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Bibb County grand jurors indicted a 56-year-old man Tuesday on allegations he pocketed a woman’s money, saying he’d repair her daughter’s credit although he was only pretending to be affiliated with a credit repair company. Kenneth Alan Inboden is charged with two counts of theft by deception and one count of operation of a credit repair services organization, according to an indictment filed in Bibb County Superior Court.

In August 2015, a woman went to American Dream Home on Gray Highway in Macon and talked with Inboden about buying a house. 2,775, according to a Bibb County Sheriff’s Office report. 500 check for earnest money for the house, according to the report. Be the first to know. No one covers what is happening in our community better than we do. And with a digital subscription, you'll never miss a local story. The woman filed a police report months later saying her daughter’s credit had not changed and she wasn’t approved for the home loan. She lost her earnest money, according to the report.

A few years ago, I visited the mailroom at one of the three major credit bureaus. There I saw stacks and stacks of dispute letters waiting to be processed. Many of these letters carried the same return address or used the same font on the envelope, making it pretty obvious that they were coming from some type of credit repair service.

Credit bureaus are very efficient at handling the disputes they receive. The process is often highly automated and, in fact, many disputes are investigated and resolved one way or the other within a couple of weeks. Is it possible that some disputes will fall through the cracks or that the company furnishing the information to the credit bureaus won’t respond, Of course it is.

If you find negative information that is inaccurate or incomplete on your credit reports — or Information that doesn’t belong to you — you can and should dispute it. Be sure to include your full contact information, including your address and your Social Security number. You need to include a copy of a government issued ID and a copy of a bill with your current address on it — phone bills or utility bills work best.

The credit reporting agency needs to be able to correctly identify information in your credit report. Keep your dispute short, specific, and to-the-point if at all possible. Someone is going to have to enter your dispute into the credit bureau’s computerized system. Don’t make them guess what you’re trying to dispute. Include any information or evidence to support your dispute, if available.

For example, you could include a copy of a cancelled check that shows you paid on time. You don’t have to quote federal laws because the credit reporting agencies know their responsibilities when it comes to investigating disputes. But it is essential that you clearly explain clearly and concisely what you are disputing and why. For example, don’t just say information is wrong; state why you believe it’s wrong. Keep in mind, the FCRA applies to consumer credit reports but not to business credit reports.

You can (and should) dispute incorrect or incomplete items on your business credit reports, but there’s no requirement that the item be removed if the credit bureau doesn’t respond within 30 days. Should I Use Credit Repair, There’s nothing a credit repair company can do for you that you can’t do on your own for free. However, some consumers find themselves overwhelmed or too busy to deal with problems on their credit reports.

That’s especially true for small business owners who need to maintain strong credit but often find themselves putting out a million other fires in their business. If you do use a credit repair service, make sure you pay for work that is done and not prior to any services being performed. Ready to see your credit data and start building better business credit, Check Your Personal and Business Credit For Free (No Credit Card Required).

Average Memphis Credit Score in 2010 was ( 642 ) while this moved up by 3 Points in 2016 ( 639 ). Clear indication of how people in Memphis has moved in the right direction to lower their debt. If you are living in Memphis metro area and have poor credit, it's easy to be tempted by promises of quick fixes. There is no Quick Fix to a bad credit. Credit bureau Experian released a report that said Memphis-area consumers shoulder the highest debt among residents of the top 15 U.S.