2010 – The Year of Credit Rebuilding

Your credit rating is more important in 2010 than any other year in the history of America. There is less available credit than any other time in recent history. Credit card companies launched a massive wave of cut backs. You may have noticed your available balance was slashed overnight.

You may have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to be approved for a mortgage. The minimum FICO score necessary to be approved for a home loan has increased by 40 points. Additionally, the minimum score needed to obtain reasonable rates is up by 28 points.

You can rest assured that it will be almost impossible to obtain new credit in 2010, especially if your credit score isn\’t up to par.

What this means is that you need a plan to get your credit in top shape for the new year.

I spent several hours last weekend writing down my financial goals for 2010, which included my FICO score goal of 775.

I hope that you have decided on some financial goals for yourself. Once you have made a list of goals, you will need a plan for obtaining success. Erasing negative items from your credit report and improving your FICO score should be included in your overall strategy. A formula for achieving these goals follows:

Credit Strategy #1: Work on Removing Negative Items From Your Credit History

You should at once dispute any questionable negative item such as a collection, late payment, charge off, repossession, and/or bankruptcy in order to remove it from your credit report.

To accomplish this, you can use the dispute form letter which you will find here.

Repossessions, judgments, and charge offs have a habit of being a bit more resistant to removal. In light of this, when dealing with these particular items, you may find it necessary to use something a bit more aggressive than a standard dispute letter.

Something you might try is called \”debt validation.\” This is where you demand that your debt be validated by the original creditor. (This is substantially different from disputing an item with the bureaus. However, it is often very effective when dealing with collections and charge offs.)

I would not trust myself to properly execute the debt validation process. In fact, I messed it up so badly when I did try it that creditors began ignoring my letters.

At this point, I contacted Lexington Law and got one of its attorneys involved. My Lexington Law attorney was able to get all of my collections and charge offs removed by getting Midland Credit, a notorious collection agency, to notify and instruct the credit reporting agencies to remove these items.

You may not want to get a firm like Lexington Law involved. This approach is for people who are seriously dedicated to repairing their credit. If this is you, you can contact Lexington Law at (800) 636-3158 and speak to one of their paralegals for a free consultation.

Credit Strategy #2: Begin Building Good Credit

If you have an unsecured account, this is pretty easy to accomplish. Pay your bills on time. It would be even better to set up an auto pay so your payment is never late. Doing this also saves you the cost of postage so you are actually saving money!

However, if you don\’t have an unsecured account, like a MasterCard or Visa, it can be a bit more difficult. If your credit score is in the 500 range, it will be hard to obtain an unsecured card.

Credit Strategy #3: Don\’t Get Discouraged or Let Down Your Guard

Don\’t lose sight of your goal and what you want to accomplish. Rebuilding your credit will take time. The sooner you get started the better. It is wise to keep track of your credit score by maintaining a detailed log. Begin your log by noting your credit score as of today\’s date and tracking it as you rebuild good credit and as questionable negative items are removed. If you are successful with your goals, your credit score should increase each month.

Don\’t get discouraged when things don\’t go your way. There are usually different ways to tackle a problem.

We raised our credit scores from the upper 500 range to 745 and 763 in under six months and got approved for our dream home. See proof of our credit repair success at www.creditforcouples.com and get the real truth about lexington law.

Settling a Debt With a Collection Agency

Understanding how collection agencies operate and how they settle debts can be very beneficial. By approaching this process correctly, you can succeed in saving yourself a substantial amount of money and even begin to rebuild your credit.

We know that in these tough times of economic instability, it is becoming increasingly hard to keep up with all your financial obligations. If this is the case with you and you are beginning to fall behind on your payments, call the creditor immediately and attempt to work out a payment plan.

Failing to work with the creditor or being unable to arrange a payment plan, will result in your account being suspended or closed. If this is done, not only will your credit score plummet, but the debt will most likely be turned over to a collection agency. At this point, understanding the finer points of negotiation is necessary, not desired, NECESSARY.

To add insult to injury, collection agencies normally purchase debt for cents on the dollar. Very often, the cost to purchase debt is just 8 cents to 12 cents on the dollar. This means that your $1,000 debt could be bought for as little as $80 or your $8,500 debt might be purchased for $680.

Collection agencies make their money by getting you to pay as much as they can squeeze out of you. In light of this, they will attempt to get you to pay the largest amount possible. It may even be that, when they speak to you, they will be unpleasant and possibly even threaten a law suit.

Collection agencies, however, are hesitant to actually launch a law suit for what amounts to a very small amount of money to them. A law suit represents energy, time, and money so a collection agency will normally stop short of this recourse. This does not mean that you should ignore any communication they attempt to have with you. It is best to attempt to settle the account.

Lump sum payments are normally agreeable to collection agencies. This is because the collection agency knows you have some money on hand to pay what you are offering. You should make an iniitial offer to the collection agency of twenty-five percent (25%) of the original amount owed. The collection agency may then come back with a counteroffer. The process may go back and forth several times before an agreement is reached. Be sure that you do not offer what you do not have on hand to pay. Keep copies of all correspondence and documentation to and from the collection agency. Once an agreement is reached, be sure to obtain the agreement is writing.

Try to negotiate a payment plan with the collection agency if you don\’t have a lump sum to pay. The matter will likely not go to court if the collection agency can see that you are making an attempt.

While you are negotiating a lump sum payment or a payment plan, you want to be sure that you obtain, in writing, the assurance that your debt will be \”deleted in its entirety\” from your credit history. A collection agency can retain this collection entry on your credit report for up to seven years so you want to make sure that it will be removed upon payment of the debt as agreed.

In conclusion, go to the collection agency confidently, make an offer, attempt to obtain the best rate possible, do not give in to bullying, and stay firm. It is important that you keep in mind that this is a debt you owe. Because of this, be fair when negotiating. Do not ignore any collection agency attempts at communication with you. The recommendations in this article are meant to help you negotiate your outstanding debt with a collection agency. Good luck!

How to Stop NCO Financial Collection Agency and Fix Bad Credit in 24 Hours.

Can I Build Positive Credit?

If you know how to build positive credit, you will know how to increase your credit score. Low interest credit products will be available to you if you build positive credit.

Charging huge amounts to your credit cards each month and then paying the bills in full each month is not building positive credit, even though many people are under the impression that it does. It is even possible that doing this might harm your credit standing. For example, when a consumer applies for credit, the credit provider will check his credit report. If the consumer has charged large amounts on his credit cards, but has not yet paid the credit cards off that month, it will look like he carries large balances on his credit cards. This is something that makes credit card providers cringe as it makes the consumer appear as though he is a bad credit risk.

Additionally, using up most of your available credit will give the appearance of spending beyond your means. This may not be the case, however, it may look that way. If you are one of those that likes to charge everything, you may want to rethink this strategy.

Having huge amounts of available credit is not good either. So, what is a good mix? It is best to use anywhere from 10% to 20% of your available credit. This is a good sign to credit providers that you can gauge your spending as well as responsibly pay your bills.

It is important to maintain at least one credit card. If you are worried about approval, there are credit card providers that offer credit cards to people who suffer from poor credit. You should be on the watch to maintain the 10% to 20% rule noted above. You should not incur large amounts of monthly interest if you follow this guideline. Also, you should make sure that any credit cards you have or that you subsequently obtain are reported to the three major credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

You should be diligent in making at least the minimum payment due each month and never, ever be late with a payment. If you do this, your credit score will increase.

You can apply for a small low-interest personal loan to help build positive credit, if you do not want to apply for a credit card. The strategy is the same. Make your payments on time each month and pay at least the minimum amount due. Positive credit can be built with any credit product if it is used properly and responsibly.

NCO Financial Ruined my Life. What I Did to Get Revenge. www.myncodebt.com

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Debt Consolidation 101

Debt consolidation is the process by which a person obtains credit in one form or another to pay existing debt. Is this a good idea? Does it meet a need? Let me answer these questions and more concerning debt consolidation.

Often, people have debt that consists of high interest rates. It stands to reason that if you can find a credit product, such as a personal loan or credit card, which has a lower interest rate, you should be able to save yourself some money. For instance, if you obtain a high credit limit credit card with an interest rate of 10% and then transfer the balances of your two credit cards with interest rates of 20% each to the new card, you will most likely save money in the long run.

Credit products come in many different forms and with a wide array of interest rates. Personal loans and high credit limit credit cards are two of these, for example.

Secured loans use assets for collateral, such as homes or vehicles. Because collateral is involved, the lender is able to offer a lower interest rate to the borrower. The creditor can do this because their risk of the loan defaulting is significantly decreased in light of the collateral used against the loan.

Have you ever gotten writer\’s cramp from paying bills? The sheer magnitude of the amount of bills you have to pay each month might be staggering. Another reason people seek to consolidate their bills is for convenience sake. It is just easier to remember one bill date as opposed to two or more payment dates.

Financial struggles are another key reason people look to consolidate their debt. Many times you can consolidate your debt, make one payment, and pay less. Oftentimes, debt consolidation will allow you some financial breathing space.

These are all good reasons, however, there might be a down side. You need to pay careful attention to the credit product you choose to make sure you will not be paying more in the long run. For example, if you were to use a secured personal loan to consolidate your credit card debt, you could end up paying more over the term of the loan, depending upon the length of the loan and the interest rate.

If done thoughtfully and carefully, debt consolidation can be a good way to go. Search for the lowest interest rate you can find and one which is lower than the debt you are trying to consolidate. Consider all angles and get the best deal.

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Can I Remove Negative Entries From My Credit Report?

Whenever you do anything detrimental to your credit history, such as default on a loan or credit card or have late payments, a negative entry will be reported on your credit history. When a consumer removes negative entries from his credit report, \”credit repair\” has taken place.

These negative entries can affect you in many significant ways. It will be harder to obtain approval for financial products, such as home loans and credit cards, and you will almost assuredly be assessed a higher annual percentage rate (APR) and many additional add-on fees such as monthly and annual fees and charges.

Don\’t throw your arms up in despair! There is good news! There are many online companies which, for a fee, offer credit repair services. Alternately, you can attempt to repair your credit yourself if you would prefer not to pay for credit repair.

You must first obtain a copy of your credit report, which may be done by contacting the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – and requesting a copy of your credit report. These three credit reporting bureaus are legally bound to provide one free copy of your credit report every twelve months. You can call (877) 322-8228 to obtain your free copy of your credit report. Alternately, you can request a copy of your credit report from the many online companies which offer this service.

Sit down and review your credit report once it arrives. All information should be carefully reviewed to confirm that all portions of the credit history are accurate. Do not skip over personal and employment information. Check everything!

If erroneous entries are discovered on your credit report, you should sit down and compose a letter to the credit reporting agency explaining the reason for your letter. You will want to include a copy of any supporting documentation when you mail your letter. It is important that you retain copies of any and all correspondence and documentation to and from the credit reporting bureau.

The credit bureau has 30 days to verify the credit report entry which is in dispute. If the credit bureau cannot obtain verification within 30 days, it must remove the entry from your credit history. The credit bureau will respond back to you with any actions it has taken with regard to your credit report entries. If the credit reporting agency decides not to revise or remove an item you feel needs to be revised or removed, you should contact the credit reporting agency and request that they let you know how and why they arrived at this decision. This is called requesting a \”method of verification.\”

Following this process to improve your credit score is beneficial, even though it requires patience and is time-consuming. By improving your credit score, you will have a greater chance of being approved for more desirable credit products.

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categories: credit repair,repair credit,credit score,credit history,credit reporting bureau,credit reporting bureaus,dispute letter,remove negative items,credit reporting,credit report,credit,debt

Learn the Truth About How Bankruptcy Can Affect Your Credit Report

Bankruptcy Defined

If you must file bankruptcy, you have two options – Chapter 7 or Chapter-. Chapter 7 is known as a \”liquidation bankruptcy\” and permits you to discharge your debt. Chapter- is known as a \”reorganization bankruptcy\” and provides a way to repay what you owe after a repayment plan has been negotiated.

How Does Bankruptcy Affect Your Credit History?

Filing for bankruptcy will stop creditors from trying to collect the debts you owe, but WILL NOT give you a clean financial slate. Bankruptcy will seriously affect your credit report and credit worthiness. Consequently, obtaining a loan or line of credit in the future will be extremely difficult.

Bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for 10 years, unless you are successful in an attempt to remove it. Keep in mind that your credit score will instantly drop hundreds of points with bankruptcy. Rebuilding your credit score is one strategy to consider. However, this is difficult when you can\’t find anyone to lend to you.

A credit company will most likely deem a person with a bankruptcy on their credit report as a possible financial liability. In light of this, you might want to consider repairing your credit score.

Taking immediate action to rebuild your credit can go a long way in boosting your credit score and will alleviate the worry of waiting 10 years for your bankruptcy to clear on your credit report. Choosing to rebuild your credit is a smart decision which can lead to approval of home loans and loans for other major purchases, such as home remodels or a new car, sooner.

Can I Rebuild My Credit Legally?

Challenging information on your credit report IS legal. Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you may contest any entry on your credit report which you believe is inaccurate.

Creditors and credit bureaus are required by law to investigate and verify this information. If negative information cannot be verified, it must be permanently deleted.

Expert advice can be invaluable if you decide to pursue rebuilding your credit. Lexington Law\’s legal professionals can guide and assist you in your attempt to remove negative entries. Consider contacting Lexington Law to get the assistance you need to clean up negative entries on your credit report.

We raised our credit scores from the upper 500 range to 745 and 763 in under six months and got approved for our dream home. Discover the one rule you must obey in credit repair by seeing proof at www.creditforcouples.com and get the real truth about lexington credit repair.

Is Online Credit Repair a Good Idea?

Using an online credit repair company to help rebuild your credit is a relatively new phenomenon, however, it is actually something that is becoming quite popular. So many people today need help rebuilding their credit and these online credit repair companies attempt to do just this.

It is obvious that, if you improve your credit score, you will become less of a financial risk to lenders. Being viewed as a better financial risk will go a long way in helping you attain credit products which have lower annual percentage rates (APRs) and better benefits. It is because of this that many people are turning to credit repair companies for help.

You will need to complete an online application first. This application will request personal data as well as financial data from you. It will likely request information related to any bankruptcies, foreclosures, court judgments or late payments which you may have.

Two or three days after completing the application, you should receive a response from the online company. The response should outline the troublesome areas of your credit report, what should be done to rectify these issues, and the fee charged for doing so.

It is important to know that any entries on your credit report which are accurately reported will remain on your credit report for up to seven years. There is no legal way to remove accurate information from your credit report. Also, be aware that it is illegal in the United States for a credit repair service to request payment for services which have not yet been rendered.

Keep in mind that any course of action which a credit repair service might undertake can be done by you as well, without paying a fee. You can accomplish the same things as any credit repair service. In laymen’s terms, the process requires that a dispute letter be written to the credit reporting agency explaining the reason for your letter. Copies of any supporting documentation which you might have should be included with the letter. It is very important to keep copies of all correspondence to and from the credit reporting agency.

The primary benefits of using the services of a credit repair service are the time and anxiety you will be spared. A credit repair service will charge a fee for its services and, if you don’t relish a challenge such as this, the fees you pay may be worth it. Adversely, do-it-yourself credit repair can save you money.

How I Stopped Midland Credit . I Erased a $14,072 Midland Credit and Fixed my Bad Credit.

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How to Find a Credit Repair Attorney

How to Hire the Right Credit Repair Attorney by Ben and Casey

Fixing a bad credit report is not a pleasant experience. There are basically two ways of going about the credit repair process.

Many people decide first to fix their own credit only to discover the process is much more involved than they expected. This is because they are trying to save a few dollars by going the inexpensive route.

Unfortunately you may discover that repairing bad credit is one of those projects that only appears easy. There is so much to the process including legal research and writing, which is challenging even for credit lawyers at times.

If you are not the type of person who enjoys legal research in your free time, or don\’t have patience for translating wordy statutes and confusing case laws from around the country, then this might not be for you. But if you are determined enough to plow through the stacks of law books, then you should expect to spend at least a a few Sunday afternoons researching applicable credit laws at your local library.

Assuming you are able to understand the case law and statutes, then you have to move onto the more important part of credit repair. The next step is to write a coherent and compelling dispute letter. You will need to cite the applicable case law and disputed items.

For example, the credit bureaus are trained to be on the lookout for those people trying do it yourself credit repair. They can easily spot the dispute letters written by amateurs. This can be a problem since credit bureaus are infamous for ignoring badly written dispute letters.

Even if you are a good writer, you probably are not going to enjoy standing in line at the post office. To ensure your dispute receives a proper investigation, you will need to mail the letter via United States Certified Mail.

By now you are probably wishing you had more free time. Mailing dispute letters via certified mail takes a lot of time. Unless you are extremely casual about how you spend your free time, this is probably not worth your time.

Disputing bad credit errors on your own also takes an organized office space and a strategic plan. For example, you will need a spreadsheet to track the progress of each disputed item. Plus, you will need to give yourself reminders or some type of alert in the event the bureaus or creditors have allowed the proper investigation period to expire.

As you can see credit repair is not a fun experience. There are so many better and more efficient uses of your time. Plus, it is difficult to learn and apply complex legal statutes and case law to your unique credit experience.

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What Will Happen If I Have a Charge-Off On My Credit Report?

Many people want to know if it is possible to remove a charge-off from their credit report. The answer is, it may be difficult, but it can be done.

Some people are unclear as to what a charge-off actually is. A charge-off is a debt which a creditor no longer feels it can collect and subsequently decides to write-off. This will typically happen after several months of missed or late payments during which the creditor will send numerous letters and will try to communicate with the borrower by phone.

It is best at this point to attempt to negotiate a payment plan with the creditor to avoid the account going to collections. Do not ignore attempts by the creditor to contact you. Normally, creditors are willing to work with you if they see that you are trying to make an attempt at paying the debt.

It is important to understand that once your debt is written-off, your creditor may decide to pass or sell the debt to a collection agency. The collection agency will then attempt to collect the debt using any method of harassment and threat available to it, including the filing of a law suit to collect the debt.

Your credit report can carry a charge-off entry for seven years. Your chances of obtaining additional credit will suffer and your credit score will be greatly damaged. These are not things you want to happen! In light of this, it is best to try to have charge-offs removed.

It will be necessary to obtain a copy of your credit report to start the charge-off removal process. Review your credit report for any inaccurate or false information once you receive it. Inaccurate or false entries can be removed from your credit report by writing the credit reporting bureau and explaining your claim. Be sure to provide the credit reporting agency with copies of any documentation which confirms your claim. The credit reporting agency must verify your claim within 30 days or else it must remove the credit item in its entirety.

If you contact the collection agency, it may be willing to come to an agreement with you. As you enter your negotiation with it, keep in mind that collection agencies purchase debt for cents on the dollar so the collection agency may well be willing to agree to a reduced total amount due. You can either offer a lump sum payment in exchange for this reduced amount or you can attempt to arrange a payment plan for the full amount. Above all, be sure that you obtain in writing an agreement which states the charge-off will be removed from your credit report or, at the very least, that the charge-off be reduced to a “paid” status.

To summarize, if you find yourself falling behind in your payments, contact your creditor and try to work out an arrangement to avoid a charge-off. If the charge-off account ends up with a collection agency, attempt to negotiate with the collection agency to pay the debt and remove the charge-off entry from your credit report.

Midland Credit Management Ruined my Life. What I Did to Get Revenge. www.MidlandCreditDebt.com

Easy Approval Credit Cards Are All the Rage, But Are They For You?

Haven’t heard of easy approval credit cards? Well, as the phrase suggests, they are credit cards which are easily obtainable. Even if your application for a “standard” credit card has recently been denied, you may still be able to qualify for one of these cards.

Two companies which offer easy approval cards are First Bank of Delaware, which offers the Tribute Gold MasterCard, and Urban Trust Bank, which offers the Salute Visa card. However, by performing a quick internet search you will amass a large number of web sites which offer credit cards similar to these.

Credit cards like the Tribute Gold MasterCard and Salute Visa card are more easily obtainable because the credit score required is lower than for more “high profile” credit card companies. These easy approval credit card companies will review your credit rating, employment status, current income, and how long you have been at your present residence.

In answer to your unspoken question, this type of credit card is offered because, in light of the economy, there are many people whose credit scores have dipped below the average credit rating. As such, the “standard” credit card companies will not approve credit cards for these people, leaving a large group of people who would still like to access the freedom and spending power of a credit card. It would be folly to not provide a credit card for these people because to not do so would mean ignoring a large sector of United States’ consumers. It really is just good business. Also, people who have had no opportunity to build a credit rating, such as young people, should not be penalized for their youth.

The benefits offered for the easy approval credit card and the “standard” credit card are virutally the same. However, the easy approval credit card offers another benefit for the card holder in that the card holder can work to rebuild his or her credit score with the wise and appropriate handling of the credit card.

There is a down-side to applying for and using an easy approval credit card. Normally, these cards have higher charges and fees and additional costs such as monthly fees, one-time setup charges, annual fees, as well as higher annual percentage rates (APRs).

You should only apply for an easy approval credit card if you have been denied a “standard” credit card recently. It is imperative that you be sure you will be able to pay the monthly minimum due every month and on time.

A secured credit card may be an option for you if you feel that you will be unable to keep up with the payments of an easy approval credit card. One benefit of secured credit cards is that you may only spend the amount which you have “deposited” for use. In other words, you deposit money to be loaded onto the card and that, then, becomes your credit limit.

In summary, if you know that you have a good credit score, it is probably a better idea to apply for a “standard” credit card in order to avoid the significant charges associated with these more easily obtainable credit cards. Adversely, if you have been turned down for a “standard” credit card in the past six months, it is probably wise to apply for one of the easy approval credit cards. Whichever you decide to apply for, be sure that you will be able to make the payments and make them on time.

NCO Ruined my Life. What I Did to Get Revenge. www.myncodebt.com

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