No-Contest Plea Entered : Credit-Repair Firm Told to Refund Customer Fees
Owners of a defunct Encino company were ordered Monday to refund money to former customers after pleading no contest to charges of falsely promising to provide help in resolving credit problems.
Hector Albert Sectzer, 37, of Chatsworth and Ed Peltekian, 25, of Simi Valley entered the plea on behalf of their former business, Credit Improvement Bureau, which operated at 16027 Ventura Blvd., Deputy City Atty. Ellen R. Pais said.
Municipal Judge D. Joseph Spada placed the company on 18 months probation, during which the men are responsible for paying refunds of $90 to $400 to 14 former customers. They were also ordered to pay refunds to any other victims who come forward in the next 18 months.
Fine Imposed
In addition, the men were banned from working for a credit-repair business during that time, were fined $3,550 and were ordered to make a $5,000 contribution to Consumer Credit Counselors, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles that assists people with financial problems.
A misdemeanor complaint filed by the city attorney in August accused Sectzer, Peltekian and Jody Ann Chulick, 31, of Chatsworth of charging to help consumers correct erroneous information on their credit records but never providing the service. The company operated during August, September and October of 1987, Pais said.
“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,” City Atty. James K. Hahn said. The defendants promised the victims that once they had the reports, they would help them clear up their bad credit ratings.
Stalling Tactic
“But all the defendants did was stall their victims long enough to close the office and disappear.”
Charges of making false and misleading statements and violating the Credit Services Act will be dropped if the two men, who were the corporate officers, pay all fines and refunds, Pais said.
Hahn noted that the public can check credit records without assistance by ordering them from one of three major credit bureaus--TRW, CBI or Trans Union--for a standard fee of $8 per 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 added.
After obtaining their credit records, consumers can review them and dispute inaccurate entries by sending a letter to the credit bureau.
