Credit Fixes

Brett Nordin asked:


With the deluge of information available and extraordinary offers from companies to fix or repair your bad credit, it is difficult to believe that 80% of cases can be resolved in short-order by only focusing on a few areas of a credit report. Based on my experience as a mortgage professional and credit analyst, I can usually pinpoint the cause of a low credit score with a few simple steps and increase the credit score within 30 days.

Here are the 3 most common credit issues I uncover and the fastest way to resolve them.

Credit card balances exceed 30% of the credit limit:

1. Pay down the credit cards to less than 30 percent of the credit limit

2. Ask the credit card company to increase the limit. This can sometimes be done on your online banking system. If not, here are the questions to ask over the phone:

- Can you increase my credit limit without pulling my credit score?

- Can I request a specific limit or will you deny me all together? Will you make a counter offer?

3. If you have some credit cards with low balances, transfer funds from one card to another so that each has less than a 30% balance

4. If you are 4 months from needing a mortgage, obtain a new credit card and transfer balances so each is less than 30% of the credit limit

Remove all errors from your credit report:

Concentrate only on high priority errors that happened within the last 2 years. High priorities are:

1. Information that is listed more than once, verify there are no duplicate collections

2. Negative payment history

3. Bankruptcy items that are still showing as past due accounts

4. Accounts that are not yours

5. Collection notices that are not yours

6. Social Security Numbers and names that are not yours

7. Accuracy of credit limits; no reporting or low limits can hurt

Do NOT focus on date of birth, address, wrong employer, delinquencies older than 2 years or wrong account numbers.

Collections or Charge Offs showing on the credit report:

1. Never pay a collection unless the creditor or collection agency has not agreed to delete the collection in writing. Paying a collection is like admitting guilt and this will lower your credit score.

2. Collections 2 years or older will only hurt your credit minimally and they are not worth pursuing.

3. Try to get the collection deleted from your credit report by receiving a letter of deletion from the creditor or collection agency.

4. Always negotiate charge-offs before settling a payment. Most creditors will accept less than 50% of the remaining balance.

By focusing on just these 3 areas of your credit report, you can dramatically increase your credit score within 60 days.

Kathleen Chester asked:


 

Fixing a credit report can be a slow and tedious process. It includes hours of assessment and thinking. However there are some companies that claim to quickly fix your credit report and make you financially credible. These services are usually offered by the independent credit reporting agencies and are used by mortgage lenders or brokers who try to get better loan terms for their borrowers.

 

Bad credit scores can hamper your credibility and chances of getting a credit. In such a case, you need to fix your credit report. A credit report can be fixed by removing errors. This process can help to boost a borrower’s credit score in the midst of the lending process and get a loan or a better interest rate for them than might have been possible otherwise.

 

Unlike the past when most of the lending decisions were man-made, most of the decisions today are automated, using computers and credit scores. This system has dramatically declined the opportunities to get special treatment and errors are a more serious problem these days.

 

If by the mistake of the machine, someone else’s bankruptcy is reported in your credit file, you can lose hundreds of points off your credit score and your credit application likely would be rejected. Even the slightest errors can beat enough points off your score for the lender to turn you down your application or charge a higher interest rate.

 

You can however wait for the mistake to be fixed through the normal channels which involves writing the credit bureau and waiting up to 30 days for an investigation. This process is however very long and takes too much of time. The home sales and refinancing can fall through in the time it takes to fix problems.

 

You can fix your own credit report and make the repairs. Here are some of the important steps that you can follow while fixing your own credit report.

 

· Make regular reviews of your credit report to keep an eye on any errors flowing in. You can get a copy of your credit history from each of the three major bureaus and review for errors, outdated information and accounts that aren’t yours. In case of any problems, you can consult the bureaus about how to dispute these items.

 

· You can contact your creditors if the bureaus say the creditors have confirmed the information you think is incorrect. In that case you may need to directly argue your case with the creditors. If the creditor accepts his mistake and agrees to remove the item from your credit report then make sure you get a acknowledgement letter for the same from the creditor.

 

· Keep a good record pf all thee paperwork that is generated by these disputes and investigations. You may need to present this to the credit bureau, or your loan officer, when required.

alilley07 asked:


I am only getting a credit card so that I can make small purchases and pay them off right away to build my credit. Please do not lecture me on how to use a credit card, I am already fully aware. I just want to know which credit cards have the lowest rates for an eighteen year old with no credit. Thanks in advance!
If you are just going to answer “none’ don’t bother.

Woodrow asked:


I was approved for a credit card with a limit of $1000. I have normal credit. I’m interested in starting a business, but I’ll need more money available to borrow. What would my limit be on one of those “pre-approved” credit cards with excessive interest rates that are available to everyone?

Roger Vetruba asked:


Why? Over 80 million americans have bad credit, but most will need their credit fixed in order to finance a home, a car, get better job offers, pay lower car insurance rates… it’s a fact of modern life that credit has become important. As the economy worsens, more people need the service.

One common mistake people make when planning to open a credit repair business is to think it’s all about the software. That’s like thinking the success of a fast-food hamburger restaurant is just about the recipe for their hamburgers.

When you open a credit repair business, you need a complete system – training, ongoing expert support, unlimited paralegal support, an attorney-managed system for maximum results. As it is, credit restoration is not an exact science. Will you be the market expert and clear choice for referral partners? There’s not much profit in being 2nd best – so when you open a credit repair business, be sure to consider: are you committed to making this work?

When you open a credit repair business, clients will look for you to be the expert they can count on. A software system alone would never deliver this – credit repair is simply too complex. Most commonly, professionals who open a credit repair business will develop relationships with real estate, mortgage, auto loan professionals, as well as businesses who depend on consumer credit, such as jewelry and furniture or colleges. These businesses depend on their clients having access to attractive financing.

Another common mistake people make when they open a credit repair business is to not budget for marketing. Once you open a credit repair business and it’s running, you’ll work to develop marketing systems that consistently produce profit. If you made $20 for every $10 you spent, how much money would you want to spend? Obviously as much as you can. Investing into your future to open a credit repair business may be the vehicle you’re looking for to help reach your financial goals.

The biggest reason people open a credit repair business is to develop a vehicle for success that can take them past the $100,000 per month mark. Everyone’s success varies by personal talent, resources, and work, but the potential is there. Having seen many entrepreneurs open a credit repair business, here are some of the common mistakes I can pass along and help you avoid.

First, some entrepreneurs don’t get sufficient liftoff in their business because they fall into a roller-coaster of marketing, then getting busy with files and operations, which then leads to them not marketing, which results in decreased business, which then frees up time for more marketing. This creates a very inconsistent income and can be easily avoided by either separating roles if you have a partner, or by time-blocking and scheduling marketing activities.

Another common mistake is not actively cultivating referral sources. There are many professionals who depend on having clients with good credit, including real estate agents and car dealers. These people constantly see a stream of people who need your services. That said, it may take some repetition to develop these sources into a stream of business via marketing, in-person contact, and getting that all-important first client from them.

One other area that’s not a mistake per se but an overlooked opportunity is marketing relationships online. There are many websites who will pay for leads of people with good credit (be sure to get a client’s permission for this), and upstream opportunities for an online equivalent of these traditional referral sources.

If you’ve found this article about how to open a credit repair business, and like the concept of being your own boss and potentially earning an executive level income, we invite you to investigate further. Request our free white paper, and get more information. We look forward to answering any questions you have.