January 31, 2007 - The following is a copy of an article written by Jessica Lowell which appeared in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
Fledgling Firm Hopes to Build Legacy of Assistance
Consulting company helps people untangle financial red tape
When Ginnie Schofield needed help with an item on her credit report, she went looking.
“I was trying to do something with my mortgage, but there was an old issue on my credit report (that was affecting her score). It’s an old account that keeps popping up,” she said.
Schofield talked to Travis Lingenfelter whose company, Legacy Consulting Group, is geared toward helping people understand concepts such as credit scores and the importance of monitoring their credit reports.
With Lingenfelter’s help, Schofield had the item taken off her report so it stops affecting how much she pays in loan interest, for example.
In his career as an account executive and later as a general manager working at finance companies, Lingenfelter said he found some clients who understood the basics of credit and others did not. Those who didn’t ended up being repeat customers.
Lack of Companies That Teach Basics Spurred Lingenfelter
“My job was to get a customer qualified for a product, and there was never any flexibility on the corporate side to work with them more,” he said.
A customer would refinance a house, for instance, and feeling a bit better off would spend money and rack up credit card charges and then be in again when money ran short. Lingenfelter said he found consulting companies that offered help with investing and retirement plans but not with teaching the basics of credit. That’s what the Legacy Consulting Group does. Lingenfelter said he plans to offer services that will help his clients understand what affects their credit scores and how that has an impact on what they pay in interest on loans, for instance.
He said he also plans to help them understand concepts such as the debt-to-income ratio and how to live on a budget that will allow them to save a down payment and qualify for a mortgage. “One of the questions I get is from people who pay their bills every month but their credit score is the same or is dropping,” he said. The reason may be that the client has high balances on all those cards and is living well beyond his or her means.
Schofield said Lingenfelter knew how to clear the old, closed account from her credit report, which now makes her a more attractive customer.
Lingenfelter said he did the same thing for himself. He was denied a car loan, and when he checked his credit reports at the three reporting agencies, he found vastly different information.
“If I weren’t educated about it, I would give up,” he said. Instead he challenged the bank and ended up getting the loan. “It could happen to anybody,” he said.
Lingenfelter said he is looking beyond counseling individual clients to offering seminars to local, state and federal government agencies for their workers. “I have talked to people who say this is not going to work because of the money,” he said. He acknowledges that if people are in debt and in trouble, they probably don’t have a lot of money to pay his company.
“But in 12 months, I’d love to show my growth.”