Are You a Candidate for Credit Repair?

It is true that millions of people have benefited from credit repair. But there are many misconceptions about the subject that have led others to jump into credit repair programs before they were ready. If you are truly a candidate you are likely to see dramatic results in a short period of time. Your credit report can be tidied up and your credit scores optimized; many people see a complete transformation on their report and a significant jump in their scores within just a few months.

You Are Not a Candidate, if…

You are not a candidate for credit repair if you are having trouble paying your bills. Credit repair is not about eliminating debt or finding a way to erase legitimate obligations from your reports. There is little point in starting the process of cleaning up your credit if there will be new derogatory information reported each month. If you are in a financial bind there are several other options that you should investigate, including consumer credit counseling, debt negotiation, and bankruptcy. Prior to deciding on a course of action please take your time to research these options carefully.

You Are a Candidate, if…

You are a candidate for credit repair if your finances are reasonable stable. You must be able to keep up with your bills, and ideally have a little money left over for savings. The ability to contribute, even a small amount, to a saving account will allow you to create a safety cushion for unexpected expenses and to insure that you can preserve the fruits of your credit repair efforts. True progress may also require that you build new credit, and for many people this means opening secured credit cards. A secured card typically requires a small savings deposit ranging from 200 to 300 dollars, so you should have some money available to contribute to the cause.

Getting Started

If you are a candidate for credit repair there are several steps you must take to prepare for the process. This small investment of time at the outset will pay huge dividends. Too many people jump in blindly and consequently get frustrated, or more commonly get only half of the potential benefit. There are few things as important as your credit; you owe it to yourself to make sure the job gets done properly. When it comes to credit repair, short cuts are dead-ends. Here are some ideas about building the right foundation for your efforts.

Get Your Credit Reports

Start by getting all three of your credit reports. Credit reports are a little tricky to read. If you purchase your three bureau credit reports individually, or opt for the free reports offered through the government mandated site AnnualCreditReport.com you will be starting your project at a disadvantage. Give yourself the edge and invest in a good tri-merged credit report online. One of these reports should cost you less than 20 dollars and is well worth the money. Most tri-merged reports structure your credit information for ease of understanding and will allow you to make sense of everything you see.

Proofreading for Credit Repair

The goal of proofreading your credit reports is to indentify every single issue that is hurting your scores. Before starting there are two things you need to know. First, it is essential that you give yourself the benefit of the doubt; if there is any question in your mind about the accuracy of a derogatory item you should dispute it with the credit bureaus. Second, don’t skip anything regardless of how small. You might be surprised how little things can add up and impact your credit scores. It’s your credit. Everything matters.

Spotting Invisible Dangers

When you proofread your credit reports there are several special things to look out for. These issues are hard-to-spot legal and reporting problems that can depress your scores, and yet unless you are alert they will escape your notice. Underreported credit limits can make your cards look like they are over utilized, accounts often continue to report as open with a balance long after they have been paid and closed, duplicate listings are commonplace and should be eliminated, collectors are supposed to withdraw their listings completely when they sell the debt to another collector or return it to the original creditor, but they do not often comply. All of these issues can hurt your scores so look sharp!

Reach Out for Help

If at any time you feel overwhelmed by the task you should reach out for help. There are many professional credit repair services that can insure that the job gets done properly. These companies are typically very affordable and will make sure that nothing gets left out. The best of these credit repair firms will also provide additional services like score consulting, rehabilitation and rebuilding guidance, and more. It’s your credit. It matters. Good luck!

Copyright © 2009 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Jump in With Both Feet

The moment you make the decision to start the credit repair process you will feel great; empowered, light, and hopeful. For many people it is a hard step. There may be uncomfortable emotions associated with past credit issues, and revisiting old events can be difficult. But there is nothing more rewarding than regaining control over your life. How do you feel? We suggest you jump in with both feet. You’ll be glad you did.

Knowledge is Power

The first step in the credit repair process is taking inventory. You must get copies of all three of your credit reports. Did you know that each credit bureau reports a different mix of account information? Some creditors report to all three bureaus, others report to only one or two. You need to examine all three of your credit reports to get a complete picture as you begin the credit repair process.

Clean Up Your Credit

A truly effective credit repair and restoration plan may include catching up on past due accounts, evaluating collections to determine if they should be paid, negotiated, or ignored, contacting creditors to discuss rehabilitation options, and more. But before you take any of these steps you should make an effort to identify and remove errors on your credit reports. Finding and removing errors on your reports is an important and powerful step in the credit repair process. It may also be the most difficult.

Spotting Errors

An often-quoted statistic from the National Association of State PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) states that 79% of all credit reports contain errors. It is also a fact that people with legitimate credit problems are considerably more likely to have errors on their reports. This is because late payments, charge offs, and collections trigger activity such as re-coding of accounts for special handling, and sale or assignment to outside parties for collection. These procedures dramatically increase the likelihood of errors. Credit reporting errors translate into higher interest rates on every dollar you borrow, and many of these errors are hard to spot. Doing the job halfway should not be an option. If you do not feel comfortable tracking down errors on your report you should hire a credit repair professional.

A Disturbing Cycle

The fact that errors are most likely to appear on the reports of those with past credit issues is one of the most problematic phenomena in the credit repair world. On one hand it creates significant barriers for those who can afford it the least; it is difficult enough to regain control over your life after a period of financial stress without the system placing extra obstacles in your path. It is also damaging in a more subtle and insidious way. People with credit issues often feel reticent about the credit repair effort. The emotional discomfort following a period of financial stress makes a critical examination of their credit reports difficult. As a result they live for years with innumerable errors on their credit reports. These errors reduce their scores, cost them money in the form of higher interest rates, and place unnecessary ongoing strain on their budget. But there is good news. Awareness leads to action, and a focused credit repair effort can turn things around quickly.

Rebuilding Your Credit

Another important step in the credit repair process, which is often neglected after a period of financial strain, is the rebuilding of credit. The overall content of your credit report will determine your FICO scores, the scores lenders use in underwriting loan applications and determining the interest rate you will pay. To build your FICO scores it is essential to have current open accounts in good standing on your report. Many people avoid opening new accounts due to fear of denial. This is a mistake. You can work for months to repair your credit, but if you are left without a measurable, current, history of on-time payments your FICO score will go nowhere. Secured credit cards are the perfect credit repair tool. Secured cards require a small savings deposit, and will typically provide a credit line equal to that deposit. These cards are designed for people with credit issues, so you don’t have to worry about being denied, and most importantly they will provide the track record the credit-scoring model is looking for.

Developing a Budget

Credit repair requires effort. You will want to insure your efforts continue to pay off well into the future. It is important to make payments on time, incur only manageable debt, and build savings to cushion your budget in the case of unforeseen events. A thoughtful examination of your costs versus your obligations is a perfect complement to the hard work you put into your credit repair. A budget does not have to mean hardship. In fact, you will soon see that it is quite liberating. The effort you put into understanding your finances will give you the information you need to make good decisions in your life, maintain your great credit, build savings, and ultimately allow you to build real personal wealth.

Copyright © 2007 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Using Your Credit Cards

There is nothing wrong with using your credit cards. Credit cards allow you to manage both purchases and unforeseen events over time. There is also nothing particularly wrong with running your balances up to the limit – unless you need your credit scores to be at their best in the short term.

Credit Repair and Your Credit Card Balances

The FICO scoring model recognizes five different credit card usage levels and adjusts your scores accordingly. These levels are 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 percent; the lower your balance the higher your score. This should not be taken lightly. Changing your credit card balances can cause a swing of over 100 points on your credit score. If you are applying for a loan every point on your score counts, so keep those balances down.

Store Cards Can be Good Business

Everyone likes a good deal. So when a cashier at a department store offers a discount in exchange for opening a new store card, it can be tempting. Sometimes accepting the offer is the right thing to do. It can be good business to save a little money. But in the world of credit repair, timing is everything. When that store card hits your credit report it will put a big dent in your credit score.

The Problem with Store Cards

Store cards contain three credit score hits in one little package. First is the inquiry, second is the new account, and third, almost inevitably, your new balance will be close to the card’s limit. If you don’t need your credit score anytime soon there is no problem, but if you will are applying for a loan, or are in a credit repair program, think twice before opening that new store card.

How Many Credit Cards

Too many credit cards are not great, so a bit of financial simplification may be in order, but don’t get carried away. Many people start a credit repair program and decide to tidy up their life by closing all but one credit card. This can send your credit score into a tailspin. If you have more than five open cards, go ahead and trim down, but otherwise leave them open. Your credit scores will thank you.

Rebuild Your Credit Now

After a period of financial difficulty many people find themselves with no open accounts. You need to have open accounts to build your credit scores. Credit repair takes time. Don’t wait until you have cleaned up the old derogatory information on your credit reports before applying for your new credit cards; start building now.

Secured Credit Cards for Credit Repair Success

If you can’t get approved for regular credit cards, get secured cards. Secured cards require a small saving account which will secure your new credit line. Open two secured accounts, keep the balance under twenty percent of your limit and you will see big credit repair results before you know it.

Authorized User Accounts – The Good News

Authorized user accounts provide two benefits. First, they are easy to get; anyone can add you to their account as an authorized user. Second, you inherit the benefit of the primary card holder’s payment history on that account. So, assuming they have a good history, your credit score will increase accordingly. A great credit repair trick – or is it?

Authorized user Accounts – The Bad News

The problem with authorized user accounts is that Fair Isaac and Company has removed the credit score inheritance benefit from the new version of the FICO software. The credit bureaus will be adopting the new software over the next year or so and the score benefit will be gone. It’s time to build real credit. If you cannot get unsecured credit cards, apply for secured cards. Take action today.

Don’t Ignore Collection Letters

The last thing you want to find in your mailbox is a collection letter. It is tempting to ignore it. Unfortunately, if you ignore that collection letter for more than 30 days you have lost a golden credit repair opportunity to validate the debt. If you read the collection letter carefully you will see a notice that you have 30 days to challenge the collection. Don’t miss your chance.

Credit Repair and Debt Validation

Collectors are governed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which says that if challenged they must, upon request, provide proof of their legal right to collect and an accounting of the amount due. This accounting should come from the original creditor. If the collector cannot provide the requested documentation they must cease collection efforts and not report to the credit bureaus.

Start Your Credit Repair Project Today

Every point on your credit score matters. Credit repair takes time. You cannot afford to delay. Just make sure to do your homework. Educate yourself. There are great resources on the web. If the project seems daunting, hire a professional. Expert credit repair services are very affordable and should include everything you need to optimize your credit score.

Copyright © 2007 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Where to Search for Bad Credit Repair Counseling

Receiving good credit can establish the world of difference where numerous affairs are related when it adds up to financing and car or applying for a credit card. You will get the best interest rates on some matters as car or house loans if your credit is in tip top shape. Regrettably life goes on and you may find yourself falling behind on bills and bad credit quite possibly is staring you right in the face because the debt is still there at the ending of the day. Your one time perfect credit score is right away inadequate and you learn yourself inquiring where to look for bad credit repair counseling.

There are many choices for you to pick out from where improving your credit report is interested. There are many a debt consolidation or credit counseling companies around that will assist you to get your credit score back up where you would like it to equal. They will go over your credit history first by retrieving your credit reports therefore determining your FICO scores and compile your income and monthly bills to determine right away what tips they can give you to avoid bad credit. At this point there might make up single items on your reports that can be debatable immediately and then you can increase your opportunities of getting it withdrawn from your credit report and shrink the amount of stress you are under.

They will then assist you receive a budget put in place for you to follow on a weekly basis and then you don’t have to look at the worst case scenario bankruptcy. This will assist you to pay off old debts and maintain with current bills with their expert credit counseling supplied so that your credit will improve over a period and inside a year most credit bureaus will provide free credit reports to assure your along the exact track.

You can also lookup the internet for online bad credit repair counseling. You demand to be careful to really search into the reputable credit counseling or debt consolidation company you are regarding online as in that respect are many scams on the internet. Bad credit repair counseling services provides individuals a opportunity to school themselves with their rendered resources on how to avoid getting into debt. They will help people to talk with their creditors to cut or eliminate their finance charges and to lower their monthly payments. Numerous times a credit repair counselor can serve you by speaking to your creditors about repayment options so you can establish a new identity within the consumer market place.

There are also many a do it yourself credit counseling books or maybe your a internet sort of person therefore credit repair software would be obtainable to consumers. This is where you can purchase books and/or videos that will walk you through step by step on how to improve your credit score and to eliminate your debt. This is a good choice but you have to be contained and stick with the budget you produce to experience you back on your feet once more. Some individuals find that it is better to receive an actual credit repair counselor to walk you through the particular debt management steps and it grants you someone to respond to and so you will be more likely to stick with a program.

Holding bad credit can make matters very hard for you when it comes to seeking to discover a place to live as well as finding credit cards with respective consumer companies for various matters. If you observe that you have fallen behind and are immediately facing up bad credit scores, and so you may want to seek the advice of bad credit repair counseling services. Together you and your credit counselor will compute a plan of action that takes on your specific needs. You will wish to make coordinated all of your debts and what your payments are monthly. You will too need to realize what your monthly income is so your counselors can tailor-make your budget to your income.

If you would like more information on this topic and Credit Rating Repair or if you are in need Fast Credit Repair, Beatlands Credit Repair has many credit repair topics and tips that can be very useful.

Credit repair products are on an all time high because this market is getting bigger and bigger every day. The fall in economy is making it hard for people to repay back on time, which deteriorates their credit reports. Hence, more and more people want to repair their credit reports. An easy credit repair kit is a good way to do this. Most of these products are claimed to be best and they come in different forms like videos, books, DVDs or CDs and even computer software. The credit repair books are most widely used method. These books can be a breath of relief for people with poor credit score. With the guidance from these books, an individual can come to know what he got to do and how he should do things to fix his bad credit.

The most widely read book regarding this is “The Credit Repair Kit” By John Ventura. It costs around $15 and is easily found on Amazon.com. You can even buy the used copy of book for $1 only. This book is considered as one of the front runners in improving credit scores and this is the reason it has received very good reviews too.

This book educates people about basics related to credit like how to solve the credit problems, it what are credit exposure agencies and also provide the detailed information on how to receive and read your credit report. Most readers are average people willing to improve the credit ratings and are surely not experts. Hence, this easy credit repair kit guides them well to fix their credit scores.

The Internet has opened new doors and possibilities are immense. Countless books on credit repair are easily available on the World Wide Web. The best thing is that you just need to download them and can read them from the comfort of your home.

Other most commonly used way in credit repair kit are the software tools for credit repair. They can be easily installed on the PC. Some of these softwares are so advanced that they have built in servers that automatically connect you to the credit reporting agencies and verify the information itself. These softwares make tracking your credit status easy

When you are thinking of purchasing an easy credit repair kit, keep the following pointers in mind. The kit should:

• Guide you to read the credit report.

• Explain the working of agencies and the ways by which they access and collect individual’s credit report information.

• Teach you many ways to fix your credit score.

• Teach you about the ways to approach credit reporting agency in case of any disputes or errors on your report.

• Teach you about the ways to handle identity theft issues.

• Teach you the ways to improve the credit ratings.

• Have tools that help you stay away from credit problems forever.

For easy tips and techniques visit Easy Credit Repair Kit.

Getting into a credit repair program is a good way for people to turn thing around with their credit and financial situation. Credit repair services can be offered by a company that specializes in this or an experienced financial expert. Consumers that could use this service need to be committed to seeing the process through. That is the way they will be able to turn their bad credit into good credit.

There are some consumers that may not have an overload of debt piled on them. However, they may still be in need of credit repair. Credit repair services will still benefit them in that aspect. It will also benefit them in other ways, such as budgeting, cut back on spending and how to get financial freedom.

Consumers should check out the companies that offer credit repair and not just go with the first train running. There are many companies and individuals that offer credit repair services. However, a consumer has to find the one that best fits your needs and your budget. When they do find one for them, they need to ask questions and find out what how the process operates. This much is true of those who offer this service: getting your credit straight is not a quick fix. Depending on how much you owe, it can take a short or a long time for you to get things right with your credit.

With your credit repair, your program should include being able to get rid of bad habits that got you to this point. That is where the root of the problem lies, along with being disciplined enough to stay out of that form of bondage. Credit repair services work to get your credit back up to speed and to increase your credit score. If you don’t follow through, then you can end up back where you were before.

Credit repair can help you to have a different view of money and how to discipline yourself about spending it. There are people that seem to think that money flows like water and that they can just spend the way that they want to. What they don’t think about is if they don’t have a financial cushion, the money that they do have will be gone in no time flat. Then they will be wondering what their next move is. Credit repair services can teach you how to eliminate that spending money feeling.

A good credit repair counselor will tell you up front what you need to do. It is up to you whether or not you will follow suit. Getting your credit in order can be a matter of life of death of your finances. Credit repair services can be a godsend. Once your credit improves, you won’t be left out of getting employment, credit or loans.

So once you get assistance and follow through with your credit repair program, you can get back on your feet again. Credit repair services are crucial if you really need to save your credit from disaster.

Whoa Nellie – Don’t Pay that Bill

Hold your horses. So you got a collection letter in the mail. You are distraught and already figuring out how to pay the collector. Shockingly, a majority of collections are paid needlessly. Resist the impulse to pick up your checkbook. Just slow it down. Credit repair requires patience – and a bit of knowledge comes in handy too.

Don’t Believe Your Eyes

When it comes to collection letters, don’t believe your eyes. Don’t write a check. Don’t call the collector. There are four essential credit repair tests you must apply before doing anything. First, do you recognize the debt? Second, is it possible it was satisfied with a previous collector or the original creditor? Third, is it beyond the statute of limitation for collection through the court system? And fourth, is it beyond the reporting period limit for your credit report?

Do You Recognize the Debt?

If you have attempted credit repair you already know that the collection industry is far from perfect. Collectors buy and sell collection accounts on a regular basis. The level of quality control at collection businesses is notoriously lax. There is every possibility that you are getting a collection notice for a debt that has nothing to do with you. Be sure.

Have You Paid the Debt?

Because collectors buy and sell debt regularly it is common for a new collector to send you a dunning letter for a debt that you satisfied with a prior collector. Original creditors often have in-house collection departments that are as lax in their record keeping as any collector. Oftentimes debts are bundled for sale at the same time that consumers are sending their payment. Your money may have gone in one door while your account was being sold out another door.

Credit Repair Statute of Limitation Shockers

Here is the credit repair fact that most people are not aware of. I can’t tell you how many otherwise well-informed people have drawn a blank on this one. The statute of limitation (SOL) for collection through the courts has nothing whatsoever to do with the seven-year reporting limit for derogatory information imposed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) on the credit bureaus. This can be credit repair magic. The SOL is almost always far less than seven years, and may be as little as two years. Each debt type has its own SOL which depends on the type of debt, the state in which you incurred the debt, and the state you currently live – more about this in a second.

The Reporting Period Limit

Most people in credit repair programs are aware of reporting period limits. Generally speaking the credit bureaus are directed by the FCRA to report derogatory credit events for no longer than seven years. There is a slightly more complicated method of measuring reporting period limits for charge-offs and collections which may continue to report for seven years plus 180 days from the date of original default – being the first time a scheduled payment was missed in the sequence that led to collection.

What are the Credit Repair Consequences?

If you don’t recognize the debt, it may not be yours and you should not pay it. If you paid the original collector you certainly don’t want to pay it a second time. If the debt is beyond the SOL the collector has no way to enforce the collection. This means you can send the collector a cease communication letter and he will vanish forever from your life, and you don’t have to worry about a judgment. Or, if you want to pay the debt, it is usually very negotiable once past the SOL. And if the debt is beyond the reporting period limit it is almost certainly beyond the SOL, so all of the above benefits should apply, plus you should not have to worry about the appearance of the collection on your credit report. It’s the ultimate credit repair outcome.

Credit Repair and the SOL

The SOL is not hard to check and it is central to any credit repair effort. Just get on the Internet and search for statute of limitations. You should be able to find an easy-to-read chart listing SOL by debt type and by state. Don’t forget to check your state of residence and the state in which you entered into the original agreement. The longer period applies to your case. Remember to measure the time period properly. The SOL clock always starts with the date of original default. Collectors do not reset the date when they start and restart the collection process.

Call in the Credit Repair Troops

If all of this is too much to bear, pick up the phone and call a credit repair expert. It’s your money and should not be taken lightly. If you do not have the time to cope with the process a professional credit repair company will insure that every step is taken in the proper order and that you are not paying needlessly throwing money away. When it comes to credit repair, the right way is the best way. You can do it!

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

Starting your Credit Repair Tune Up: Get Your Reports

A credit repair tune up does not have to be hard. If you break up the project into smaller tasks the whole job will be a breeze. Don’t be intimidated. Take it slow and you will get the job done. Each little step along the way can add points to your credit score and move you closer to your credit repair goals.

Credit Repair Made Simple – One Bureau at a Time

There are three credit bureaus, so you need to tune up three credit reports. Many people starting a credit repair effort are intimidated when they see their reports. The formats are unique and the information reported by each bureau is different. Don’t worry; you don’t have to work on all three reports at the same time. There is no economy of scale. Start with one report, do what needs to be done, and then move on to the next one. Slow and steady wins the race.

High Credit Limits

Begin your credit repair tune up with something easy. I suggest you get a highlighter and mark the high credit limits on your accounts, both installment and revolving. If you find an account with an under reported limit it is costing you points on your scores, possibly significant points. It is easy to correct a limit error, just dispute it with the offending credit bureau and attach a copy of a recent statement showing the correct limit. Your credit repair tune up is off to a good start.

Account Opening Dates

The age of each account has an impact on your credit scores. Credit repair rule number one: an old account is a good account. Highlight your account opening dates. If you find one that underreports an opening date you should contact the creditor and inform them of the error and ask them to report it correctly. You should also ask them for a letter indicating the account opening date and then submit it to the bureaus yourself. You will be surprised with the results…

Credit Repair and Collection Accounts

The sale of debt is so common in the collection industry that you may find a single collectable account reported many times on your credit report. Collectors that no longer own a debt are not allowed to report it to the credit bureaus. And yet there is no incentive for collectors to cease reporting when they sell the debt to another collector. If you see the same account being collected by more than one collector, dispute all but the most recent. They will be removed. Your credit repair tune up is really getting into gear.

Negotiating Uncollectable Collections

Collections may be collected through the courts for a limited amount of time determined by state law. These time limits are called statutes of limitation (SOL) and are usually surprisingly short. If a debt cannot be collected through the courts it cannot be enforced. Please note that the SOL is not the same as the reporting period limit for your credit report. So, you may want to negotiate these “uncollectable” collections as part of your credit repair effort. The collector will love to hear from you, and you might even get them to remove the account from your credit in exchange for payment instead of just reporting it as paid. Give it a try!

Paying Down Your Balances

If you have the ability to pay down revolving balances, go ahead and do it. The FICO scoring model puts a lot of emphasis on the ratio between your balance and your high credit limit – and the lower the better. Are you looking for quick credit repair results? Pay your balances down below 20% of the high credit limit. If your balances have been lingering near the limit wait until you see what lower balances can do for your scores!

Trimming Down Accounts

You need to have open accounts in good standing to have a good credit score. But you can also have too many accounts. Successful credit repair involves achieving the right balance of accounts, so go ahead and close a few. But it is important to pick the right ones to close. MasterCard and Visa cards are the most valuable for your credit scores. Store cards have little value and should be the first to go. When you pick the accounts to close, please remember that old accounts are good accounts.

Credit Repair and New Accounts

If you do not have any open MasterCard of Visa accounts it’s time to open a couple. Two is a good number! If your credit scores are too low to get approved for regular unsecured credit cards, get two secured cards. Secured credit cards are the perfect credit repair tool. It’s easy and you won’t get denied. Remember, no credit, no credit scores. Your scores are a measure of your ability to pay and manage your debt. Get some credit cards and prove that you are a good risk. You scores will thank you!

Copyright © 2007 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Common Practice

It is a common practice for parents to give a child a credit card. It’s good for emergencies and handy for everything from summer camp to college life. It is also common for one spouse to make the other spouse an additional card member.

A Little Software Bug

None of these practices are even slightly questionable. Additional card member accounts didn’t attract the attention of lenders or Fair Isaac Corporation, the creator of the credit-scoring model used by lenders when they make credit decisions, until they noticed an interesting bug in the credit-scoring model which was to spawn a questionable little sub-business in the credit repair industry.

A Cool Credit Repair Trick

It seems that as soon as the new account appeared on the credit report of the beneficiary their credit score would jump. In other words they were inheriting the credit history of the card from the donor. In the case where the donor had excellent credit the beneficiary discovered their own credit score jumping significantly, often over one hundred points, a cool little credit repair trick, but not what Fair Isaac really had in mind.

Word Spread Quickly

Well, the word quickly spread. And as always happens, creative entrepreneurs thought up a way to package this small credit repair miracle and sell it to absolutely anyone who had the money and desire to give their credit score a quick, albeit undeserved boost. And it is this undeserved issue that became the real problem.

FICO in our Life

In 1989 Fair Isaac Corporation first made their FICO credit scores available to lenders. And in 1995 the mortgage lending giants, Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac made FICO scores a part of their mortgage underwriting consideration. Since that time lenders have become virtually dependant on Fair Isaac’s scoring model, and the credit repair services began to focus on these powerful little numbers.

Score Distortion

The reliability of these important numbers is essential to good decisions. If something were to threaten the validity of the FICO score undeserving borrowers would be able to obtain loans they did not deserve. Lenders making these loans would be in jeopardy of increasing default rates and potentially disastrous losses.

Credit Repair, or is it?

So you can image the concern that lenders felt as they discovered that pseudo credit repair companies were popping up on the Internet selling these accounts to anyone with the money to pay. In response, Fair Isaac went to work to modify their computer model to block the benefit of these accounts, and to end to the distortion being caused by credit repair card sellers. And so they rewrote the model and introduced it as FICO ’07. But there was a problem.

The Credit Repair Battle Continues

As much as lenders wanted to eliminate the score distortion caused by authorized user accounts, they were unable to implement FICO ’07. It seems that there is a paragraph in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) that states that, “when lenders assess a spouse’s credit risk they are required by law to consider the credit history of accounts which both spouses are permitted to use.”

Back to the Drawing Board

This little directive stopped FICO ’07 in its tracks and sent Fair Isaac back to the drawing board. For those of us in the credit repair business, we were amused to see the fanfare amongst the brokers of these authorized user cards that trumpeted FICO ’07 as “illegal”, and of course continued to sell their questionable credit repair product to the public. Their celebration, however, was short lived.

Credit Repair Card Brokers Say Goodbye

On July 31, 2008, Fair Isaac announced their final solution. They have managed to create a way to block questionable authorized user accounts from inheriting the score benefit of the donor without blocking those of spouses and family members. So finally the death blow was dealt against the shadowy credit repair businesses selling their quick fixes.

Those Amazing Brainiacs

The exact language of the press release reads, “We have developed technology that will reduce any impact on the FICO 08 score from intentional tampering, while allowing the scores of spouses and other genuine authorized users to benefit from their shared credit experience.” How this works, I can’t say, but my hat is off to the brainiacs at Fair Isaac.

Credit Repair the Right Way

Intentional distortion of the validity of credit scores was good for no one. Intelligent credit repair never requires questionable practices. There have always been many legal and powerful ways to boost your credit score, quickly and effectively. A well-planned approach to credit repair has always produced real and lasting results that endure and truly reflect your own credit worthiness. Do it right, and do it for real.

Copyright © 2008 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

This generation has turned into a microwave society. People want things done quickly, and repairing your credit is no exception. People get hyped up by guaranteed claims of repairing credit fast and easy. The truth is that is not the case. There are places called credit repair clinics that claim to be able to remove all negative information from your credit report. They also claim that your can credit can be wiped clean. Of course, there is a catch. You will have to pay a fee and it’s usually in the hundreds of dollars for their “services”.

Credit repair clinics are nothing more than a sham. You shouldn’t fall for them because they have no legal right to delete, repair or adjust your credit report. The only entity that can legally adjust or delete information is the credit bureau. Negative items, depending on what they are, can stay on your report for either seven (general negative information) or ten years (bankruptcy, i.e. Chapter 7). These so-called clinics have no legal right to remove these items from your credit report. If they tell you otherwise, they’re lying in order to get your money. In fact, they really don’t do anything to help you improve your credit.

However, there is a way to do credit repair without you having to be scammed by these companies. You can repair your own credit. It’s good for you to do that so you’ll know what’s on your report and what each item posting is about. You will also learn different legal and cost-effective strategies that can be used to repair your credit. If you have quite a bit of debt, it may take some time to clean it up, unless you have a large lump sum to wipe it out.

Since you’ll be doing your own credit repair, Get a copy of your credit report and look at it thoroughly. If you find errors in it, make note of them. You will have to contact the credit bureaus and dispute the claims. By law, the bureaus must at least conduct and investigation to find out whether adjustments need to be made to your credit report. If they do find errors, they must be corrected. Or if they can’t verify the information, it must be deleted. If you wish, you can also send them a brief correspondence disputing the errors in your credit report.

Just think-if you were to allow a credit repair clinic to do this for you, do you know how your credit would end up? In addition to charging you hundreds of dollars to do what you can do yourself, they won’t tell you what you need to know about getting your credit straight. They’ll just take your money and run.

Credit repair clinics could care less about helping your to get your credit together. They’re just looking out for themselves to see how much they can get out of the deal. Some of them will actually use some of the same strategies that you would use to repair your credit.

This may sound like a lot to do, but it’s a far better credit repair strategy that paying hundreds of dollars to a company that claims they can erase your negative credit. When it’s all said and done, you will be glad that you chose to do it yourself.