Three Accused of Credit-Assistance Scam

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office filed charges Friday against two Chatsworth residents and a Simi Valley man, accusing them of swindling customers who paid for help in resolving credit problems.

“They opened an office, solicited clients, took their money, stalled them for a few weeks and then vanished without ever providing any of the promised services,” City Attorney James K. Hahn said.

Named in the misdemeanor complaints were Hector Albert Sectzer, 37, and Jody Ann Chulick, 31, both of Chatsworth; and Ed Peltekian, 25, of Simi Valley. They opened the Credit Improvement Bureau at 16027 Ventura Blvd. in Encino last summer and closed about three months later, Hahn said.

So far, the city attorney’s office has identified six victims, who were charged fees ranging from $90 to $450.

“Victims would be told, after they had paid their fees, to send away to credit bureaus for their credit reports and bring them to the Credit Improvement Bureau office,” Hahn said. “The defendants promised the victims that once they had the reports, they would help them clear up their bad credit.

“But all the defendants did was stall their victims long enough to close the office and disappear,” he said.

The three are accused of violating the state Credit Services Act, including taking fees before completing a service, making misleading statements and failing to provide legal contracts to clients.

Sectzer and Peltekian are charged with 30 counts each. Chulick is named in seven. Each violation is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The defendants will be arraigned Sept. 8 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Hahn noted that people can check their credit records without assistance by ordering them from one of the three major credit bureaus for a standard fee of $8 a copy. “And if you need to check your credit record because you already have been denied credit, you can get your record free of charge,” Hahn said.

An individual can write to the credit bureau to dispute inaccurate negative entries, Hahn said. “The credit bureau will then give the business that triggered the negative entry 30 days to respond to your letter of dispute, and the credit bureau will erase the negative entry if it is found to be inaccurate.

“The thing to remember, however,” Hahn warned, “is that an accurate negative entry is virtually impossible to get rid of legally, regardless of what a credit repair consultant may tell you.”