Posts tagged ‘credit repair’

Use Caution When Attempting To Repair Your Credit

By , 5 November, 2010, No Comment

It is a sad fact that when times are tough you have to do things you may prefer not to do. When the economy is tough or simply, your own personal finances, you have to use whatever tricks you can to keep things going. There are companies and services that can be useful during these times.

When you are dealing with personal finances, especially during a bad economy, one service you may want to consider is a credit repair company. If you want to get a hold of your credit before it spins out of control then using a repair agency may be just the answer but you better know what to look for.

Many of these agencies have been known to be anything but helpful. It is actually possible to do more harm than good if you go to the wrong place to handle your credit rating. Your rating is very important and this is one area you can’t afford to be cheap. This does not mean you need to spend a fortune but your first criteria should not necessarily be price.

Reputation is the key to finding a good agency. Don’t just settle for the first company that you find in the phone book and hope for the best. If you choose incorrectly, your credit could suffer. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about repairing your credit. If the agency is too aggressive it could send up red flags at the credit reporting agencies that will not only halt the progress of the repair but may prevent you from doing anything else for a period of time.

You really only have one shot to go about this process, so making sure you choose a reputable company that has a money back guarantee is vital. Contact people who have used these services if possible, research the company online and call the better business bureau to see if they have had any complaints. Following these basic tenants should have you fairly well protected. Remember, there is no magic to the process, everything any credit company can do, you can legally do as well, don’t fall for false claims.

Credit Restoration Strategies You Can Do Yourself!

By , 23 July, 2010, No Comment

If you are struggling with major credit issues, it is easy to think that the way to deal with it is by hiring a credit repair company.  The reality is that most people can handle credit repair on their own.  Here is how you can get started.

Clean Up Errors!

Once you are in possession of your credit report, look for and clean up any errors that are in your file. Some problems such as a simple credit limit on a revolving account have been reported incorrectly can have a large affect on your score. Additionally check for accounts with a date of last activity of more than seven years, payment made on time but reported as late payments, or accounts that are not yours. If you find any errors in your credit file, or questionable negative information, you will need to dispute them independently to each of the credit bureaus.

After all disputing has been completed and errors have been corrected on your credit, you are now ready to explore the next step for bad credit repair.

Make payments that will bring down the balance on your revolving debt is one way to significantly improve your credit score. This may not be what you would consider complex, but it is what actually works best. When you owe less than 25% of the available credit limit on each account, if you are not able to pay them off completely, then that is the ideal situation to be in.

Another option for credit restoration is through debt validation. This method requires a collection agency to provide documentation that proves they legally are entitled to collect money they claim you owe. Request a copy of the contract between the original creditor and the collection agency and the original copy of your contract with the documentation showing the balance owed. If this method does not remove the collection account, arrange for a pay for delete. This is where a creditor agrees to completely remove an account from your credit file when payment in full is made. The options presented here are the best strategies that can be used to repair collection accounts.

Simple Strategies to Fix Credit Issues!

By , 6 February, 2010, No Comment

If you credit is less than perfect, you may be wondering what you can do to fix credit issues.  While credit can be confusing for many people, the reality is that is that it is really not all that complicated to fix your credit.  All it takes is persistence and a little knowledge.  Let’s look at some simple things that you can do to improve your credit.

One thing you can control completely is how much debt you have.  Because it is something you can control, paying off your open accounts is one of the easiest and fastest ways to boost your FICO score.  If you have maxed out credit cards, you can expect to improve your score by 60 points or more if you are able to pay them off.  Even if you can’t pay them off in full, paying them down will help.  The closer you can get to owing 25% or less of your total credit line the better.

Another thing you can do for fast credit repair is to become an authorized user on either your spouse or a parents credit card.  (Under the new rules of FICO 08 only a parent or spouse can add you as an authorized user for it to positively impact your credit score.)  Obviously, you only want to do this if they have a perfect payment history.  Something else to keep in mind – you don’t want to be added to a credit card that is at or near its credit limit.  This can actually lower your score.

Disputing derogatory items in your credit file is another strategy that can improve your credit score.  Thanks to computers, this is not as effective as it once was in removing accurate information, but it is still worth your effort.  If the creditor misses the deadline or fails to verify the account, it will be removed from your credit file.