Posts Tagged ‘Consumers’

Credit Card Billing Disputes Top Among Consumer Credit Card Complaints; Long Island Consumer Attorney Andrew M. Doktofsky Discusses Complaints and Remedies for Consumers


Credit Card Billing Disputes Top Among Consumer Credit Card Complaints; Long Island Consumer Attorney Andrew M. Doktofsky Discusses Complaints and Remedies for Consumers

Long Island, New York (PRWEB) December 20, 2011

Credit card billing disputes are the most common national consumer complaint, according to a consumer response report published in November 2011 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is an U.S. governmental agency that enforces federal consumer financial laws.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) collected various credit card-related complaints from consumers over a three-month period and analyzed and how they were handled by credit card companies. The CFPB provided the report to law enforcement authorities in order to make markets more effective for consumers and to protect the nation’s consumers from unfair or deceptive practices.

Consumers who currently have billing disputes with credit card providers can seek a remedy for their dispute under the national Fair Credit Billing Act. This Act, which is part of the Truth in Lending Act, allows consumers to dispute with a credit card company various types of billing errors.

According to Andrew M. Doktofsky, a billing dispute lawyer in Long Island, “The Fair Credit Billing Act provides a remedy for consumers who have disputes associated with open-end credit, including credit card companies. The FCBA covers a variety of consumer billing disputes. Once an individual gives the creditor timely notice of a billing error, the creditor is not permitted to take any action to collect the disputed amount from the consumer, until the creditor conducts a reasonable investigation of the billing error. Further, the creditor cannot report the consumer as delinquent, or threaten the consumer’s credit rating, pending resolution of the disputed amount.”

A consumer may dispute any of the following types of credit card billing errors:

    Unauthorized charges,     Incorrect billing statement amounts,     Payments or credits not posted to the account,     Charges not identifiable from the information provided,     Charges for goods or services not accepted by the consumer,     Charges for goods or services not delivered or accepted as agreed,     Charges listing the wrong charge amount,     Math or computation errors on the billing statement, and     Bills sent to an incorrect address.

If the creditor fails to comply with the FCBA, the consumer may sue the creditor under the Fair Credit Billing Act to recover actual damages, statutory damages and attorney’s fees and costs. The statutory damages awarded are twice the finance charge, with a minimum of $ 500 and a maximum of $ 5,000.

The CFPB will provide another avenue for consumers to seek protections against unlawful, deceptive, abusive or unfair creditor practices. The agency aims to send consumer complaints to the credit provider or credit card company complained about, and permit the lender to address the complaint with the CFPB within 15 days and explain what they are doing to resolve the issue.

Long Island unlawful creditor practice attorney Andrew M. Doktofsky stated, “Unfortunately, many creditor complaints have not been responded to and have been ignored in the past, which is a predominant reason why so many consumers rank billing disputes as their top complaint. Previously, consumers have been required to pursue legal action in order to achieve any type of resolution. Hopefully, the CFPB will begin to regulate creditors and unlawful creditor practices in order to reduce unnecessary litigation.”

Other consumer complaints ranking near the top of the report included interest rate issues, fraudulent charges and financial scams. The CFPB has also recently started to take complaints regarding home mortgages and other home loans in an effort to reduce the number of consumer complaints in this lending area. Congress gave the CFPB the ability to overhaul and oversee credit card companies, mortgage lenders, student loan lenders and other financial products in 2010.

Andrew M. Doktofsky is a Long Island consumer lawyer and represents clients throughout Suffolk County and Nassau County, New York, including the areas of Deer Park, Hempstead, Freeport, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Brentwood, Islip, Babylon, Huntington and Commack.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC. Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.



NationalCreditReport.com Explains Consumers’ Rights to Annual Free Credit Reports


NationalCreditReport.com Explains Consumers’ Rights to Annual Free Credit Reports

Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) May 21, 2010

NationalCreditReport.com is helping to educate consumers about The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), ordained by the Federal Trade Commission, that states that consumers can carry their personal credit report for costless once per year from each of three major credit accounting agencies (Experian™, Equifax™ and TransUnion™), thus ensuring the consumer’s right to an annual free credit report without enrolling in a credit monitoring service.

“The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a significant piece of legislation designed to defend the consumer’s correct to a yearly gratis credit report,” said Samuel S. Ambrose, Vice President of Marketing and Operations of NationalCreditReport.com. “NationalCreditReport.com advises consumers to regularly obtain their personal credit report and monitor it for any important changes. By allowing people to access their own information for free once a year, they are able to get a birds-eye view of how they are seen in the eyes of potential creditors.”

While allowing consumers to obtain their personal credit report at no cost once per year, the credit reports associated with the FCRA do not include important attribute scores. Additionally, if the consumer wants to check their impute reports more often than once a year they will need to buy additional reports.

“Many people access their credit reports to ensure that there are no inaccuracies or unexpected inquiries into their credit records,” said Ambrose. “Being that not every creditor reports to all three credit bureaus, we do recommend that consumers obtain their personal credit report from each bureau at least quarterly and participate in a credit monitoring service so they can be alerted immediately to any changes in their report.”

For consumers who do not want to participate in a free trial of its credit monitoring service, NationalCreditReport.com was the first in its industry to allow customers to purchase their credit report whenever they want for a low price, with no negative impact on the consumer’s credit score. This offer, which NationalCreditReport.com calls “No Strings”, began in January.

About NationalCreditReport.com
Since 2004, NationalCreditReport.com has specialized in providing ascribed information and credit monitoring services to consumers to help them improve their personal impute report and prevent identity theft. NationalCreditReport.com encourages consumers to obtain their personal impute report and review it on a regular basis.

Contact:
Allison Tomek
NationalCreditReport.com
561-805-8000

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC. Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.



NationalCreditReport.com Helps Consumers Understand the New Free Credit Report Law


NationalCreditReport.com Helps Consumers Understand the New Free Credit Report Law

Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) May 4, 2010

As the new Federal Trade Commission rule governing advertisements of “free” online credit reports was enacted recently, NationalCreditReport.com, continues to educate customers on how the law effects what information they can access for free from the government.

“The free credit report law put into effect by the FTC is intended to eliminate confusion on the part of the consumer when accessing their online credit described,” said Samuel S. Ambrose, Vice President of Marketing and Operations for NationalCreditReport.com. “It is important for people to know, however, that credit scores are not included in the free reports from the government and that online credit report requests can only be made one time per year to each of the 3 major attributing reporting agencies (Experian™, Equifax™ and TransUnion™).”

Ambrose also notes that an individual’s credit score from each of the three studying credit reporting agencies tin often differ, so it is wise to check each of them regularly.

According to the new rule, companies offering free trials of credit monitoring services in conjunction with a free credit accounted are now needed by the free credit describe law to incorporating a disclaimer advising consumers that they may also request free online credit reports from a government website. Consumers who want to see their credit score or monitor their report more often will need to purchase additional online credit reports.

“To ensure that our customers who would rather buy their credit report with no trial of credit monitoring services can get the important score they need as often as they want it, we’ve developed our ‘No-Strings’ offer,” said Ambrose. “Customers who opt to buy their credit report with no trial prefer this product because it doesn’t require them to call and cancel their credit monitoring if they determine they don’t want the service. ” National Credit Report began offering “No Strings” in January.

Other offers from National Credit Report include trials in its Triple Safeguard Credit Monitoring™ service. Credit monitoring is the quickest and easiest way for the consumer to proactively monitor their credit file for new activity, account changes, credit fraud and identity theft. National Credit Report advises consumers to monitor their credit to protect themselves and keep their good credit.

About NationalCreditReport.com
Since 2004, NationalCreditReport.com has specialized in providing online credit reports and assign monitoring serve to consumers to help them amend their personal credit describe and prevent identity theft. NationalCreditReport.com encourages consumers to check their credit report on a regular basis.

Contact:
Allison Tomek
NationalCreditReport.com
561-805-8000

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC. Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.



Find More Three Credit Report Press Releases

NationalCreditReport.com’s Program Offering Consumers A Way To Buy A Credit Report With No Trial Receives Positive Feedback


NationalCreditReport.com’s Program Offering Consumers A Way To Buy A Credit Report With No Trial Receives Positive Feedback

Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) April 20, 2010

NationalCreditReport.com, a leader in credit reporting and monitoring services, recently launched its “No Strings” offer to allow customers to buy a credit report with no trial of credit monitoring for just $ 9.99.

“We know that some consumers want their credit score and an instant online credit report, but do not want to be protected by ongoing attributing monitored,” said Samuel S. Ambrose, Vice President of Marketing and Operations for NationalCreditReport.com. “This unique ‘No Strings’ offer appeals to those who want to buy their credit report with no trial of the service and no need to call and cancel.”

Other offers from NationalCreditReport.com provide a free credit score which includes one Instant Online Credit Report, along with a free, seven-day no-obligation trial of its Triple Safeguard Credit Monitoring™ Service, which sends the consumer e-mail alerts each time there is an inquiry made to their credit file with any of the three credit reporting agencies (Experian™, Equifax™, and TransUnion™).

“Since launching this product this year, we’ve been very pleased with its success,” said Ambrose. “Consumers accessing free instant online credit reports from other sites may be surprised that they don’t get their score. Often times, it’s the actually score that they really want because it’s an indication of what potential lenders will use in making lending decisions.”

Consumers interested in buying their credit report with no trial can visit http://www.nationalcreditreport.com/nostringsoffer to buy their credit report and score without being enrolled in a credit monitoring service.

About NationalCreditReport.com
Since 2004, NationalCreditReport.com has specialized in providing credit information, credit supervising services and information for preventing identity theft to consumers. The “buy my credit report” program offers instant online credit account with no trial. NationalCreditReport.com encourages consumers to check their credit report on a regular basis.

Contact:
Allison Tomek
NationalCreditReport.com
561-805-8000

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC. Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.



Find More Three Credit Report Press Releases

Equifax Credit Report – Beware Of Scams

Arturo Ronzon asked:




There are credit reports produced yearly by consumer bureaus national. Equifax is one of the three companies that provide this report. In fact every American is entitled to three free copies of these reports yearly from the different consumer bureaus. The benefits of the Equifax credit report cannot be overstated – it is very important. But, you should be very careful about scams, guide that at all cost.

For instance there is only one website provided by the consumer companies for the application too receives a free copy of the annual credit. But, many other sites claim to give the free copy and even some sell these free copies to ignorant consumers that do not know this. You should get the right information to avoid being fooled by these scammers. Learn to tell the fake from the original copy.

Many methods are used to con ignorant consumers these days. For instance, a thief can apply for your credit report using your identity, with the purpose of knowing your Equifax credit report to process loans with your identity. They will not definitely escape with the money collected from the loan leaving the debt for you to pay. So, it’s always good to be informed about your credit report and always make sure you apply through the right channel whenever you do. Because if you visit a site that claims to help you get your credit report, you are only risking your personal information to fraudsters that can use it against you. The only website for the application of credit report is http://www.annualcreditreport.com beware of scams.

When you visit the wrong site offering you a free copy of the Equifax credit report any other one credit report, you’ll be asked to type in your personal information, after you do that you will not see your report instead they have gained access to your credit report and you know the rest of the story. A way out of this is to apply for a fraud alert that will keep you informed of any addition on your credit report but, we all have to apply the greatest caution when dealing with financial issues to avoid bankruptcy. BE WARNED.

Miguel

Beware of Your Free Annual Credit Report

Philip Tirone asked:




Downloading a free annual credit report isn’t a complete waste of your time, but you should be aware of a few pitfalls. Free Annual Credit Report Warnings Per the law, the three major credit-reporting bureaus are required to provide a free annual credit report to consumers. This means that you can review your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports each year, without paying a cent. Sounds like a good deal, right?

Think again. There are two very important things you should consider before you visit the website to download you three free credit reports.

1. First, AnnualCreditReport.com’s website will provide your three credit reports for free, but your credit scores will not be included. A lot of people are surprised to learn that a credit report and a credit score are not the same thing. A credit report is simply a list of the information your creditors have reported to Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. A credit score, on the other hand, is generated through a formula that analyzes the report to determine how likely you are to repay your bills on time. If you have a high credit score, you are considered highly likely to pay your bills on time. If you have a low score, you are considered risky. Sure, having a free annual credit report is helpful, but without the score, you will not know where you stand. Think of it like this: Let’s say you are required to take a class to become a surgeon. You take the class, complete the homework assignments, and take a few tests. Unfortunately, you are never given the results of your tests and homework assignments. Instead, you are simply given a list of all of your assignments. Sure, the report indicates how many questions you answered right and wrong, but it gives you no indication of what your grades you received on the individual assignments and tests. It also doesn’t tell you your overall grade. Without any idea of whether you passed or failed, you would be left with a lot of guesswork. If you download your credit report but do not get a credit score, you will have a hard time knowing whether your credit is good or bad. You will be unable to analyze your score to take a guess at what your interest rates would be, and you will not know whether you need to start repairing your credit. That said, having a free annual credit report does help you in a few ways. You can:

* Check for errors. Are your credit limits being reported properly? Is there any incorrectly reported derogatory information? Having copies of your credit reports will help you identify mistakes so you can begin the process of correcting them. That said, some mistakes are not hurting your credit score at all. If you do not know your score, you cannot know whether you should spend the time correcting mistakes or not.

* Check for omissions. Not all creditors report to all the bureaus, which means that each of your three credit reports will be slightly different. If you have a credit card or loan that is in good standing, but that is not being reported to one of the bureaus, you can always call the creditor and ask it to report to the bureaus.

* Check for signs of identity theft. If someone else’s information is listed on your credit report, or if you spot accounts that are not yours, you could be a victim of identity theft. Having a copy of your credit report will help you nip any fraudulent activity in the bud!

2. The second thing you should consider when downloading your free annual credit report is this: the website will offer to sell you a “credit score.” This score is pure and total junk. Let me provide a quick credit lesson to explain this. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are credit-reporting bureaus. Their job is twofold:

1) They collect information from your creditors; and 2) Depending on who is requesting your credit score, they apply a formula to this information and report your score. This bears repeating: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion apply different formula, depending on who is requesting your credit score.

If a bank requests your credit score, they will apply a formula that is tailored for the bank. If a landlord requests your credit score, they will apply a different formula. And if you request your own credit score, the bureaus will apply the Consumer Score formula. Almost all lenders want a credit score based on the FICO formula. In fact, not a single lender, landlord, or employer will ever look at a Consumer Score. But if you buy your credit score from the free annual credit report website, you will be given a Consumer Score and not a FICO score. The danger of this is that the consumer score is almost always higher than the FICO score. While the FICO scale ends at 850, the Consumer scale ends at 990. A 720 Consumer Score might be only a 650 FICO score. But if you rely on a Consumer Score, thinking that you will be approved for a loan or offered great interest rates due to your high score, you will be shocked when your FICO Score is revealed. You might end up paying higher interest rates than you had planned, or you might be denied a loan entirely. And you will lose critical time you might need to repair your score and prepare for a loan.

The lesson here is this: Never, never, never buy your credit score from the free annual credit report website, or from any other website that sells consumer credit scores. You can get your FICO score from one of two places: Either a lender can run your credit and tell you what your FICO score is, or you can get your score from FICO.

Javier

Are All Credit Reports Truly Free?

Jeff Lakie asked:




The Federal Trade Commission through an act of Congress has authorized that the three major credit reporting bureaus offer one free copy of your credit report to you on an annual basis. This decision has proven to be a boon for consumers who can now find out what creditors are saying about them and quickly respond to errors and omissions. Not all offers for obtaining free credit reports are truly free. Read on and we’ll explore how you can know if an offer is right for you.

First off, only AnnualCreditReport.com is the internet site established by Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax to provide free credit reports for consumers directly by the three main credit reporting bureaus. At this site, you can get one free copy once annually from each company, but you will have to pay five to eight dollars to obtain your credit score, which is separate from your credit report. You don’t have to order your score, but it is valuable information that can be handy to you.

Secondly, there are companies out there who claim to offer free copies of your credit report and credit score through them. On the surface these could look like better offers, but they always have a string attached, namely other services you must purchase. These services can include credit monitoring, credit watch, and the like. Fees for these services vary, but you’ll probably pay $8 to $12 per month for most services. Add it all up and you will dish out more than $100 for this type of plan while it will only cost you $20 or less through the FTC’s approved site at AnnualCreditReport.com

Finally, It is not wrong for these companies to offer these services to you. It can be a bit misleading, but they usually are upfront about what is offered to you through their plans. However, if you pull your credit reports on a regular basis, then you simply don’t need their credit watch service. Just keep an eye on things through your free reports and mostly everything should be okay.

If you elect to use a credit monitoring plan, make certain that you can cancel the plan at any time. Avoid annual contracts but use the companies if you need an extra set of eyes to look out for trouble on your behalf. In some cases they can be of value, but in most cases your own work will save you plenty of money over the long run.

Ricky

Got A Scary Credit Report? NationalCreditReport.com Provides Tips For Consumers

Credit Monitoring Services

Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) October 24, 2010

Even though Halloween is proper around the corner, some people happen themselves more fpropered by their credit report than this season’s ghouls, ghosts and goblins. NationalCreditReport.com, a leader in credit report, credit score and supervising services, advises consumers that they don’t have to be frighted when they check up on their credit report by postdating a few tips that can assist them get an acceptable credit score

“With the economy still clambering to retrieve, this is a frighting time for many people who have incurred their credit report and seen a drop down in their credit scores,” stated Samuel S. Ambrose, Vice President of Marketing and Operations of NationalCreditReport.com. “Luckily, by postdating a few uncomplicated steps, they can work to get an acceptable credit score and convey their credit report back from the asleep.”

Steps consumers should take to get an acceptable credit score:

1.    Obtain your credit report by simply taking part in a proffer to request a credit report online, like the proffer accessible at NationalCreditReport.com. Consumers are reded to review this report carefully to get an accomplished understanding of their credit report score and to check up on it for accuracy.

2.    Know what a credit score is and its impact on one’s informal life. A credit score is the extraordinary denotative value that latent creditors and lenders use to make up one’s mind whether to grant a loan or credit as well as find out interest rates. Since whether or not the consumer obtains funds hinges on this score, getting an acceptable credit score is very crucial.

3.    If a consumer finds any faulty information on their credit report, they should not be frighted to convey these misrepresentations to the attention of Experian™, Equifax™ and TransUnion™, the three better credit announcing agencies to unclouded up the inaccuracies.

4.    Begin to pay off evil credit card debt. Making on-time payments to get down paying down one’s credit card debt also helps their credit score by taking down the percentage of credit utilised.

5.    Consumers should regularly to be alive of any changes in their credit report or score. This should be executed at least quarterly to see if there have been any out of the blue inquiries or lines of credit taken out in their name and that what is being observed in the report is dead on target. Obtaining one’s personal credit report does not negatively impact their credit score.

At the company’s website, http://www.nationalcreditreport.com, consumers can sign-up for a loose credit score, seven-day trial of its Triple Safeguard Credit Monitoring™ service. The company also offers consumers the opportunity to purchase their credit report and score for one humble price with “no strings tied.” Interested customers can visit http://www.nationalcreditreport.com/nostringsoffer to check up on their credit report and score without being inscribed in a credit supervising service.

About http://www.nationalcreditreport.com
Since 2004, NationalCreditReport.com has specialised in rendering credit information and credit supervising services to consumers to assist them understand their credit report and score. NationalCreditReport.com encourages consumers to check up on their credit report on a steady basis.

Contact:
Allison Tomek
NationalCreditReport.com
561-805-8000

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Related Free 3 Credit Report Press Releases

NationalCreditReport.com Offers Consumers a Way to Buy a Credit Report With No Trial — No Tricks! Now That’s a Treat!


Credit Monitoring Services

Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) October 26, 2010

To celebrate the popularity of its “No Strings” product, NationalCreditReport.com, a leader in credit report, credit score and credit monitoring services, will offer a special “treat” to allow consumers to buy a credit report with no trial of credit monitoring for just $ 6.99. The offer is $ 3.00 off the product’s regular price.

“We created our ‘No Strings’ product because it addresses the needs of consumers who want to buy their credit report with no trial of credit monitoring services,” said Samuel S. Ambrose, Vice President of Marketing and Operations for NationalCreditReport.com. “We know that consumers want to obtain their personal credit report, but it’s also very important to get their credit score with it. NationalCreditReport.com is the only place we know of where consumers can get both without participating in ongoing credit monitoring.”

“The team here at NationalCreditReport.com loves Halloween,” said Ambrose. “The benefits of our ‘No-Strings’ product are no monthly memberships, no automatic enrollments, no gimmicks, no hassles. To celebrate Halloween, we’ve decided to add ‘no tricks’ to the list.”

Other offers from NationalCreditReport.com provide a free credit score along with a free 7-day no-obligation trial of its Triple Safeguard Credit Monitoring™ Service, which sends the consumer e-mail alerts each time there is an inquiry made to their credit file with each of the three credit reporting agencies (Experian™, Equifax™, and TransUnion™).

Consumers interested in buying their credit report with no trial can visit http://www.nationalcreditreport.com/nostringsoffer to obtain their personal credit report and credit score without being enrolled in a credit monitoring service.

About NationalCreditReport.com

Since 2004, NationalCreditReport.com has specialized in providing credit information, credit monitoring services and information for preventing identity theft to consumers. NationalCreditReport.com encourages consumers obtain their personal credit report and credit score on a regular basis.

Contact:

Allison Tomek

NationalCreditReport.com

561-805-8000

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Free Credit Report And Score – How To Receive A Free Credit Report

Carrie Reeder asked:


Each consumer with credit history should obtain a copy of their report annually. The cost of credit reports vary. If obtaining a copy from the credit bureaus, consumers may pay $15 per bureau. However, some online credit agencies advertise low cost credit reports. Rather than paying for a credit report, consider obtaining a free report.

Who Qualifies for a Free Credit Report?

By law, each consumer is entitled to one free credit report each year. Although reports are free, consumer may have to pay a few bucks to view their credit score. Despite this incentive to encourage credit report monitoring, many people neglect to review the contents of their report. This results in millions becoming victims of identity theft each year. Free credit reports are available online, and viewable for up to 30 days. However, other factors may also qualify you for a free credit report.

Credit Report Inaccuracies

If you believe that your credit report contains errors or mistakes, you are a good candidate for a free credit report from each of the three bureaus. The majority of people only review their report from one bureau. However, if the contents on the Experian report are inaccurate, it’s worth obtaining copies of the other three reports to ensure that the same mistake has not occurred twice.

Denied Credit, Employment, or Insurance

Although credit history has nothing to do with your ability to function well on the job or drive a car, many employers, and insurance agencies have begun checking credit reports. In some instance, a negative credit rating may prevent you from obtaining employment, or result in higher car insurance premiums. Individuals who have been denied a line of credit, employment, or insurance because of their credit will qualify for a free report.

Experience a Credit Limit Reduction or Interest Rate Increase

Unfortunately, creditors have the right to reduce credit limits and increase rates at their leisure. If you habitually make late payments or exceed your credit limit, a change in credit card limits and rates should be expected. However, if changes occur for no apparent reason, it helps to obtain a free copy of your report and ensure that all information is accurate.



Natalie
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