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Credit Tip! 5. Beware of credit-repair scams. Sometimes doing it yourself is the best way to repair your credit. The Federal Trade Commission’s “credit repair: How to Help Yourself” explains how you can improve your creditworthiness and lists legitimate resources for low-cost or no-cost help.

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Raising your credit score can be a fairly simple and straightforward process unless you have derogatory marks that need to be disputed (which will be explained below).

The reasons for bad credit can be as follows, high balances, bankruptcies, late payments, and many others. The most significant thing you can do to raise your score is to change your financial habits. Chances are that if you have a bad credit score, you did something to make it that way. Here are some of the best ways to quickly raise your credit score:

1. The most obvious: pay off your debt! This doesn’t include a home mortgage, but revolving balances such as credit card debt, a car loan, etc.

2. Make every payment on time. This is the most important factor in your credit score rating. If you have had late payments in the past, it will take some time to see real results from your on-time payments, but keep it up, sooner or later the credit bureau will notice the change in your payment habits. Develop the mentality that no late payment is acceptable!

Credit Tip! The credit report plays a significant role in the functioning of consumer credit markets. Since loans are advanced based on the credit reports the chances of loans going bad are minimal.

3. If possible, pay over your minimum amount. This is especially important with credit card balances, and will reflect a slight boost in your score.

4. If you have paid off all your debt, and your credit score seems to be at a stand still, you might want to make small purchases each month with your credit card and pay them off immediately. Often times the credit bureaus like to see at least some kind of activity. Otherwise, they have no way to gauge how you are doing financially.

5. Be patient! Sometimes repairing credit can be a long and arduous process. Especially if you have had a bankruptcy. It can often take the better part of a year or more to see any significant raises in your score.

Clearing a derogatory mark on your credit report:

This is probably the most difficult in regards to credit repair. If you have requested a copy of your credit report, and notice a problem (an example would be a late payment mark), that shouldn’t be there, you need to take action to get the derogatory mark cleared as soon as possible. It is extremely important to get your credit score cleared before you attempt to get prequalified for mortgage.

Here are the steps you should take:

First of all, if you are in contact with a loan officer, you may want to describe the problem you are having to them. They can be very helpful when it comes to credit repair, and should know exactly what to do if you have a bad mark on your credit that is a mistake. In some cases, they may even call the creditor for you to address the situation.

Credit Tip! 2. Pay your bills on time. One of the most important things you can do to improve your credit score is pay your bills by the due date. You can set up automatic payments from your bank account to help you pay on time, but be sure you have enough money in your account to avoid overdraft fees.

Second, you should call your creditor and each credit bureau to find out which course of action you should take. In most cases, writing a letter will do. Here is an example letter:

Date 00/00/00

Dear Big Credit Bureau,

This letter is a complaint that you are reporting inaccurate and/or incomplete credit information on my credit report.
I am displeased that you have included the below information in my credit profile that includes the following errors. Credit reporting laws ensure that bureaus report 100% accurate credit information.

The following information concerning my credit report needs to be re-investigated. I respectfully request to be provided proof of this alleged item on my credit report. If this cannot be provided, the item must be deleted from my report as soon as possible:

CREDITOR AGENCY, acct. 123-34567-ABC

The listed item is inaccurate and/or incomplete, and is a serious error in reporting. Please delete this information, and supply a corrected credit profile to all creditors who have received a copy within the last 6 months, or the last 2 years for employment purposes. Also, please provide the name, address, and telephone number of each credit grantor or other subscriber.

Credit Tip! Residents of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont are entitled by state law to one free credit report from a credit-reporting agency per year. Residents of Georgia are entitled to two free credit reports.

Under federal law, you have 30 days to complete your re- investigation. Be advised that the description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information is hereby requested as well, to be provided within 15 days of the completion of your re-investigation.

Sincerely,
your signature

Your Name
SSN# 123-45-6789

Unfortunately, you will need to write 3 separate letters to each of the 3 major credit bureaus. Here are the contact addresses for each:

Trans Union
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
1-800-888-4213

Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-800-997-2493

Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
1-888-397-3742

Justin is the President of the Christian Real Estate Network - http://www.HisMove.com

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Aug

27

Credit Tip! Also if you have been denied credit on the basis of information in a credit report, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureau that supplied the credit report.

It is important to know your credit rating for a number of reasons. Believe it or not there may be errors in your credit report, and it is essential that you repair them immediately.

It is a common practice for a bank or lending institution to check your credit, and within minutes they will know more about your financial background than you will. Is this something that is appropriate and to your advantage? No, absolutely not. It is truly a disadvantage for you when negotiating a loan.

Imagine that you are negotiating for a loan and don’t know that you have bills outstanding or worse there may be errors in the report itself. Whatever the reason may be,it needs your immediate attention.

You have to remember that a bank bases its conclusions on whether to lend or reject your loan application on your credit information. A good report and you will have the cash for whatever you need. A bad one and you are not only negotiating to get the loan, your fighting to get a reasonable rate of interest. Worst of all with a bad credit report you are flat out rejected and away you go only to get rejected by others.

Credit Tip! Every negative credit record on your credit report can be negated by you at any time. The credit bureau must reinvestigate and if that item cannot be verified within a reasonable amount of time, that credit record must be removed from the credit file (credit report).

Suppose you know nothing about your own financial background and you are asking for a loan. For all you know you could possibly have bad credit, but you can count on the loans officer knowing it for sure. Who’s in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiating the loan or a reasonable interest rate? Not you that’s for sure. Put yourself in their shoes and you can see what the bank is thinking “Bad financial history equals a high risk loan”. Your negotiating power and relationship are going south and that is something you don’t want especially in your time of need.

Credit Tip! Creditors use your credit report and score to decide whether or not you should be given a loan.

The best solution is to know your background before you ask for a loan. Get your credit report so you know where you stand!

-Are there any errors? FIX them

-Do you have bad credit due to unpaid debts? PAY them.

Honesty is generally the best policy when dealing with the bank and acknowledging the problems whether it is an error or bad rating you can assure the bank that you are aware of it and it is being addressed and corrected as you speak. In that light you continue a positive relationship with your institution and your chances of getting the loan will increase.

It is important to know your financial background.

Chris Rodriguez is the author and webmaster for http://www.online-finances.com
We offer pertinent financial information on home loans, car loans, student loans, debt consolidation, and other finance related topics. If you are looking for a loan, but are worried about your bad credit, we can help! Visit us at http://www.online-finances.com

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Aug

24

Credit Tip! Send your letter by certified mail, return receipt requested so you can document what the credit reporting agency received. Make sure your letter is dated, and don’t forget to keep copies of everything you send.

So you ordered a copy of your credit report to check for inaccuracies and get the most from your credit score. Now how do you read it? Your credit report is read and used by any number of people you deal with on a daily basis, from your landlord to your employer to a potential lender. Fortunately, it has gotten easier to order a copy of your report, but it’s not so easy to understand what all those abbreviations and numbers mean once you’ve got it.

If you haven’t ordered your credit report yet, you will soon be entitled to a free copy from each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Some states can already take advantage of this new policy, but people living in eastern states will have to wait until September of 2005. Order your free yearly copies from all three agencies and check for the availability of the annual reporting program in your area at the same website: www.annualcreditreport.com. Each report will contain different information because retailers and creditors only report to the agency in their area or with whom they have an agreement.

Credit Tip! Residents of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont are entitled by state law to one free credit report from a credit-reporting agency per year. Residents of Georgia are entitled to two free credit reports.

Once you have your credit report in your hands, you will see that it is divided into four main sections:

• Consumer information
• Account histories
• Public records
• Inquiries

Double check the accuracy of your identifying information. This will include your name, address, phone number, previous addresses, date of birth, and Social Security number (SSN).

Next, for each account history, or trade line, you will see the following information:

• Date you opened the account
• Type of credit account (either installment, such as a car loan or mortgage, or revolving, such as a credit card)
• Name(s) on the account
• Total loan amount, credit limit, or highest card balance
• Amount you currently owe
• Amount of your monthly payment
• Account status (either open, closed, inactive, paid, or other)
• How promptly you have paid on the account

Credit agencies vary as to how they word various sections of the report and should provide you with a guide to reading their versions. One agency might report in the last column of an account history that you paid “on time” or “30 days late.” Another agency might use a numeric code to rate how well you paid off a debt. R1 is the code used for an excellent repayment history on a revolving charge account. I1 is the code used for an excellent repayment history on an installment account. Obviously, the higher the number next to either the R or I, the lower your repayment history is rated. So an R4 would indicate a history of late payments.

Credit Tip! Also if you have been denied credit on the basis of information in a credit report, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureau that supplied the credit report.

The public records section will include any tax liens, bankruptcies, judgments, or other financial-related legal matters. Depending on the type of action taken, these damaging records may stay on your credit report for up to 7 to 10 years.

The last section lists the inquiries made on your credit. Hard inquiries are those requests to pull your credit when you apply for such things as loans or lines of credit for services. Soft inquiries result when companies sending out promotional items to pre-qualified individuals check your history or when your current creditors check your payment status. The soft inquiries only show up on the report that you order, not on reports pulled by lenders.

Credit Tip! Even accurate data in your credit report must be deleted if it’s not verified.

While too many inquiries in a short period of time can signal a red flag to a lender, most credit scoring models are least affected by this portion of your report.

Don’t forget that the credit agency providing your report is also a great source of information on not only reading your credit report, but raising your credit score.

Cathy Taylor is a marketing consultant with over 25 years experience. She specializes in internet marketing, strategy and plan development, as well as management of communications and public relations programs for small business sectors. She can be reached at Creative Communications: creative-com@cox.net or by visiting http://www.apscreen.com

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