and that’s IF I remembered to eat that day. 

I’d shut myself in my room from before sun up to WAY after sun down, typing away at my computer, trying to build the first credit repair software. 

Most days I’d be so obsessed that I’d forget to shave, or bathe, or brush my teeth!

I was a total mess! 

Now, I know this may sound SCARY, but really, I haven't even gotten to the scary part yet!

So there I was, unshaven, unbathed, malnourished - hadn’t seen fresh food in months… eyes bloodshot from staring at the computer screen… trying to build what would one day turn into Credit Repair Cloud… and I was doing EVERYTHING I could to make my payments EARLY to Bank of America for my mortgage. 

This was during the mortgage crisis.  So when one day I heard they had a special program that lowered your mortgage interest rate to 2%, I thought - “Well, every penny counts - I want in that program”! 

So I called and asked if I could enroll and lower my interest rate… and that’s when it happened… 

That’s when hell broke loose and I nearly lost everything. 

The clerk on the other end of the phone told me (in what felt like a hushed voice), “Hey, I can get you into that program, but you need to default on a few months of your mortgage first. If you pay us late for the next couple months… I’ll get you into it”. 

RED FLAGS exploded everywhere! 

“NO WAY!” I said.

“I’ve never been late, I just battled to fix my credit, I’m building a credit repair business - there’s NO WAY!”

I told him I wasn’t interested and please don’t put me on any list, don’t add me to any program… forget I ever asked.

I hung up the phone. My hair raised on the back of my neck. What a weird conversation. But, back to my top ramen and daily grind, alone, in my sad little room… Grace, wondering if I’d ever come out.  

So, as far as I knew, everything was back to normal. 

Until it was time to pay my mortgage… 

And Bank of America had locked me out of the online portal - refused payment - and made it impossible to pay. 

I called. I fought. Nothing!

Finally I was able to go straight into the office and pay in person. 

How angering!... But at least the nightmare was over… Or so I THOUGHT...

It didn’t take long and soon, the phone started ringing… EVERY MORNING … for a YEAR. 

It was a Bank of America subsidiary debt collector harassing me about not making my payments on time. 

“I DID!” I’d scream at them! 

I’d tell them I had PROOF that Bank of America was taking my payment and holding it so that it would put me in default! 

This continues to happen every day while no one listened. 

I sent letters to Congressmen and Congresswomen and the CFPB and the Attorney General. 

I knew what they were doing was illegal. 

But, no one wrote back. 

So, I reached out to local news crews! Here I had proof that Bank of America was intentionally causing people to default on their home loans so they could STEAL their property and jack up their rates and fees. 

… But they had other more “important” things to report...

So, the harassing calls continued. 

Every single morning. → The phone would ring. → I’d answer. → They’d threaten. → I’d scream. → Nothing changed...

Then one day I thought I’d finally gotten a breakthrough! I’d written to President Obama with PROOF exposing this giant bank for what they were doing. 

This time, when the phone rang, the person on the line said they were from the Treasury Department, and they said if I’d stop sending letters to the government - they’d handle this and make it go away… 

But something was off… something didn’t feel right about this. After digging further into the conversation, I uncovered that it wasn’t the Treasury Department at all! Instead it was Bank of America impersonating a government official in order to silence me!

That’s when I finally got a lawyer. 

I couldn’t handle it on my own anymore. This had become my full time job.  Trying to build software while tracking this whole crazy nightmare just couldn’t happen anymore. 

I had so many stacks of notes, my room started looking like John Nash’s bunker in A Beautiful Mind! Plus, I was going to lose EVERYTHING!... 

In fact, they were going to TAKE everything! 

Thankfully, after the lawyers got involved, I was able to take a step back from the fight…

The phone stopped ringing…

My payments were suddenly applied on time… 

And soon I was back to my unbathed, obsessed with creating credit repair software, self again. 

So, here’s why this is important:

1. History is repeating.  We are entering a time right now where the housing and economic crisis is likely going to be even worse than before. Recently I interviewed Alex Charfen on this podcast and he made incredible predictions about the credit repair industry and the need for heroes - so if you haven't heard that yet, after you’re done listening to this one, check out his episode. 
2. If you don’t know the signs to look for… if you’re not aware that ALL giant banks are out to take YOUR money and your clients money, there could be life-altering consequences. 
3. Instead, you’ve got to know - they cannot be trusted. Soon we’ll start to see what sound like amazing deals and opportunities pop up for those who are MOST affected by the crisis… but you know what… they’re the most vulnerable too and you’ve got to know how to coach your clients to say NO or at the very least, proceed with EXTREME caution. 

So here’s what you need to know:

1. Right NOW is the best time to perfect your craft and work on as many free clients as possible until you get REALLY REALLY good. If you’re already in the credit repair industry - dive deeper. Learn everything you can. Take our Masterclass and Disputing courses. If you’ve not completed the Credit Hero Challenge this is an absolute MUST! In just a couple of weeks you’ll become an expert and will know exactly how to change a lotta lives and help a lotta people through this crisis. Now is the time to prepare. Crisis is always a time of opportunity and as entrepreneurs we are always looking for new opportunities! 
2. The world needs Credit Heroes. According to NBCnews.com, because of the pandemic, “About 40 percent of all Americans don't have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency.”... What are people going to do when they can’t pay their bills? They’re going to default, pay late, end up in collections… and NEED YOUR HELP! You can bring relief to a VERY hard time for them. You can change lives, maybe even help save their home, or get them into a better financial situation. 40 percent of Americans are about to need credit repair services! That’s over 131 MILLION people! Are you ready for the rush? 
3. And lastly, this is the time to educate yourself so you can educate your customers. You know, even though I went through hell with Bank of America… do you know who we currently bank with… BANK OF AMERICA!! Now you may be yelling at me right now telling me I’m crazy, but hear me when I say… ALL GIANT BANKS ARE CROOKS! They’re crooks! It doesn’t matter if you’re banking at Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America - they prey on the people who need the most help! They jack up rates and fees, sky high until people simply can’t afford the payment anymore and then they TAKE your property, home, vehicles, ANYTHING they can get as collateral. So what do you do? You understand the truth. My story is not unique in that it happens to A LOT more people than you think. So the best thing you can do to safeguard yourself and your community is to teach what you know! You’re an expert. In many cases you know WAY more about finances and credit than others around you. So, take it to the streets. Talk about the truth. Teach about credit. 

Just like one of our Millionaires Club Members Andre Coakley. Andre was a loan officer at his own mortgage company when the 2008/2009 mortgage crisis hit. Just like 4 million other homes at the time, his home went through foreclosure, and he eventually lost his business. For every business shut down, or home foreclosed on, victims of the recession were forced to start over financially, rebuilding from unstable ground and poor credit just like they’ll have to in our current crisis. 

As Andre personally went through the rebuilding phase, he started in the credit repair industry, fixing his credit as well as changing a lot of lives! He combined his background in mortgage processing and his experience with economic hardship to start his own credit repair company, Credit 360. With Credit 360 he began doing exactly what I’m encouraging you to do, educating his community on ways to protect themselves from falling victim to financial hardship and extend a hand to those who struggled to rebuild.

Isn’t that awesome? We love Andre and are so proud of the work he’s doing! 

So if you’re ready to educate yourself, launch your credit repair business, and prepare for a rush of people needing your help…. then I want to invite you to join our upcoming Credit Hero Challenge! We’ve got another one starting in a few days so grab your spot today at CreditHeroChallenge.com.

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