If you’ve been nursing a poor credit history and find yourself unable to get financial respite from legitimate creditors, then, more likely, companies that offer to repair your credit will be like lights at the end of dark tunnels.
Sure, credit repair companies and the assistance programs they offer are legitimate, but it is advised that you don’t easily get fooled after just one sitting. While credit repair schemes promise to get you out of your financial woes, they can also turn into your greatest nightmares if you fail to protect yourself and read the fine print.
More often than not credit repair schemes will present themselves as quick and easy ways to clear your tainted credit record of red information for a certain fee. They look mighty attractive at first but, as with any money making operation, surely they won’t tell you all the tricks of the trade and how they are to benefit from you.
The fact of the matter is, bad credit can only be healed by time. Credit repair companies will assure you that they can call up your creditors and clean up your murky credit history for you, but this is really not the case.
Some credit repair agencies will tell you that your credit has already been cleared up and send you a note to prove it, but, the reality is, they are merely trying to process your credit clearing application and do not really know if your creditor will approve it or not.
Before you know it, your bad credit information has magically reappeared on your records and there isn’t anything you can do about it, except, well, drag yourself into a credit repair scam again and fool yourself that you’ve been cleaned up.
Bad credit records are bad credit records. No matter how hard you try to seek instant reprieve from the red marks on your documents, they will not go away unless they have been erroneously placed there. And no credit repair agency can make miracles happen for you. If you truly had a tainted financial past, you must bear with it and let it pass over time.
Credit bureaus report negative information as far back as seven years and as far back as ten years for bankruptcy related cases. This means your history for the past seven to ten years will turn up in your records whether you like it or not and cannot, and never, be altered by any credit repair tactic.
But if you are sure that mistakes have been made on your records and you’re truly free of negative data, then by all means, seek help from credit repair companies. Or, to avoid having to pay their charges, you can repair your credit yourself.
You simply notify the credit bureau of the errors and give a detailed account of the mistakes your found on your records. The more accurate you are, the better. After which, the bureau will conduct an investigation into the account in question, free of charge, and correct them or discard false information that is unverifiable.
To help strengthen your case, you can even write a short note, about a hundred words, explaining the negative information on your report. It could take a while, but, hey, it sure beats having to pay credit repair agencies to do it.
By: Khieng Chho
Three Credit Rating Warning Signs
December 24th, 2009You can see the signs everywhere you look. The person next door has had to file for bankruptcy protection and the lovely family down the road has the bank threatening foreclosure and they will lose their home. Your brother-in-law isn’t able to obtain a decent interest rate on a loan for a new car. But this doesn’t affect you because you don’t have any credit problems – or do you? This article identifies three signs that indicate you are in need of credit repair and suggests some workable solutions.
The First Sign – Your credit score. You are aware of the importance of these and that they are based on everything from the interest that you have to pay to your insurance premiums. Your credit rating is OK – it is 600 and that is a good number, isn’t it?
No, it isn’t – it is an obvious sign that you seriously need to look at credit repair. Scores under 720 require improvement. These scores are between 300 to a perfect 850. Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, which are the three major credit bureaus, are responsible for the collection of information about you. They get this information from companies from whom you have been previously obtained credit and then write a report. This is where your credit score originates.A higher score indicates less risk to a potential creditor and subsequently increases your chances of a better interest rate.
The Second Sign – Your credit report contains negative comments. It’s been more than twelve months since your credit card payments were late and so you feel that your report must have improved. To check this, you obtain a copy of your credit report and those late payments are still included. Why is that?
Negative comments will remain on the report for up to 18 months, so you must make every effort to avoid late payments if you want to see an improvement. Remember that each negative comment reduces your score.
The Third Sign – You are finding it difficult obtaining a decent rate on your car loan. Picture this scenario: You have been successful in getting a new job on a higher salary than ever before, but it means a longer traveling time. Your old car just wouldn’t be capable, so you need a new car. You go to a car dealership and choose a new car and when you are about to sign for the car loan, you see that the repayments are higher than you have reckoned.This is because of your credit report. You are in a difficult position, because you need that new car for the new job. You have to sign the papers and deal with the higher repayments.
These are all strong indicators that your credit needs repairing. If you take the time and make the effort to improve your credit report it will benefit you in the long run.
Most credit repairs can be done by the individual, depending upon how good they are at handling money, their credit card use and how bad the situation is. If it has gone beyond that point, however,there are companies that specialize in credit restoration who will work for a fee.
You should at all times be aware of the possible signs of credit problems and if they occur, act immediately so that you are able to maintain a higher credit rating and reap the benefits.
By: Caden Flynn
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Tags: Bankruptcy Protection Credit Card Payments Credit Rating Credit Repair Credit Score Creditor Decent Rate Equifax Experian Insurance Premiums Late Payments Lovely Family Major Credit Bureaus Negative Comments Three Major Credit Bureaus Three Signs Transunion Twelve Months Warning Signs Workable Solutions