If you’re being turned down for credit left and right by every mortgage broker, credit card company, and landlord, or you’re not even able to refinance your own house, that is an indication that you have some negative items on your credit report that are scaring away lenders. You have two choices: You can either walk away and decide to wait out the next seven years until those negative items drop off your credit report, or you can take control over the situation and learn how to delete negative items from your credit report.
You may have seen those advertisements where those law firms or credit counseling companies promise to fix your credit, raise your FICO score, and get you a fresh start. How do you delete negative items from your credit report? The answer is based on a law passed by Congress in the latter half of the twentieth century known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This law was passed to protect consumer’s rights to access their credit report and play an active role in ensuring that it does not contain any inaccuracies or misrepresentations of your true credit profile.
If you have derogatory information contained in any of the credit reports issued by the “big three” credit bureau, you simply need to write a letter to each respective creditor disputing the accuracy of that particular entry in your credit report. By law, then the bureau must contact the creditor to verify that specific item that is in dispute. And here is where the law works in your favor: If the bureau is unable to verify the accuracy of the information within 30 days, they are required to delete that item from your credit report altogether!
Here is an example of how you would do this: Let’s say that you were late for your mortgage payment in May of last year, you simply write a letter to the credit bureau that is reporting that late payment, detailing that entry, and including your name, address, and social security number, in which you state that in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are disputing such and such entry as you believe it may be inaccurate. And in this letter, you must state that, in accordance with the Act, if the agency does not verify this information within 30 days, then they are required to delete the information from your credit report.
Now what if the bureau is able to contact the creditor and verify the information within the 30-day timeframe? Well, then the information stays on your credit report. What if the creditor is a little slow but gets back to the bureau within 45 days? Then yes, even though the bureau deleted the item after 30 days, the information can be added back in the subsequent month. But through patience and persistence, if you follow this method, you will eventually be able to improve your credit score. There is no 100% guarantee, however, which is why shouldn’t pay anyone to fix your credit for you, unless they offer a money back-guarantee if your credit score doesn’t improve within a specific period of time.
A couple of bits of advice: Write one separate letter to each bureau for each disputed item. For example, if you have five derogatory items on your report, that were reported to all three bureaus, then you should write fifteen letters. This way you can track the progress of each dispute, plus it guarantees that the credit agency will pay individual attention to each one. Give them more paperwork to process and they will be that much more backlogged to meet their thirty-day deadline.
And one final bit of advice: The Fair Credit Reporting Act also allows the bureaus to disregard your dispute if it s frivolous in nature. In other words, if you do something to cause them to suspect that you are just filing disputes that you know are more than likely to be accurate, just for the sake of flooding them with requests, then they can disregard your inquiry and not take it seriously. Therefore, be careful not to do things like repeatedly dispute the same item over and over again if it keeps on getting verified. The law was passed to protect the legitimate needs of consumers against credit fraud or data entry errors.
By: Hyder Khan
Posts Tagged ‘True Credit’
Credit Repair – A New Professional
November 13th, 2009
Change is Natural
Everything changes. No industry stands still. Henry Ford’s Model T was revolutionary, and opened the eyes of the world to new possibilities. But by today’s standards, the Model T, as important as it once was, has its place only in the past. Virtually every aspect of the early model automobile has been improved on, far beyond what Henry Ford could have imagined in his day.
The Changing Credit Repair Industry
The Internet has grown into a vibrant worldwide business community. In this environment competition thrives and new ideas come to life at amazing speed. New participants have entered the credit repair arena and brought fresh life to the business. Some older members have updated their methods; while others, perhaps top heavy with technology, continue to stand their ground even as the earth shifts beneath their feet.
The New Breed Appears
From this dynamic mix has appeared a new breed, the true credit repair professional. This new breed has a true mastery of the craft, and an impressive arsenal of tools capable of delivering results beyond the imagination of the early pioneers in the industry. Everything about the business is changing. And the changes involve you.
Credit and Your Life
There is nothing as important to your financial life as your credit. The content of your credit report, along with your credit scores, will determine the interest rate you pay on everything from your credit cards to your mortgage. The impact of your credit on your life can be staggering, and should not be taken lightly. The word is out.
The Problem of Errors
The three major credit bureaus maintain credit files on over 200 million Americans. A staggering amount of data moves through the credit reporting system. Errors are common and can translate into enormous costs for consumers; and yet, in a terrible percentage of cases these errors go unrecognized. This phenomenon is more damaging than you might think. Identifying errors on your report involves more than just spotting unfamiliar account information. The majority of credit report errors are compliance violations that you will not find without training.
FICO, A Lack of Understanding
Lenders base their underwriting decisions on the content of your credit report along with the numeric value of your FICO scores. These FICO scores have a major affect on your life, and yet few people have any knowledge of how they work. Here again, a lack of understanding results in a huge cost. A well-informed reshaping of your credit may have a dramatic impact on your credit scores. Even simple changes can bring major improvement, yet without proper information this potential remains untapped.
The Credit Repair Professional
The prevalence of credit reporting errors, coupled with a lack of understanding of FICO scores, result in a terrible cost to consumers, often having the greatest impact on those who can afford it the least. The credit repair professional provides an important, and often life changing, service by assisting in the identification and removal of credit reporting errors. In addition, a credit repair professional is a conduit for information about legal rights, rehabilitation opportunities, and credit restoration tools that can be employed to your benefit.
The Results You Need
The goal of a credit repair professional is to improve your credit. Along with the skillful identification and removal of reporting errors, the process may include specific recommendations for building new credit, managing existing debt, rehabilitating defaulted obligations, and handling collectors. All of this must take place within the context of optimizing your credit scores. The credit repair professional operates in a fiduciary capacity and will utilize the widest range of tools to insure quick and lasting results.
Personal Service
You are unique, and so is your credit. There is no generic approach to credit repair that will do you justice. No credit repair software has the ability to spot the compliance errors on your credit report, or to determine the proper balance of accounts to optimize your credit scores, or to help you determine the right approach to take with an active collector. There is no one-dimensional credit repair program that will produce the results you deserve. True professional credit repair is about personal service. You cannot afford to settle for less.
What it Means to You
The credit repair professional will make sure that everything possible is done to help you reach your goals. The professional approach to credit repair can mean everything to you. Do you want real results? Do your want to see your scores improve? Do you want your credit to meet or exceed lenders requirements? Wait until you experience what a real professional can do for you!
Copyright © 2007 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.
By: Jim Kemish
Bad Credit Report Repair Companies
October 25th, 2009
Despite what the ads might lead you to believe, credit repair companies don’t have any special relationship with the credit bureaus to make credit repair easier. With all of the advertisements for credit repair, a person might think that if you give them enough money, some companies are able to simply wave a magic wand, and all of their mistakes, late payments, charge offs, tax liens, and even bankruptcies would disappear from their credit report. While it can be tempting to listen to the credit repair companies which seem to promise miracles overnight, in reality your credit repair journey will be a long and slow one. Credit repair and debt consolidation companies like to make promises about delivering instant credit improvement. But in truth, credit repair companies cannot substantially improve most peoples’ credit reports or profiles. They can’t permanently remove bankruptcies, charge-offs, late payments, and other negative information from your credit reports, especially if such information is not obsolete. However, some unscrupulous companies might suggest certain dubious short-cuts that are absolutely illegal and should be avoided. These companies try to prey on your bad credit situation.
If you turn to the Internet or classified ads when beginning your research into credit repair, you’ll likely notice many companies offering credit repair services. I am sure you have received countless E-Mails and regular mailings for these companies. Have you seen some of the outrageous promises and fees that *some* credit repair companies charge. Many of these companies promise what seems to be “Too Good To Be True”. Credit repair companies are only allowed to dispute the items on your credit reports that you tell them are incorrect. While there are some highly reputable companies helping consumers repair their credit, there are many scam artists. You should be wary in dealing with these companies — not only are many of them scams, in most cases you can repair your own credit. One must have come across countless ads credit repair agencies making all claims about converting your bad credit into a perfect one. Credit repair and debt consolidation companies like to make promises about delivering instant credit improvement.
Using a company or an individual to fix your credit score may seem like a great idea at first, but it may have 0 effect on the future purchase or refinance of a home. You would be far better off working to repair your credit reports yourself or enlisting the help of a legitimate credit repair company. Cheaper than hiring a credit repair company and keeps you in control at all times. Any person or company that tells you otherwise is not being honest and is simply after your money without regard to the accuracy or benefit of the information or services they provide. Credit Repair is an entire process and the very first step is controlling your debts. Summary Credit repair is a three-part process: fixing your credit report, conquering debt, and rebuilding credit.
source: http://www.mkemortgage.net/content/credit_report_repair_975.htm
By: Darin Sewell
