CAll Us: (800) 544-0231 Live Chat   Login
Menu
Credit Repair Myths Exposed

Credit Repair Myths Exposed

If you’ve done any searching on the Internet for information pertaining to “Credit Repair,” you’ve no doubt found that there’s a great deal available. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of credit repair myths scattered everywhere online.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common credit repair myths you’ll come across and examine them in detail.

MYTH #1: “Credit repair doesn’t work!”

While it’s true that credit repair is more “art” than “science” that’s not to say it doesn’t work. If you undertake to repair your bad credit score, there’s never any guarantee you can restore it to “perfect” status. But sometimes you can, and in almost every case you can at least affect some improvement in your credit score, and often major improvement at that!

First of all, credit reports for the most part are filled with errors. While there seems to be no general agreement, it’s estimated that anywhere from 1/3 (Attorney General of NY) to as many as 90% (Charles Givens Organization) of credit reports contain errors.

Removal of erroneous negative information alone will go a great way toward improving your credit score. But there’s more to the story, which brings us to myth #2.

MYTH #2: “Negative information that can be verified cannot be removed”

This is one of those statements that are “almost” true but taken literally is misleading. As is often the case, the inclusion (or exclusion) of one seemingly small word makes the difference in a truthful statement and one that’s not (or not necessarily) accurate.

Let’s take an analogy. Suppose it’s the middle of summer, and your grass has grown unusually high. Let’s also suppose that you own a lawnmower, it’s in good working condition, and has plenty of gasoline in the tank.

Now let’s say that you’re sitting on your couch and say to yourself “My grass will get cut today because I ‘CAN’ go outdoors anytime and cut it.”

So will your grass get cut? Not necessarily! Just because you “can” go outdoors and cut your grass doesn’t mean it’s going to get done. You can repeat this statement to yourself all day long, but your grass isn’t going to get cut until you actually go outside and DO it!

Likewise, because a negative item on your credit report “can” be verified doesn’t mean it will be. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a credit bureau must investigate and verify “within a reasonable period of time” any item in your credit report that you dispute. If the “information is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete such information.”

Now in this context “can be verified” clearly means verified by the credit bureau’s investigation of the item, and the “reasonable period of time” has been established (by subsequent rulings) to be 30 days. So if the credit bureau doesn’t complete its investigation of the disputed information within 30 days, or if for some reason the creditor fails to respond and verify the information, by law the disputed data must be deleted from your credit file.

Credit Repair Advice: How To Improve Your Credit Score

Credit Repair Advice: How To Improve Your Credit Score

Our credit scores determine much about how we live our lives. We buy practically everything on credit and therefore, we need a reliable credit repair advice to keep our finances in order. When applying for a loan, our good credit scores help us receive reasonable interest rates. In fact, from landlords to insurance companies, to utilities, everyone looks at our credit scores, as they are a reflection of our financial health. A healthy credit score may determine what various agencies will charge for their services. Today, even employers check personal credit scores before offering a job.

Knowing more about our credit scores and the factors affecting them may help us build a positive credit history. But first, let’s look at how they are maintained by the various credit reporting agencies.

Three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – calculate credit scores. Though they use the same methods and formula to calculate scores, they sometimes come up with a different rating for various reasons. One agency may have more updated information about an individual. A creditor may have shared information with one agency only, but not with the others. Creditors, while checking on our scores, take the average of the three scores from these three agencies.

Credit scores range between 300 and 850. A score of 680 and above is excellent for obtaining mortgage financing at low-interest rates. A credit score of 621 to 679 is an average score and you would have to pay a slightly higher rate of interest. A credit score of below 600 makes us potentially unreliable and harder to obtain credit. When a credit score falls below 600, credit repair steps should be taken immediately.

The following are factors affecting credit scores and basic steps to take to maintain an accurate credit score rating with the credit bureaus:

1. Routinely check payment history and the current credit debt held.

2. Credit history length is a determining score factor. Naturally, the longer ‘good’ credit history, the better.

3. Do not close old or paid off accounts. These show the credit history length and contribute to higher credit scores.

4. Pay off debts to improve credit scores.

5. On-time payments. Delayed payments appear on credit reports and adversely affect it.

6. An individual’s race, sex, age, level of education, or marital status has no bearing on a credit score, nor does the fact that an application for credit was previously turned down.

Taking care to maintain a high credit rating enables us to receive credit and loans at good rates. Our credit score is a reflection of how we manage our finances and a determining factor for many aspects of our lives. Get practical credit repair advice to help you have a healthy credit history. Doing so is the best way to avoid bad credit and limited loan options in the future.

Credit Repair – How To Deal With A Credit Bureau

Credit Repair – How To Deal With A Credit Bureau

Having good credit is an essential tool in today’s economy – it allows you to have a credit card, to obtain car and house loans, and many other conveniences. While you can live without good credit, a bad credit rating will certainly affect you negatively throughout your life. The key to your credit rating lies with a credit bureau. There are a handful of credit bureaus in North America that handle all reports – positive and negative – from creditors to create a credit report specific to you. If you have a poor credit history, you must take steps to engage in credit repair, and one of the first and most essential tools is to learn how to effectively deal with your credit bureau.

Credit repair begins with determining which credit bureau holds your file. To do this simply look at any rejection letter from a credit application – the letter, in refusing your credit, will indicate which bureau proved the rating. The next step is to obtain your credit history. Keep in mind that legally it is always free to obtain your credit history if you have recently been denied credit, although many organizations will imply that it is not. The only time you should pay money for a credit report is if you want to receive it instantly, in which case credit bureaus will provide an instant online report for a fee.

When dealing with a credit bureau, understand that they are in the business of collecting and selling information. For this reason, it is in your interest to never provide them with any information that is not legally necessary. Legally, you only need to provide a credit bureau with your name, social security number, and legal address in order to obtain your credit report. The bureaus may request a copy of your social security card, and – if the address they have on file is different from your current one – a copy of something proving your address. Although they may ask for a driver’s license to prove your address, send them a copy of a bill showing your address. The reason you want to be cautious when dealing with credit bureaus is that they own many collection agencies and if you have a credit problem you want to give them as little information as possible with which to harass you.

Once you have received the report, examine it closely for any errors. If anything is in question, send a written request for an investigation to the credit bureau. Legally, the onus is on the credit bureau to document anything on your credit report – if they cannot document it within 30 days, it must be removed. This is the basic strategy of many credit repair companies that charge exorbitant fees: challenge everything negative. In many cases, if the negative item is more than a few years old it will be difficult to verify and the item will be removed.

By learning to properly deal with a credit bureau you can engage in effective credit repair that other companies charge high fees for. By educating yourself as to the legal obligations of the credit bureau, you can, in many cases, repair your own credit quickly and effectively.

Additional information to help you build good credit:

Making a Debt Management Plan for Credit Repair

Top 10 Ways to Repair Your Credit Score

Credit Repair Terms – From C to A Paper

Credit Repair Terms – From C to A Paper

If you’ve ever applied for a home loan with less than stellar credit, you know how much extra you have to pay. Even though it can take some time, knowing some of the most important credit repair terms is definitely worth pursuing.

Credit Scores

When considering your application for a home loan, a financial institution looks at your credit and assigns it a score. In the industry, these scores are loosely referred to as a type of paper. The best scores equate to “A” paper, while lower scores are graded just like in school, to wit, “B”, “C”, “D” and “Oh, my god” paper. If you have an “A” paper, you can expect to get the best deal, while lower grades are known as sub-prime borrowers.

Credit Repair

Credit repair is important because even small movements in your credit score can move you from one score to the next. If you move from B paper to A paper, you will save thousands of dollars in lower interest rates. A credit score of roughly 680 is considered to be A paper. If you have a score of 670, credit repair can bump you to 685 and save tens of thousands of dollars. In short, you want to make the effort to repair your credit whenever possible. Don’t just sit and suffer from sub-prime loans.

To repair credit, there are simple credit repair terms to learn and steps that can be taken. Let’s take a look at some.

Credit Card Debt Ratios

Believe it or not, you can improve your credit scores by simply moving credit card balances around. A credit card with no balance actually doesn’t help you much if you have another card that is maxed out. If you shift the debt evenly among all credit cards, your credit score should increase. This has to do with something called your ratio of debt to available credit. It is a loophole of sorts, so take advantage of it. If debts are bogging you down, a repair service can surely help!

Closing Accounts

Don’t! Many people will close a credit card or other borrowing accounts when they are done with them. This is a huge mistake. First, it hurts you because you’ve reduced the available credit portion of your debt to available credit ratio. Second, you lose a record of your long-term credit payment history for the account. Lenders like to see these, so suck it up and keep the account open.

Inquiries

As strange as it sounds, inquiries on your credit report hurt you. Try to eliminate these by challenging them through the Fair Credit Reporting Act and limiting the credit applications you pursue. You can challenge inquiries by ordering copies of your credit reports and following the instructions on the report. Make sure to do this for all three credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

Check Your Report

The big three credit agencies must report to Congress each year. Each year they report an astonishing number of problems with their systems. This can affect you since accounts will appear that are not yours. If these accounts have problems, your credit score goes down. Make sure you check your report before applying for a loan. You want to deal with these issues before you are in escrow.

Borrowing large sums of money for a home loan can be intimidating. Avoid acting like a dear in the headlights. Deal with your credit issues and save yourself thousands in payments.

Understanding Credit Scores and Repairs

Understanding Credit Scores and Repairs

If you are applying for a mortgage, you’re going to have to deal with credit scores. Therefore, understanding credit scores and methods for improving them is a must.

Credit Report

Step one in the process is making sure that you have a current copy of your credit report. Congress recently amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that consumers may now receive one free credit report annually. There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Since entries can vary across bureaus, you’ll want to request a free report from each of the three companies. (Go to www.annualcreditreport.com)

Credit Score

It’s also imperative to know just what a good credit score is. Most A-Paper scores typically begin around 680, although this number may differ slightly among lenders. Don’t despair if you come up shy, there is always room for improvement. Increasing your score just 5 points can save a significant amount of money. For example, if your score is 698 and you increase it to 703, then you could save yourself thousands of dollars over time as a result of a slight improvement to your loan’s interest rate.

While credit repair is necessary for some, it is not the panacea to increase your credit score. Even if you have stellar credit, you can enhance your score through these steps:

1. Evenly distribute your credit card debt to change the ratio of debt to available credit. Let’s say you have a credit score of 665. If you have debt on only one card, and four additional credit cards with zero balances, evenly distributing the debt of the first card could move you closer, and possibly into, that ideal bracket.

2. Keep your existing accounts open and active. The average consumer is usually anxious to close credit card accounts that have zero balances, but doing this can cause them to lose the benefits of long-term credit history and increase their ratio of debt-to-available credit. The bottom line is don’t close those old accounts!

3. Keep credit inquiries to a minimum. Each inquiry into your credit history can influence your score anywhere from 2-50 points. When it comes to mortgage and auto loans, even though you’re only looking for one loan, multiple lenders may request your credit report. To compensate for this, the score counts multiple auto or mortgage inquiries in any 14-day period as just one inquiry, so try and stay within that time frame.

Remember, credit scores do not instantly get better. Improving them requires time and diligent effort on your part, so it’s a good idea to start at least three to six months prior to submitting your application for home financing.

If credit repair is what you need, you can either begin the process yourself or seek out a repair service. If you decide to make your own improvements, visit as many websites as possible to get information regarding credit laws and consumer rights. Diligently search through them and educate yourself to ensure that you don’t sustain any self-inflicted wounds. A good place to start would be the Federal Trade Commission’s website, which contains a plethora of helpful literature.

If you’re facing severe or complicated credit issues, then you’ll probably want to enlist the assistance of a professional credit repair company. Before you do, be sure to familiarize yourself with the FTC’s regulations on credit repair. With over 1100 credit repair companies to choose from, it’s important to be certain you are dealing with a reputable firm. Examine the FTC’s information on fraudulent practices to avoid falling victim to credit repair scams.

Albeit, addressing credit issues can be uncomfortable. By taking these steps now, however, you’ll be that much closer to obtaining the home of your dreams.

Top 10 Ways To Repair Your Credit Score

Top 10 Ways To Repair Your Credit Score

You must never underestimate the value of having good credit. You will definitely need to repair your credit score so you are prepared if you want to use it in the future. For example, if you are a student, you’ll need to borrow a certain amount using a student loan in order to attend school. At this point, your credit history will definitely matter and will have a big impact on getting you the funds that you need.

If you are applying for a student loan, your creditor or the lending institution will probably request a copy of your credit report and the credit score, which comes from an authorized credit-reporting agency. This will help identify your credit criteria and will determine if you are qualified for a loan. And if you are, your credit score will influence what interest rate you will be paying for the funds.

You must be able to demonstrate good credit to be approved by most of the private student loans. This also applies to the loans you might need such as auto loans, business loans, and mortgages.

Here’s what you can do to keep your credit score high and your credit good.

1. Make your payments prompt and timely. Make sure that you don’t miss any deadline.

2. Pay the minimum monthly payments. This will repair your credit score remarkably.

3. Limit the number of credit card accounts you have open at any one time.

4. Maintain available credit on your open accounts.

5. Request a copy of your credit report at least once a year from each of the three national credit-reporting agencies.

6. Check your reports for errors. You must clear up any errors that do appear in your report right away, time is critical in this.

7. Don’t open multiple accounts all at one time, especially if your credit history is not good. This tends to look a bit risky to lenders because you are taking on a good deal of possible debt, all at once.

8. Remember that you must know how to prioritize your needs. Leave those credit cards that are not needed aside for a while. Then after you have recovered from all the other debts, you can add these cards back into your wallet. The new accounts will lower the average age of your account and this is something that counts toward your FICO score.

9. Don’t open accounts that are not necessary. They will just be a burden. Even if you have a very high income, you can still encounter some difficulties.

10. Make sure that you don’t close accounts with the thought that the account will be removed from your record. That will not help at all. Closing accounts can sometimes even hurt your score.