Credit Repair services » New Car

Bad Credit Report Repair Done Easy

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:46:46 +0000

Usually it’s about the time that someone needs to buy a new car or is about to purchase their first home that they realize that they are going to need to do a little bad credit report repair. While it can be quite costly to hire a professional to help you get your credit rating back on track quickly, there is hope for people who are the more do-it-yourself type and want to save some money.

Bad credit report repair can be done on your own if you have the time and some organizational skills. It is not difficult work to fix your credit, it is just a matter of understanding exactly what makes up your credit score, identifying the problem areas, and then workings swiftly to resolve those issues. All of this can easily be done on your own, without the help of an expensive professional.

The first thing that you need to do is order a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. You can order a copy from each of the three agencies for free every 12 months, and it only takes a minute. Just go to the Annual Credit Report website, enter in your contact information, and you’ll instantly have an electronic copy of your report, which you can save to your hard drive and print out. Just be sure to visit the official Free Credit Report website, as there are many other that suggest you can receive a free report, but only if you sign up for a trial of their monthly credit monitoring service. The official site, however, has no strings attached.

Once you have downloaded your report, print if off and take out two different color pens or highlighters. You are looking for two things that you want to distinguish from each other. The first thing you are looking for is errors on your report. One in four credit documents include misinformation, so chances are you will find some. The other thing you are looking for, which you want to highlight in a different color, is the accurate information that is negatively affecting your credit score. Each report will be slightly different, so thoroughly and carefully look at each document.

Once you have done that, the next in your bad credit report repair plan is to remove the false information and eliminate the negative information. To do this, make two columns on a sheet of paper that that are labeled, “misinformation” and “negative information.” List your items in the appropriate column, but rank them in terms of their greatest impact on your credit score. For example, if you have a bankruptcy on your credit report that did not occur and a typo in your employer’s address, you want to list the bankruptcy first since having that removed will have the greatest impact on your credit score.

Once you have your items ranked in the proper order, you will have an idea of where you need to focus your energy to improve your credit score the fastest. When disputing items on your credit report, you don’t want to do them all at once. Just take care of the biggest problems first in order to get the most cooperation from the credit bureaus and getting them to act fast.

By: Ryan J. Taylor

Credit Repair Scams

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:17:48 +0000

“Erase Bad Debt !”

“Remove Negative Items From Your Credit Report”

You’ve probably seen these headlines and others just like it promising to clean up or “fix” bad credit. For someone who suffers from a bad or poor credit rating, these headlines are certainly an appealing offer.

Imagine finally being able to buy that new car, get debt collectors off your back, and enjoy a new found freedom from your past debts.

Sound to good to be true ? It probably is. Once you fall prey to the credit repair offer and pay the hefty fees involved to clean up your record, here’s what happens:

1) The credit repair scam artist contacts the credit bureaus and reports that the negative information in your file is false.

2) The credit bureau removes this negative information from your report while they investigate the claim.

3) The scam artist will then show you the cleaned up version of your credit report and “ta-da” your credit history has been fixed !

But here’s what the scammer doesn’t tell or show you. After the credit bureau completes their investigation the negative information is placed back on your credit report.

Negative but accurate information cannot be removed from your credit profile. Only incorrect information can be removed.

Accurate information remains on your credit file for a period of 7 years from the time it is reported to the credit agencies; a bankruptcy appears for a 10 year period.

Many legitimate companies exist that can help you with your debt problems. But how do you spot a scam offer ? Easy, they’ll ask you for their fees up front. By law, credit repair agencies cannot ask for payment until they’ve provided the service they promised.

Additionally many states require that a credit repair service, whether they are for-profit or not-for-profit, must provide you with a detailed written contract, an explanation of your legal rights, and the opportunity to cancel any signed contract within 3 days.

Also, be aware that a “credit repair offer” could be an attempt to steal your identity by getting you to provide personal information such as a Social Security number, bank account and credit card account numbers.

Always make sure you know who you are dealing with before accepting any offer to help you repair your credit. Those who don’t can have their credit ruined further and create more debt problems.

By: James H. Dimmitt

Credit Repair Guide

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:38:41 +0000

Ok, so you find yourself with a low credit score. What can you do about it? Well one of the first things to do is make sure that you start paying your bills on time, as obviously the aim of this exercise is to improve your credit score and get you back in line financially.

To achieve a higher score, you have to take action to get the rating higher in order that the credit bureaus will allot to you a better score on your credit report. The score they give you is so that the lenders know whether or not you will be a good risk for them to lend money to. If you have a low credit score, then you will realize that it needs improving.

Your credit score will be the deciding factor whether or not you will get a loan for that new car, vacation, or whatever purpose you choose. If you do need to improve your credit score, here are some of the first steps you can take:

• Order Your Credit Report

• Check That It Is Accurate

• Keep Any Credit Card Balances Low

There are quite a few more things you can do. Have a look at the site linked below for details. The thing to remember about a low credit score is that it need only be temporary and it can certainly be corrected. These days, credit repair is big business, and there are lots of firms that will offer to assist you in your credit repair quest.

Nowadays, it is relatively easy to come across all sorts of good credit repair advice, in books, on the internet, through consumer advice firms etc. I would say, start with this very handy tool, we call the internet. It might take a bit of work, but it should be worth it in the end.

By: James Hunaban

Credit Repair – The Question of Inquiries

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:41:47 +0000

Setting Your Priorities

Inquiries may hurt your credit score, or they may do nothing. If you are in a credit repair program there are probably bigger issues on your credit report than inquiries. Since it is best to focus on cleaning up the items that have the greatest impact, your inquiries may be left until everything else is resolved. Even then, you may decide to ignore the inquiries, but before we dismiss them altogether let’s explore a bit further.

Two Types of Inquiries

There are two types of inquiries. “Hard” inquiries will affect your credit score, and occur when you apply for new credit. “Soft” inquiries will not affect your credit score, and are typically triggered by three different events; 1) when you request your own credit report, 2) when potential lenders check your credit prior to offering you pre-approved credit, and 3) when a current lender conducts a periodic review of an existing account.

The Logic of Inquiries

There is logic behind the impact inquiries have on your FICO score. If you are applying for new credit you may be in the process of incurring new debt and placing an additional strain on your budget. Hence you are placed in a higher risk class, designated by a lower credit score.

Rate Shopping

The FICO scoring model was recently modified to accommodate consumers that shop for mortgage or automobile financing. You may now have as many inquiries as you wish in a 45 day period while shopping for a mortgage or automobile loan, and they will only have the impact of a single inquiry on your credit score. To further accommodate this type of shopping, these inquiries will not appear at all for 30 days. Many credit repair customers are relieved to find out that the many inquiries which appeared after they purchased a new car had little or no impact.

Inquiries and your FICO Score

Soft inquiries, as mentioned, have no impact on your credit score. Hard inquiries typically will lower your score between 1 point and 5 points. Credit repair efforts revolve around your credit scores, and it is handy to know that the FICO scoring model considers everything on your report simultaneously. The affect of an inquiry, like other bits of information on your report, can vary depending on everything else in your file. The more credit you have, and the more established it is, the less of an impact an inquiry will have.

Time and Your Credit

Time plays an important role on the impact of an inquiry. As the months slip by the affect of an inquiry diminishes quickly. After six months the affect is negligible. If you are in a credit repair program and are deciding if you want to dispute inquiries, you want to keep this in mind. And if all of those inquiries bother you, it may be helpful to know that soft inquiries fall off your report after 12 months, and hard inquires after 24 months.

Opting Out of Inquiries

Would you like to stop all the pre-screened credit and insurance offers you get, along with all of the soft inquiries that precede them? You may do so by calling (800) 5-OPTOUT. You will be given the option of opting out for 5 years, or permanently. Many of our enthusiastic credit repair customers choose to opt out to reduce the amount of junk mail they receive, which is a nice benefit! But remember that soft inquiries have no impact on your scores, and there is some possibility that you may miss out on some legitimately great offer.

Inquiry Errors Hurt Your Score

In the credit repair business we look at inquiries as a matter of course. Often we decide to ignore them and focus on more pressing issues. Sometimes we return to inquiries for a final clean up when a customer is at the end of the program. It should be noted that not all soft inquiries are properly coded, and as a result may show up as hard inquires and lower your score.

Identity Theft

The last and more urgent warning about inquiries involves the uncomfortable possibility that someone is applying for credit under your name. If you see a hard inquiry on your report you might want to contact the creditor to see if there is an active or pending application in your name. Chances are it is just another stray or improperly coded entry on your report, but it is best to be sure.

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

By: Jim Kemish