Credit Repair in the Fast Lane

Credit repair does not have to take forever. There are things that only time will heal, but the right strategies can turn your credit scores around quickly. Are you ready to do what it takes to see your numbers pop? It’s not hard if you know what to do. Here are the best short term credit repair strategies available. Put them all together and you get credit repair magic.

FICO ’08 and Authorized User Accounts

Fair Isaac Corp has finally shut down the authorized user account broker industry. The latest release of the FICO ’08 scoring software is carefully designed to eliminate all benefit from purchased authorized user credit card accounts. But there is credit repair gold hidden in the news. Fair Isaac makes it abundantly clear that legitimate authorized users will continue to reap the same score benefits as always. So call Mom or Uncle Bob and have them add you to one or two of their excellent credit cards.

Get Two or Three New Secured Credit Cards

You should see a significant jump in your scores from the new authorized user accounts, but this is not a substitute for building new credit in your own name. If your scores are too weak to get regular credit cards, just apply for a couple of small secured cards. This is a powerful credit repair strategy. Make sure to use less than 20% of the available limit on the card. If you max these new cards out it will be credit repair suicide. You have the power. Don’t blow it; use less than 20% of the card.

Pay Down Revolving Balances

Maybe you have plenty of credit and don’t need authorized user accounts or secured credit cards. If you have existing revolving debt you have the ability to move your scores very quickly by paying your balances down. There are five levels of card usage acknowledged by the credit scoring model: 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%. If you want to boost your credit scores you should go for the gusto and pay your balances down below 20%. If you don’t have the resources to do this you should think about borrowing from a relative or friend. Make it happen if you can. This can add up to over 100 points.

Pump Up Your Credit Limits

There are two sides to the balance vs. limit formula. If you can’t get the balances down see if you can get the limits up. If you can reduce the ratio of card usage you will get the benefit regardless of how you did it. Just pick up the phone call each of your credit card issuers if they will increase your limits. It can’t hurt to ask. Sometimes credit repair takes nerve.

Challenge Your Collections

Get a copy of your three credit reports. Identify the collections and dispute all of them. Sound crazy? Actually, it’s almost crazy not to do this. Collections change hands often. It’s the nature of the industry. Did you know that the FTC requires collectors to withdraw reporting of collections if they sell the account to another collector or return it to the original creditor? Unfortunately, there is no incentive for them to cease reporting and no punishment if they don’t. If you dispute a collection and the collector no longer owns the debt it will be removed. But take care and read the next section carefully, because there is some potential credit repair danger.

Credit Repair and Your State Statutes

Challenging collections is a smart and justified credit repair strategy. But there are cases where it is simply not advisable. If the collection is larger than $1000 and within the statute of limitation (SOL) for collection through the courts, you just might wake a sleeping beast. The SOL for collection is usually less than the reporting period limit, and in many cases as short as three years. Check the SOL for your state and the state in which the account was open; the longer period applies. If the SOL has expired you can dispute with no fear. If the collector verifies the information as it appears on your report you should be able to negotiate the balance and maybe even have the account removed from your credit report.

Credit Repair Assistance

Credit repair help is always just a phone call away. There are many things that can be done to clean up your credit report and get your scores moving in the right direction. If you don’t have the time to do the job properly, call a credit repair professional. Don’t do the job half-way. It’s far too important. Pick up the phone and let a professional make your credit repair project a great success.

Copyright © 2008 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Credit Repair Done Right

If you want your credit repair effort to succeed you need the right credit scores and credit reports. The wrong approach can put you on the path to lower credit scores and frustration. The information you are about to read may shock and amaze you. But if you do it right you will have a great advantage and avoid some serious frustration.

The Scores You Need

Do you know what your credit scores are? Are you sure? If you are going to begin a credit repair effort and want to benchmark your starting point you should do it right. Here’s the problem. The credit scores sold by the credit bureaus are not the same scores lenders use. Huh? That’s right; the credit bureaus created their own credit scores to cash in on the market opportunity. If you muddle through the fine print at the credit bureau websites you will discover the disclaimer.

Avoid Those Imitation Scores

This unfortunate fact applies to the army of credit resellers on the web as well. There is another problem with bureau scores. You may think that even an imitation score will serve your credit repair purposes, believing that your progress should be reflected in some way. I’m sorry to say that these scores do not behave the same as your real lender scores and are almost sure to result in disappointment.

MyFICO, the Right Score for Credit Repair



If you want your real scores you have to go to MyFICO.com the website of Fair Isaac Corp, the creator of the FICO score. The current cost of scores is about $50 for all three combined. A bit pricy, but it’s the only game in town. And for those intrepid credit repair warriors that want more detail, Equifax does in fact sell a FICO score. Unfortunately, they only make it available for your Equifax report, and you definitely want all three scores for your credit repair effort. Also, they use an older release of the formula, so the results will vary.

But Nix on their Credit Reports



So, head on over to MyFICO and get your scores right from the source. It’s the right credit repair choice. But there is another twist. Although MyFICO is the only way to get your scores, the credit reports they provide are the pits. For some strange reason MyFICO blocks out virtually all of the account numbers and offers only about half of the information that your credit repair effort will need. So get your wallet out again because you will have to buy your reports elsewhere. It takes few bucks to get your credit repair underway, but it’s worth doing it right.

The Right Reports



Although the credit bureaus peddle poor credit score products, they offer excellent tri-merged reports, full of all of the detail you need for your credit repair project, and when it comes to credit repair every detail matters. I’ve taken you down a twisty road so far, and I’m sorry to say that there is one more twist on this journey before we arrive at our goal.

Credit Repair and the Right Deal



Here is the final twist. The credit bureaus want to sign you up for monthly membership, hence the offers of free credit reports in exchange for joining this or that service. If you are not careful your free credit report will end up costing you hundreds of dollars. If you want to join a monthly service, that’s another story. There are benefits. But if you just want to get your credit repair underway and want a good cheap tri-merged report you have to look very carefully.

Hiding in Plain Sight

TrueCredit.com offers the best cheap one shot tri-merged report on the web. But it’s not easy to find, so don’t just run off to TrueCredit and think you’re going to find it clearly advertised. In fact, it’s about the last thing that they want you to buy. But it’s there, hiding in plain sight. Well, almost. Scroll down the home page. Look under the main picture for small print in light gray that says that coverage is not available for residents of New York.

Credit Repair Treasure Hunt Success

Right under that line you will find another line that says that you can also get your 3-bureau credit report without the free score. Click on the words, without the free score. It’s a credit repair treasure hunt. How hard can they make it? Wow. Make sure to uncheck the two boxes where they try to sell you two other ridiculous items that have no use for your life, not to mention your credit repair efforts. Now you have the tools you need to get started. Good luck!

Copyright © 2008 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Having a bad credit score has several implications, one of which is that it can affect your chances of getting a loan. To fix a bad credit score, many people find it advantageous to try credit repair. Some of the ways of doing credit repair include keeping debt in control, getting copies of credit reports and disputing inaccuracies, doing goodwill negotiation, and seeking help from companies that provide credit repair services.

Keywords:

credit repair,credit report repair, FICO score

The effects of having bad credit can be far-reaching. Among the main disadvantages of having a bad credit score is that it can affect your chances of getting a loan later on, prevent you from getting a new credit card, or even keep you from being accepted for a job. Lenders such as banks and other financial institutions will take a look at your FICO score to see whether you are capable of paying back the loan. This FICO score is an indicator of the likelihood that you will default on a loan. If your FICO score is low, chances are you’re going to be turned down when you ask for a loan. Aside from that, credit card companies are likely to refuse your applications for a credit card in case you want a new one.

Start taking control of your debt.

The first thing you have to do once you realize that you have bad credit is to take the time to think about how you’re going to improve your credit score. There are many ways by which you can do credit repair, and it’s always best to start early. You can do credit repair by yourself, or you can choose to get some help from companies offering credit repair services. One of the most important steps you have to do is to make sure that you keep your debt under control by avoiding accumulating any more of it.

Get copies of your credit reports.

Before you start doing credit report repair, you first have to know what exactly you need to fix. Your credit reports contain information that lenders and other companies will see, and it would be good for you to get copies of your latest credit reports from the three credit bureaus. In case you find some inaccurate, outdated, or misleading information on any of these credit reports, then you should dispute the information so that they can be removed from your report.

Do credit repair by goodwill negotiation.

If you want to get some information removed from your credit reports, you can do this by doing goodwill negotiation. Goodwill negotiation is a way to do credit report repair by negotiating with creditors and asking them to remove various questionable items on your report. It won’t cost you anything to do this credit repair, and having several items removed from your reports can make a substantial difference. 

Do credit report repair by credit disputation.

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have a right to contact credit bureaus directly and dispute questionable items on your reports. When you do this, the items you dispute will have to be reviewed by the credit bureaus. In case they don’t find any proof that the items you’re disputing are correct, then they will be obliged to remove those information from your reports.

Get help from companies providing credit repair services.

If you’re having a difficult time doing credit repair on your own and you want the help of professionals, you might want to consider contacting companies who are offering credit repair services. They can help you when it comes to negotiating with creditors or disputing items on your credit reports. They can even help you prepare a debt management plan or help you plan ways on how you can pay off your debts quickly and increase your credit score. What’s great about getting help from these companies is that you won’t have to pay as much as you would if you get the help of a lawyer. Aside from that, you can be sure that you’d have the help of a professional who will guide you every step of the way.