Repair Your Credit

Most people that register at credit repair forums are looking to improve their credit. Improving your credit score can save you thousands of dollars annually in interest alone. If you visit a credit repair forum you will see what real people have accomplished on their own or with the help of a credit repair lawyer. It’s very inspiring!

Information posted at credit repair forums can be interesting, helpful and sometimes amusing. If you are interested in discussing credit repair issues with other people who are also plagued by bad credit, visit a credit repair forum. You will also be able to chat with people who have already begun repairing their credit as well as many experts who have years of experience with credit repair.

A credit repair forum that is worth mentioning is AAACreditGuide.com. They have information on a range of topics including credit repair, mortgages, auto financing, collection agencies, bankruptcy, student loans and money management. They also have a special section just for beginners.

Credit repair forums are a great beginning point for anyone who is interested in credit repair. You will be surprised at how many state and federal laws are in place to protect you as a consumer. At these discussion boards, you can read other people’s experiences and possibly decide which actions may be in your best interest.

If you are new to credit repair, you must be very careful before attempting to repair your credit. Make sure you read everything before jumping into it. Some people end up hurting their credit even worse.

You will also want to make sure you have searched the forum for an answer before asking a question by using the search feature. Chances are someone has already asked that question. However, don’t be afraid to ask questions at the discussion boards, that is what they’re there for!

The credit bureaus love the fact that the average consumer knows very little about them. All consumers really know is that credit bureaus have major power and control over their financial lives. Would you agree that this is true? If so, why don’t we know more about them?

I don’t know about you, but when I went to apply for my first loan, I didn’t know anything about them. But, I quickly found out that they were the ones I needed to contact when I got declined. I was told by the bank to contact them to see why I was declined. Like so many other consumers, I just figured it was a government agency that kept private records of everyone’s financial information.

Years later, I found out that wasn’t the case at all. Credit bureaus (also known as consumer reporting agencies and credit reporting agencies) are for profit, private companies. How do they profit? They sell your private information. Do you remember giving them permission to sell your private information? I don’t either.

The truth is most Americans are completely unaware of their rights when it comes to their credit reports and what is being sold, who it’s being sold to and what can and can’t be reported…and that’s EXACTLY how the credit bureaus like it. Let me tell you why.

When you dispute information on your credit reports, by law, the credit bureaus must respond within 30 days. That means that they must hire employees to deal with such disputes. The more disputes they get, the more employees they must hire. Since it is free to dispute accounts, this cuts into their profits. That doesn’t make them very happy at all.

They would prefer that you just accept what is reported and go on with your life paying high interest rates and getting denied credit. In fact, when you do try to dispute, they make it as difficult as possible. They use every technique within the law (and many times outside of the law) to stall, confuse and discourage you from ever contacting them.

Statistics show that over 79% of consumer credit reports contained errors or mistakes. Can you imagine if even half of them took advantage of their federal rights and disputed items on their credit report? That would cost the credit bureaus a lot of money. But, best of all and even more important, it would save consumers millions of dollars. As you can see, the banks would prefer that you weren’t aware of these rights either. Smart consumers pay low interest rates and that’s just not profitable for lenders or consumer reporting agencies.

Learn how to repair your credit and raise your credit scores by beating the credit bureaus at their own game.

No matter how bad your credit is, there are always steps you can take to make it better. Everyone’s situation is unique, so what might be the best thing for you right now, may not be the best thing for someone else. To repair bad credit, you must find a starting point. The best way to do that is to obtain a copy of your credit reports from the 3 major consumer reporting agencies, also known as credit bureaus. You will also want to know what your FICO scores are.

Once you have your reports, you’ll want to make sure all the information is accurate. There are mistakes in about 75% of all credit reports. If you find an inaccuracy or any negative accounts that you are unsure of, dispute it with the credit bureaus. It’s important to note that whether the account is actually yours or not makes no difference on their responsibility to verify it. If the account can’t be verified, it must be deleted.

Many of times the credit bureaus, who get thousands of disputes each day, don’t do a very thorough job of investigating items you’ve disputed. So, it may take a few rounds of letters until the credit bureaus remove the account. Be patient and wait at least 30-35 days before sending another round.

Another thing you should do is pay off the most recent past due accounts. Be careful making payments on accounts that are more than a few years old as paying them can bring your scores down even further because it makes the negative account current. You will also want to try to get an agreement with the creditor to update it to “paid as agreed” or remove the account BEFORE you pay it. It’s much harder to get it updated or removed after you pay it because you don’t have much leverage.

Another important part of raising your credit scores is to keep your existing balances below 40% of your credit limit. You’ll also want to minimize the number of inquiries you make by not applying for credit unless absolutely necessary.

A bankruptcy can have a devastating effect on your credit score. A bankruptcy listing on your credit reports to many lenders is the only thing they need to see to determine you are completely unworthy of credit.

Many people will tell you that it is impossible to remove a bankruptcy from your credit reports. The truth is that you can dispute a bankruptcy the same as you can any other type of derogatory account on your credit report.

Note that whether the account is "really" yours or not has no bearing on the credit bureaus responsibility to verify it. If it cannot be verified, it must be deleted. Period. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the burden of proof is on the credit bureau.

Please let it be clear that it's never ever wise to be dishonest when communicating with credit reporting agencies, plus it is totally unnecessary. There are many ways to dispute the bankruptcy without lying.

Did you know that the credit bureaus don’t even investigate public records? The courts will only verify such records in person. The credit bureaus will claim that they have a system to verify such records, but when it comes down to it, they don’t. They also know that if a consumer were to seek litigation and financial damages in a court of law, they would be in big trouble.

I had my bankruptcy removed from 2 out of 3 of my credit reports. The one that would not remove the bankruptcy claimed that they verified it electronically and that it’s public record. It is indeed public record; they were right about that part. But, I asked them who they verified it with and they said they verified with my local courthouse. That’s impossible since the local courthouse confirmed that they only verify public records in person – not electronically, not through the mail, and not over the phone.

This particular credit bureau is much harder to work with than the others. They are very adamant about keeping items on your credit report whether they are accurate or not. This credit bureau has also been sued the most. And as long as they refuse to properly investigate accounts according to federal law, I'm sure that trend will continue.

Check out AAACreditGuide.com for more free credit repair tips.

Creditors typically write off or charge off a debt if there has been no payment on the account for more than 180 days (6 months). This does not, however, mean that the person no longer owes the debt. A charge-off is an accounting procedure for tax purposes used by the creditor where an uncollectible debt or charge-off is reported as a loss for the creditor.

If you have any charge-offs on your credit reports, your ability to obtain credit will be seriously impaired and you must actively work to restore your credit. Charge-offs stay on your credit report for 7 years from the date of the initial missed payment that led to the charge-off (the original delinquency date), even if payments are later made on the charged-off account.

Paying an old charge-off will not remove it from your credit reports. It will simply be updated to a "paid charge-off," which, while slightly better, is still a seriously derogatory item. To qualify for some loans, including a mortgage loan, you must take care of any charge-offs that appear on your credit report.

To remove a charge-off from your credit report, you must dispute the account with the credit bureaus. If after numerous disputes the credit bureaus verify the account, you must contact the collector. All negotiations should be in writing. You will likely need to begin on the phone to determine the correct person with whom you should be negotiating. However, once you know who that person is, send everything in writing and request they do likewise.

Negotiate with the collection agency to remove their listing entirely from your report. A charge-off is a negative, whether it is paid or not. Make sure you get this agreement in writing as well.

Learn how to remove charge-offs and other negative listings from your credit reports at the credit report repair authority site!

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that was originally passed by Congress in 1970 to promote accuracy, fairness, and the privacy of personal information assembled by Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). It was last amended in December of 2003.

The FCRA allows a consumer to challenge the information on his credit report on the basis of completeness and accuracy. The FCRA also allows consumers to order a full copy of their credit report from any credit reporting agency. At first, consumers had to pay for these credit reports, but under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) amendment, everyone is entitled to one free copy of his or her credit report every 12 months from each of the big three CRAs. Furthermore, if information on your credit report was used to deny you credit, the FCRA says you have a right to a free copy of that report from the CRA in question.

You have many other rights under the FCRA such as protection from identity theft by placing a “fraud alert” that can last from 90 days to 7 years on your credit reports. But, perhaps the most important rights you have under the FCRA and the reason for this article is your right to dispute inaccurate and erroneous information on your credit report.

You can dispute anything on your credit report, including bankruptcies, charge-offs, collections, foreclosures, judgments, late payments, repossessions and tax liens. Consumers should also look for incorrect personal information such as incorrect names, birth dates, addresses, former addresses, social security numbers, aliases, spouses name, etc. Why is this so important? Keep reading.

A study released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in June 2004 found that 79% of the consumer credit reports surveyed contained some kind of error or mistake. Consumers may seek a maximum of $1000 in statutory damages, plus actual damages, punitive damages and reasonable attorney's fees and costs for willful noncompliance with the Act. Any consumer may file suit in state or federal court to enforce the Act.

The best way to improve your credit score is to manage credit responsibly over time. Obviously the best way to do that is to pay your bills on time every month. It’s important to live below your means so that you have enough money every month to pay them. None of the techniques I’m going to share with you will work long-term if you can’t get your spending habits under control.

Here are some quick tips to help you improve your credit scores now:

Learn How the Credit System Works.

If you don’t know how this game works, you’re never going to win it. It’s just something that every single consumer is going to have to eventually learn in their life time. The sooner you learn, the better off your life will be. Yes, your credit scores are that important. Don’t listen to what a friend of a friend told you about credit that he heard from his parents. There’s a lot of misinformation getting spread around. Get your information from the top financial sites and books on the subject.

Keep Your Credit Card Balances Low.

High balances on credit cards and other revolving accounts hurt your scores. Try to keep your balances below 30% of your available credit limit. Never let it get above 50%. This is so important. Never give the appearance to the banks that you are “strapped”. Once you let them see that you’re using almost all of the credit made available to you, it appears to them that you are in a state of financial emergency. It’s calculated in the FICO scoring algorithm and everything. At that time, only very high interest rate lenders will give you a loan.

Apply for New Credit Accounts Only as Needed.

Applying for new accounts lowers your credit scores; especially if you apply for too many in a short period of time. If you know you have bad credit, don’t apply for anything. It’s ridiculous how some people know they have bad credit, but still keep trying. “It’s worth a try.” No, it’s not. Every time you “try” you lower your scores even more – STOP!

Remove Negative Accounts.

This is my favorite. This is what credit repair is all about. Learn how to get negative accounts removed from your credit reports or hire a credit repair agency to do it for you. Removing such accounts is probably the single fastest way to raise your credit scores.

Chane Steiner is the president and founder of AAACreditGuide.com - the credit repair authority site. Check out his site to get more free credit repair tips.

Unfortunately, many people who have bad credit don’t even know that hiring a credit repair company is an option. Just as unfortunate is the fact that many people who know that credit repair companies exist, think they are all scams. Many consumers also confuse them with credit counseling services and debt consolidation services; which they are not. Well, I happen to know of some great credit repair companies, so I am here to set the record straight!

You should really only consider hiring a credit repair company if you have multiple collection accounts, charge offs or public records such as judgments, repossessions, foreclosures and bankruptcies. If you only have a few bad accounts on your credit report, you should try contacting the credit bureaus and creditors yourself. You should also work on rebuilding your credit if you don’t have many or any positive accounts reporting.

I would suggest choosing a well-known agency from online, but if you decide to go local, make sure to check with your local Better Business Bureau and state attorney general for any filed complaints. The upfront set up fees should be very minimal. Under the Credit Repair Organizations act, a credit repair company is not permitted to charge before they provide any services. This one of the most important things to consider when hiring a credit repair company because it ensures that you won’t be out a lot of money if they are unable to repair your credit.

Credit repair companies must follow specific guidelines from the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Congress introduced the CROA in 1996 to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices and advertising by credit repair organizations. It’s wise to at least browse over the CROA before hiring a credit repair company.

Find a well-known, respected credit repair company online or visit the credit repair authority site to learn how to repair credit yourself.

Most people with bad credit want to fix their credit fast. “What is the fastest way to repair my credit?” is one of the most common questions I get asked. As much as I would like to help them have your credit repaired by tomorrow, it’s just not going to happen. For most clients, I usually reply with something like “It took you years to mess it up, it’s not something that can be fixed over night.”

However, as a credit repair specialist, it is my job to come up with the quickest, most effective way to repair my client’s credit. The first thing I do is evaluate their situation. Just how bad is it? Where are we and where do we need to be? How many positive accounts do they have reporting, if any? For how long have those accounts been reporting? Depending on the answers to these questions, there is always something that we can be working on.

If there are only a few negative marks on their credit, I can usually have it fixed within 30-60 days. I’ve seen credit reports with more than a hundred negative marks. Reports like that take much longer – usually 6 months to a year – sometimes even longer.

While you’re in the credit repair process, it’s important to understand how you got where you are. It’s important to recognize your mistakes and make the appropriate life style changes to make sure that you never get yourself in this situation again. It’s a learning process. If you don’t learn from your mistakes and make the necessary changes, you will find yourself in the same situation and credit repair won’t help your situation long term, it will only be a temporary fix.

To learn more about fast credit repair check out the top credit repair companies online!

Maybe your application for a credit car has been declined. Or maybe when you went to get a cell phone they told you that you’d need a $500 deposit. You’re not exactly sure how or why you have bad credit; all you know is that you have bad credit. Hopefully at this point you have decided to find out what’s on your credit report and what your credit scores are.

It’s at this time where most people find erroneous, inaccurate or unfamiliar accounts on their credit reports. In fact, a study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found that 79% of all credit reports contained errors. These accounts could be the reason you’re not getting approved for that loan.

The first thing you should know is this: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the only information that can remain on your credit report is not what is accurate, but what can be proven accurate. The information contained on your credit report was not reported by you and therefore you are not the one that has to prove the accuracy of the accounts. It was reported by your creditors or by collection agencies who think that you owe them something.

You have the right to dispute any information on your credit report. By disputing an account that you know is yours, you are not being dishonest. You are simply are asking the creditor and the credit bureaus to prove that it belongs on your credit report and to prove that the information they are providing is 100% accurate. If it’s not, they are violating your federal rights and the information must be removed or corrected immediately. If this is the case, you may seek damages against both the creditors and the credit bureaus. For this you will want to consult with an attorney specializing in bad credit report repair.

Please note that the credit bureaus do not like such disputes. Due to the amount of erroneous information they report, they must hire lots of workers to handles these disputes. And since it’s free for consumers to send in as many disputes as they want, the credit bureaus don’t make any money from this part of their business. In fact, they are losing money because of it!

The credit bureaus make their money from selling your private information not from making sure it’s correct. They would prefer that you never contact them about the accuracy of it. And that’s why it’s no surprise that they make it as difficult as they can for you to contact them and dispute accounts with them. They want to be able to sell information on you whether it’s correct or not. They don’t care about the damage it causes to your personal financial lives – they’re not paid to.