Instant Credit Repair for Dummies

Everybody in the era we live in wants to have a better carefree life with all luxuries in it. A bad credit can create turmoil in way of life we desire. Getting it back needs instant credit repair so we can get back to our normal no tension life. And since most of us do credit repair first time in our lives, instant credit repair for dummies is what is described in this post.
In today’s post I will discuss some fast credit repair techniques and will also discuss some very common mistakes which can be avoided if given a little care. Don’t take it as a discouragement but every situation is unique and we can’t say that how fast can a credit can be repaired, but given that these techniques are applied; your credit will be repaired in the shortest possible time relative to your unique situation.
There are number of factors which are required to be taken into account, like your present financial situation, the time lapsed when damage was done and top of all your own personal efforts, the great thing about all the situation is that there is no requirement to be worried, the hope is there to hang on to. Let’s begin:


1. When you have bad credit score and have many credit accounts, don’t try closing or disputing them. There may be some blemishes but keep them open as open accounts build your credit history which eventually helps bringing your credit score to a better position. Just try keeping the payments on time unless these open accounts make a lot of hassle for you.

2. If you want to take a dispute with the bureau don’t make the mistake of taking premade dispute letters from the internet, just write in your own words what is your dispute and what really you want to say. Copying dispute letters from the internet is what make it look like that you are not disputing legitimate. This can make your dispute dismissed without due consideration. While writing your dispute just write naturally without using any financial technical lingo like trade lines and revolving accounts.

3. Frivolous is a term used by the bureau when dismissing a dispute for an old debt which was not verified but is there in the report to make your score bad. The old debt which was not verified and you go dispute them for improving your score can just hurt you as much as it can favour you. Once verified the old debt can actually start bothering you more because by disputing and getting it verified you have acknowledged it and then it becomes an obligation to clear by paying it.


4. You need to know your rights as a customer when dealing with the debt collectors and credit companies. These are the entities who can legally remove negative items from your credit report. Negotiating well with them can actually favor you a lot then getting into a dispute with bureau. Here is where natural guts come, you need to be tactful in dealing with them and remember to know your rights well.

5. While improving a bad score, you need to keep your balances within 30% of the limit you have in your credit card or other revolving debts. As soon as your credit company reports your balance within the limit of 30%, you will see an instant increase in your score.

6. You should get any inaccuracies corrected as soon as possible and you will find the creditors to be very quick in responding to correcting them. Since they want to keep their reputations excellent and do not want any law suits, they will respond to you quickly, just remember to enclose any documentary evidence if you have if not just write and send it to bureau or the furnisher (creditor) whichever is the case.

7. Some debt collectors have been known to use some dirty tactics such as making duplicated accounts that may have different account numbers. You need to check for other mistakes too like your name, address and rest of the personal information.

8. While some experts recommend getting free annual reports, don’t do it unless you are totally broke. Because free reports are prone to a time bar which increases the chances of reinvestigation, for instance in case of a dispute, from 30 days to 45 days. You wouldn’t want credit bureaus and furnishers this opportunity.

9. And if you want an instant 35 percent increase in your credit score you need to start paying your installments and bills on time. This is certainly the best instant credit repairing and making your credit score better aspect. One missed payment can decrease your credit score down to 100 points.

The process of instant credit repair especially for dummies can be of varying time period; you just need to be patience and need to keep putting in your efforts for desirable results.

Wise spending!

Zane

Instant Credit Repair in 13 steps

Do’s and Don’ts of Instant Credit Repair in 13 steps:

If you are reading this post, possibility is that you might have a few problems with bills payments and your top most requirement is to instantly repair your credit score. Since where we live, it is a credit propelled economy and having a bad credit can really make one’s life miserable. You cannot get a mortgage and can hardly manage to get a good apartment if your credit score is not good. So what can be done to fix this problem and is there anything called an instant credit repair? And just how instant is it? The answer lies in the situation you are and every situation is unique in its nature, so the instant credit repair which is as quick as possible will always relative to your individual situation of the damage done, for how long it has been like this, present financial situation and top of all your efforts. The positive aspect is that there is a solution and it is best that your give repairing your credit score a good try which will definitely reward you greatly. Some people have quickly repaired their credit just within 30 days….. How is that for a starter!!!

If you are starting off to repair your credit score, the good news is that you are not alone, there are over 30million people in US alone who have credit bad spots, bad enough to restrain them from obtaining loans, mortgages and credit cards, they usually have credit scores under 620. There is a likelihood that you already have a decent credit but who wouldn’t want to make it even better for lower interest rates in securing car loans and credit cards, and the bottom line is that if you have a desire to own a decent house, a high credit score is the key to it.

Knowing the Credit Score:
Like in everything else, if you want to go about something you must be aware of the present standing. So to improve your credit score you need to know what your present score is. The credit score ranges from 300 to 850, and this three digit number will determine your borrowing costs. The credit score which matters these days is FICO score as it is the mostly used score. You can get your credit score from Fair Isaac Corporation or you can also get it from Equifax credit bureau.

Enough of preamble, let’s see what the eleven steps to instant credit repair are:
First we will see the Don’ts if you want a speedy and quick credit repair:

Don’t apply for new loan if you have ample:
You don’t have to get into more loans if you already have in abundance. On the contrary if you don’t have any installment loans, applying and getting one approved will improve your credit scores. You can also get one installment loan if you are trying to recover from a bankruptcy, this will help you in getting your scores up.

Don’t accumulate all accounts:
Consolidating your accounts means getting balances transferred from a high limit credit account to a lower one or accumulating all your credit card balances on one card. As a rule of thumb it is always better to have smaller chunks of balances on few than one big balance on a single card.

Avoid Missed or late payments:
If you have good credit score like 700 or so, one missed or a late payment can drop it to a 100 plus points. Late payments only hurt good scores than bad ones. If you already have a bunch of negative patches on your credit reports, one more will not affect it much but as a habit avoid it if you are up to improving it.

Don’t get your credit limits lowered:
Having a big gap between your credit limit and your balances is always good, don’t ask your creditor to lower your available limits, this will damage your score more than anything. Unless there is a compulsion from the creditor to get the credit limit lowered or close an account for approving a loan, otherwise don’t do it.

Credit report errors which don’t matter:
Your credit report may carry some errors, there are some which can cost you much but there are some which you don to have to be bothered about, these are:
Your name’s misspellings
Incorrect address information
An old employer mentioned as current employer
Most inquiries
Closed accounts by you still listed as open
Closed accounts by you don’t say closed by customer
When you look at your credit account report, if the incorrect address or misspelled name is because of an identity theft or mixing of data with someone else, you can point that out easily and report that quickly to the concerned authorities. However, if those errors are because of a typo by the credit company or the bureau, it is not worth worrying about.



Now that we have covered the don’ts of instant credit repair process, let’s see what are the do’s. I have categorized them in 7 steps:

Credit report errors which matter:
Since your credit scores are calculated on the bases of information provided by your credit report, there are certain errors which matter and need to be corrected:

Negatives in your report which are older than 7years

If you were declared bankruptcy, negatives older than 10 years

Accounts listed as unpaid though they were included in the bankruptcy declaration

If you paid in full and in time, any account listed as ‘current’ or ‘paid as agreed’, needs to be corrected which may be listed as ‘settled’, ‘paid derogatory’ or ‘paid charge off’.

Reported credit limits lower than they actually are

Negative items which are actually not yours, like late payments, collections or charge offs.

You need to be very careful with charging off of negatives in your report which are older than 7 years and in case of bankruptcy negatives older than 10 years, because sometimes scores may go down instead of going up when you negative item go off from your report. This is because of a oddity in the FICO software used for credit scoring. Due to this error in software predicting the effect of erasing negative items from your credit report is difficult.

Old negative disputes:
If a collections account is there in your credit report which was a result of dispute over an unfair bill from your old internet or phone company, you should continue protesting that as ‘unjust’ or not ‘mine’ if the collection account is there for few years. Collections agencies do not bother for smaller and older collection accounts when the credit bureau investigates your disputed collection account.

Goodwill collection:
If you make a consecutive 12 or more on time payments, the lender might erase previous late payments. If you have a very bad history, you can at least ask for re-aging. For getting that done you need to ask for that in writing for “goodwill adjustment”, this will not only improve the record with the creditor company but will also improve your credit score in general. So, it will never hurt to ask for it but first show them that you deserve it.

Use your old credit cards: It is always recommended from the leading credit consultants to use your old credit cards, on and off in every few months may be for a small amount and pay that off in full upon arrival of the statement. Doing this will help you score good with the credit scoring software as active accounts are given more weight than your non active accounts as creditors stop updating your account at the credit bureaus if you do not use them in every few months.

Beware of your credit limits: If your credit company is showing a lower limit than what you have actually got, your scores may actually get depressed. Most of the lending companies will actually update it instantly when asked. There are credit companies like American Express who never report credit limits; the credit bureaus use your highest balance as your credit limit. But there is a problem with that when you repeatedly charge the same amount every month for instance, 3000$ to 3500$, it will appear to the software that you are maxing out your card every month.

To address this issue you can go on a big spending shopping spree. Or you can pay your balance every month before the closer of your statement period, check the date from your last statement, go to the lender’s website a week in advance of the last date and pay off what you owe. This will not raise your limit at the bureau but will widen the gap between the limit recorded at the bureau and the closing balance; this will boost your credit scores.

Keep balances on the lighter side:
Maxing out your cards and piling up big balances hurt your scores even if you pay your bills regularly every month. What actually is calculated in your credit scores is the balances reported in your last statements. Although paying your balances each month is financially wise, its just that credit scores don’t affect.

You can increase your credit scores if you can limit your balances to 30% or less than the card credit limit. You can do that easily by using a check register or by logging into the credit company website regularly or by using personal finance software like ‘Quicken’, this can update you by downloading your balances and transactions automatically.

Paying down credit balances:
Credit scores improve when installment loans are paid off but if you pay off your credit card which is a revolving account it really boosts your credit scores. It is always good to have a big gap in between your credit limit and balance. Credit companies also like to see that and typically 30% balance of the credit limit you have is a good gap you can maintain on every card. So it is always better to pay off the card which is closest to the given limit.



All the suggestions given above will give good result if you are dealing with mediocre or poor credit score and will do instant credit repair. When you raise your score to 700 any of the steps mentioned will have little positive effect. And if you are dealing in the excellent category 760 and above, you will only be getting few points despite your hard efforts. There will not be any point in putting up those extra efforts because you will already be getting the best rates for credits and best terms for any loans you require.

Avoid Instant Credit Repair Scams

When you plan to buy a new car or a new house, you tend to think of your credit and only knowing your credit score and what you can do to get the best out of it can help you decide. Knowledge of your credit rating tells you if this is the right time for you to make the move for a new asset of house or a car or do some credit repair while avoiding instant credit scams out there.

The process of getting a credit:

The time you go apply for loan to meet your needs; the credit company will check your credit history to decide if they can offer you any loan and if they do, at what interest rate to offer you. The credit score is a three digit number which tells them what is your standing in the credit industry. This credit score or FICO rating may change every week, go up and down depending upon the efforts or mistakes you make with respect to your borrowing.
The FICO score ranges between 300 and 850 and anything under 650 is marked as ‘risky’, this all depends on past and present credit status. There are three major credit reporting companies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax and the credit score being risky is totally dependent on their own standards, so every company has their own standards of what is acceptable even your report may differ with respect to every company.

Your payment history, closed unpaid accounts, defaults, debt to income ratio and up to date accounts all came under consideration when a credit report is made. So whenever you apply for a loan or a credit request, your score is requested by the lending company and the number of times this is requested it influences your credit score number. Too many requests to check your score from different credit companies may make you look very desperate to get a loan. This will make lending companies very conscious of your situation and will think twice in deciding to approve your loan request. Same goes for bankruptcy; this is considered alarming in process of approval of credit line request and affects your credit score.
Not only lending companies, but future landlords and employers also look for your credit score. To see where you stand in terms of credit scoring, you can request your report and when you think you need to raise your credit score you desperately look for ways to do it instantly a soon a possible.

Due to shrinking economy, banks are being very strict in their policies and making it harder than ever to qualify for loans. Better Business Bureau warns that by exploiting the credit crunch there are companies taking advantage of desperate customers who want to get their loans approved and need their credit instantly repaired.

So the few things which you can do to avoid these credit repair scams are:

According to BBB, the complaints against quick credit repair companies have risen to 40% since 2005. You must have seen the lucrative ads these companies publish in newspapers, magazines, through direct mail, radio television and the internet. In many cases these companies take large amount of fees from their clients up front and in return they promise to erase any negative patches, blemishes, from credit records, get loans approved through piggyback, on someone else’s credit record and even get you a new social security number.
First of all if there is an error in your credit report which is negative, this can be removed, but an accurate negative information cannot be removed and no one can do that. Secondly, piggyback is no more there, it was used to happen in the past and now it is only a way to get money out of clients, it was the method where one could borrow someone else’s credit score to improve his own credit ratings. Thirdly, it is next to impossible to get a new social security number whoever says that is actually scamming you. The point here is the promises credit repair company make and what they legally can do to fulfill them are all can be done by you without spending any money, for free.

Knowing what your Rights are:

According to BBB, you have the right to cancel any contract signed by you with credit repair company for any reason within three business days. By law every credit repair company must provide you with a copy of consumer rights.

Obvious signs of a scam credit repair company:

If the credit repair company doesn’t tell you what action you can take yourself and doesn’t make you aware from your rights, it must be a scam company. A company cannot be good if they stop you from contacting the business bureau directly. It’s a red flag if a company asks you money upfront. A company, who asks you to generate the employer ID instead of social security and tells you to piggyback on someone’s good credit are all signs of a scam credit repair company. You should always check a credit repair company on the website of Better Business Bureau at http:// wecome.bbb.org.

A credit counseling service is a better option if you are in a serious credit problem. You can get consumer credit counseling at a minimal fee or even free in some of the cases. These counseling services may help you with working out a payment plan; provide you with advice and guidance in staying you out of debt.

Too summarize it is safe to say that there is nothing as an instant credit repair done by a company for you. You need to know the instant credit repair scams because what they can do can all be done by your own self without spending money.

Cheers to wise spending!!
Zane