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-Repair Bad Credit Report - A Free Consumer Guide
Bad Credit Reports can be repaired. free tips to fix your rating, boost FICO Score, and get the loan, mortgage, refinance or card you want. Secrets the Banks DON'T want you to know! \A92006-2007 CREDIT DOCTOR - All Rights Reserved Table of Contents (click to view): INTRODUCTION FROM THE DOCTOR TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CREDIT REPAIR YOUR CREDIT REPORTS SCORING HOW TO GET COPIES OF YOUR CREDIT REPORTS REVIEWING YOUR CREDIT REPORTS HOW TO READ YOUR CREDIT REPORTS SUMMARY OF WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR CREDIT REPORTS STATING YOUR CREDIT DISPUTE SAMPLE CREDIT REPORT DISPUTE LETTER DEALING WITH NEGATIVE (BUT CORRECT) INFORMATION ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT SEVEN STEPS TO BOOST YOUR FICO SCORE WHAT IS THE BEST CREDIT REPAIR SOFTWARE? This booklet was written as a supplement to the our bad credit report repair - software program. This website and the software program provide information, not legal advice. For legal advice, please see an attorney. Visit our site for more Free Tips, Demos and Updates: Fix-Bad-Credit-Software \A92006-2007 Credit Doctor Software INTRODUCTION FROM CREDIT DOCTOR It's as simple as this: A better credit report will raise your FICO score. A higher FICO score will get you a lower interest rate. The lower your interest rate - the more money you will save. You can repair your Credit quickly. You can have negative misinformation wiped away from your credit reports, you can negotiate with creditors to remove negative postings and lower your payments, and you can raise your score higher so you can get the loan that you want at thelow interest rated you deserve. All it takes is perseverance, a positive attitude and knowledge. You're reading this book, and that's good positive start. Just remember: If every single day you do at least one (1) thing to better your situation, you will generate momentum to bring you closer to your goal. I hope you enjoy this booklet and find it useful! Good luck to you on your journey to healthy credit and better finances. *─ Credit Doctor* TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CREDIT REPAIR Credit Repair Companies are very expensive. They can charge anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands. You do not need to pay a repair company a lot of money to repair your credit. Anything they can do for you, you can do for yourself for free or little cost. You do not need a Software Program applications to repair your credit. However, there is an awful lot of letter writing and record keeping involved, and an inexpensive program to help automate the process and point you in the right directions can literally save you hundreds of hours and aggravation and can keep you organized, so you never again find yourself in a financial nightmare. YOUR CREDIT REPORTS A credit report is the equivalent of a consumer's financial report card. It details your history as it has been reported to the credit reporting agency by the lenders who've given you credit. Your credit report lists the types of credit you use, the amount of time your accounts have been open, and if you pay your bills on time. These credit reports are used by many different companies to make decisions about you. Banks, mortgage companies, auto loan and insurance companies, also landlords and employers make check on your credit history. Why? They know that if you were responsible in the past, you are likely be responsible in the future (and vice versa). CREDIT SCORING "Scoring" of is a system Lenders use to help determine whether to give you credit, and how much to charge you for it. When you fill out a loan application, bank or lender will often request your credit report (or score) from one of the big three bureaus (Equifax, Experian and Trans-Union). In some instances, however (such as when applying for a Mortgage), the broker or lender will pull credit reports from all three. These Bureaus grade your "credit worthiness" by calculating your credit history against a system called the Fair Isaac Model. Fair Isaac uses a variety of factors to determine your score, such as; your bill-paying history, the number and type of accounts you have, late payments, collection actions, outstanding debt, and the age of your accounts. The final outcome of those calculations is referred to as your FICO\AE score. FICO\AE scores range from 300 to 850, but the majority of scores fall between the 600s and 700s. Higher scores indicate a lower credit risk. A FICO\AE score above 700 will get you a very good mortgage rate. A score above 720 will get you an excellent rate. A score below 700 will make it very difficult for you, and definitely should be worked on. Correcting mistakes on a credit report in order to repair an undesirable score takes time. It's your responsibility to correct mistakes that may appear in your credit report. To do this, you must regularly obtain copies of your credit reports, and contact each of the big three credit reporting bureaus to correct any misinformation. HOW TO GET COPIES OF YOUR CREDIT REPORTS The three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies Equifax, Experian and Trans-union are the three major bureaus that maintain credit reports on you. To order your credit reports, you simply write or call them at the numbers below. You are also eligible for Free Credit Reports once a year. Requests for free Annual Credit Reports are not made to the bureaus themselves, they are made to their Combined Service. You can order your free credit reports online instantly thru Credit Doctor Software, or complete an Annual credit report Request Form and mail it to: Annual credit report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. With the new laws, you are now entitled to one free copy from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies every 12 months. You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you may have to provide your previous address. To maintain the security of your file, each nationwide consumer credit reporting company may ask you for some information that only you would know, like the amount of your monthly mortgage payment. Each company may ask you for different information because the information each has in your file may come from different sources. There are also other circumstances which will allow you to receive free credit history reports. Under federal law, you're entitled to a free credit report if a company takes adverse action against you, such as denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment, and you ask for your credit report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the consumer credit reporting company. You're also entitled to one free credit report per year if you're unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you're on welfare; or if your credit report is inaccurate because of fraud or identity theft. Otherwise, any of the three consumer credit reporting companies may charge you up to $10.00 for another copy of your credit report within a 12-month period. To buy copies of your credit reports, contact: Equifax 800-685-1111 Experian 888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) Trans Union 800-916-8800 Under state law, consumers in Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont already have free access to their credit reports REVIEWING YOUR CREDIT REPORTS Recent studies by a Public Interest Research Group found that over 70% of credit reports contain errors. Incorrect information in your file lowers your score. As the result you get a higher interest rate when you: take a loan, open a new credit card account, lease a car, etc. 29% of the credit reports in this study contained even more serious errors that could result in the denial of credit. These errors included false delinquencies, public records, judgments and accounts that did not belong to the consumer. Sometimes these errors are the work of sloppy data entry, but it is also often due to the ever growing epidemic of identity theft. Since your credit reports are used to determine IF you are to be given credit (and what rates you will be charged), it is in your best interest to examine your credit reports carefully, correct inaccurate information and make every effort to remove ALL Unfavorable information. If you see problems on your credit report, such as an unpaid bill that you simply forgot about, act right away to resolve the debt. Then ask that creditor to send a letter to the credit reporting agencies stating that the matter has been resolved. Check for accounts you didn't open, charges you haven't made, and delinquencies you didn't cause. If you suspect fraud on one of your credit reports, contact that bureau IMMEDIATELY. Explain the situation and ask them to place a fraud alert on your file. Also report the fraud to the police. Your credit reports follow you throughout your life and can help you greatly -- or hurt you. Review them carefully! HOW TO READ YOUR CREDIT REPORTS The bulk of the credit report will be filled with information showing the following: 1). Identification Information The first thing listed will be your name, date of birth and Social Security number. These are used for identification. Employment information may also be listed. As well as current and past addresses, spouse's name (if you're married) and date of birth are also listed for further identification. 2). Public Record Information -- Data from federal, state or county court records. Bankruptcies, liens or judgments and other types of claims. Info listed will be; Date filed, court case number, amount, status and date settled. 3). Collection Agency Information -- A collection is an account that has been turned over to a collection agency by one of your creditors because you have not paid the account as agreed. Listed here are; Collector's name, originating creditor/client, original amount, balance due and account number. 4). Account Information -- This section makes up the bulk of the credit report. It will include Mortgage, Installment, Revolving, Other, Open and Closed Accounts. It will also list Accounts in Good Standing, Accounts Currently Past due and Negative Account History. Merchant/Creditor name, Subscriber Number, account number, Date opened, Date closed, Current Balance, Highest credit limit, Highest amount of credit used, and your Repayment History. Your Repayment History is shown as a string of numbers showing your payment history. With each credit account, you will see listed the account's status and history. They are generally marked as follows; • Current Account - "Account Open" or "Closed in Good Standing" • Closed Account - Account Closed • Paid Account - Closed Account or Zero Balance • Credit Account Reinstated - Previously Closed Account Now Available for use • Foreclosure - Collateral sold to collect Defaulted Mortgage • Collection Account - Account Assigned to Collection Agency • Inquiry - your credit information was requested by this Company 5). Inquiries that display All authorized and legitimate requests to see your credit history. 6). Inquiries that DO NOT display These inquiries are displayed only to you and are not considered when tabulating your credit score. Examples of this inquiry type include a pre-approved offer of credit, insurance or periodic account reviews by an existing creditor. 7). Consumer Statements If for some reason you cannot prove that a negative item is an error or if you are having a disagreement with a certain creditor, you have the right to tell your side of the story in 100 words or less. This statement will be ADDED to your credit report. SUMMARY OF WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR CREDIT REPORT Credit Reports seem rather cryptic at first, but once you see how they are laid out they will start to make sense. These are the important things to examine: Make sure your personal Information is correct Make sure your accounts are listed correctly Make sure your credit lines are listed correctly Make sure your balances are listed correctly If YOU closed an account, it should say "Account closed BY CONSUMER." STATING YOUR DISPUTE Make certain that all information is current and accurate, including the Personal Identification information (address, social security, etc…). If you find an error (for example, a loan that you have PAID OFF is still listed as outstanding), tell the Bureau (in writing) EXACTLY what the mistake is, and explain the way that the information SHOULD be listed. For example, "My Loan to Bank of Fred is NOT outstanding. It was paid in full on 02/14//05." Send photocopies along with all the necessary information to backup your claim. After you have done this send it to the credit bureau by "CERTIFIED MAIL." When the credit bureau receives your credit report and the information in question, they are required to investigate and ADVISE YOU of the results of their investigation. They must do this Free of charge. Anytime that you are denied credit you have the right to know why. If you are turned down for a credit account at a store, you will receive a statement from the store stating that you were denied credit and their reason why. If the store based their decision on your credit history, they must provide you with the name and address of the agency that reported it. If for some reason you cannot prove that a negative item is an error or if you are having a disagreement with a certain creditor, you have the right to tell your side of the story in 100 words or less. This statement will be ADDED to your credit report. When correcting items on your credit report, you have the right to demand that the bureau send corrected copies of your credit report to all creditors who have received the incorrect credit reports for the past six months. Note: The bureaus will not do this automatically! They will only do it if you ask. So make sure you ask. It's your right! SAMPLE CREDIT REPORT DISPUTE LETTER Here is a sample letter with sample dispute items. Use the ones you need and delete the rest. Your Name Your Address City, State Zip Your Date of Birth: Social Security Number: credit report Number: ____________ Bureau Name Bureau Address City, State Zip Today's Date Re: Letter to Remove Inaccurate Information - Credit Report #__________________ To Whom It May Concern: I received a copy of my credit report and found the following item(s) to be errors. See the attached copy of my credit report, the errors have been highlighted. Here as follows are items in error: Explanation By the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, I demand that these items be investigated and removed from my credit report. It is my understanding that you will recheck these items with the creditor who has posted them. Please remove any information that cannot be verified. I understand that under 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681i(a), you must complete this reinvestigation within 30 days of receipt of this letter. Please send an updated copy of my credit report to the above address. According to the act, there shall be no charge for this updated credit report. I also request that you please send notices of corrections to anyone who received my credit report in the past six months. Thank you time and help in this matter. Sincerely, _____________________________________ [Signature] Make sure you send this letter by certified mail. Enclose a copy of the credit report containing the items you are disputing. It may also help to circle the items. Also include copies (not originals) of any paperwork you may have that validates your claims. DEALING WITH NEGATIVE (BUT CORRECT) INFORMATION ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT (AND COLLECTION AGENCIES) Despite popular belief, it is often possible to negotiate removal of negative items on your credit reports posted by creditors. In some cases, you might not even have to pay them the full amount owed. The important thing is to be positive, be patient and get in contact with them to try to work out a deal. If you've ignored (or never received) a lender's bills or phone calls, or if you failed to keep up with payments, your bill may be turned over to a collection agency. Keep in mind that collection agencies are hired by the creditor and their only goal is to collect the money owed (or as much of it as they can) as quickly as possible. For their efforts, they are paid a percentage of what they collect. If you feel that the amount in question is being billed in error, you have the right to ask for proof and verification of the charges. If the charges are indeed yours it may be in your best interest to negotiate with the collection agency. You may be able to negotiate payment of the total sum (or even a partial amount) in return for their removing their negative marks on your Credit History Report. You might be able to settle on paying a portion of your debt, or you might be able to work out a payment installment plan with them. Many of the letters in the STOREROOM can be used with collection agencies for these situations. Whatever deal you make with them, be sure that you have it all in writing prior to paying them. Collection agencies can be very aggressive when it comes to collecting money. Remember that you have rights. You have the right to ask a collection agency stop contacting you, especially if you feel harassed. Use these letters below to give yourself breathing room while working through your plan to reorganize your finances. See the letters in the Storeroom section. SEVEN STEPS TO BOOST YOUR FICO SCORE Correct all inaccuracies in your Credit Reports. Go through your credit reports very carefully. Especially look for; Late payments, charge-offs, collections or other negative items that aren't yours, Accounts listed as "settled," "paid derogatory," "paid charge-off" or anything other than "current" or "paid as agreed" if you paid on time and in full, Accounts that are still listed as unpaid that were included in a bankruptcy, Negative items older than seven years (10 in the case of bankruptcy) that should have automatically fallen off your credit report (you must be careful with this last one, because sometimes scores actually go down when bad items fall off your credit report. It's a quirk in the FICO credit-scoring software, and the potential effect of eliminating old negative items is difficult to predict in advance). Also make sure you don't have duplicate collection notices listed. For example; if you have an account that has gone to collections, the original creditor may list the debt, as well as the collection agency. Any duplicates must be removed! Make sure that your proper credit lines are posted on your Credit Reports. Often, in an effort to make you less desirable to their competitors, some creditors will not post your proper credit line. Showing less available credit can negatively impact your score. If you see this happening on your credit report, you have a right to complain and bring this to their attention. If you have bankruptcies that should be showing a zero balance…make sure they show a zero balance! Very often the Lender will not report a "bankruptcy charge-off" as a zero balance until it's been disputed. If you have any negative marks on your credit report, negotiate with the creditor/lender to remove it. If you are a long time customer and it's something simple like a one-time late payment, a creditor will often wipe it away to keep you as a loyal customer. If you have a serious negative mark (such as a long overdue bill that has gone to collections), always negotiate a payment in exchange for removal of the negative item. Always make sure you have this agreement with them in writing. Do not pay off a bill that has gone to collections unless the creditor agrees in writing that they will remove the derogatory item from your credit report. This is important; when speaking with the creditor or collection agency about a debt that has gone to collections, do not admit that the debt is yours. Admission of debt can restart the statute of limitations, and may enable the creditor to sue you. You are also less likely to be able to negotiate a letter of deletion if you admit that this debt is yours. Simply say "I'm calling about account number ________" instead of "I'm calling about my past due debt." Pay all cards and any revolving credit down to below 30% of the available line. The scoring system wants to make sure you aren't overextended, but at the same time, they want to see that you do indeed use your credit. 30% of the available credit line seems to be the magic "balance vs. credit line" ratio to have. For example; if you have a card with a $10,000 line, make sure that never more than $3000 (even if you pay your account off in full each month). If your balances are higher than 30% of the available line, pay them down. Here is another thing you can try; ask your long time creditors if they will raise your Line without checking your FICO score or your credit report. Tell them that you're shopping for a house and you can't afford to have any hits on your credit report. Many will not but some will. Do not close your old credit card accounts. Old established accounts show your history, and tell about your stability and paying habits. If you have old card accounts that you want to stop using, just cut up the credit cards or keep them in a drawer, but keep the accounts open. Avoid applying for new credit. Each time you apply, your credit report gets checked. New cards will not help your score and an account less than one year old may hurt your score. Use your cards as little as possible until the next scoring. Have at least three revolving credit lines and one active (or paid) installment loan listed on your Credit Report. The credit scoring system wants to see that you maintain a variety of accounts. It also wants to see that you have 3 revolving credit lines. If you do not have three active credit cards, you might want to open some (but keep in mind that if you do, you will need to wait some time before rescoring). If you have poor credit and are not approved for a typicalcredit card, you might want to set up a "secured card" account. This means that you will have to make a deposit that is equal or more than your limit, which guarantees the bank that you will repay the loan. It's an excellent way to establish credit. Examples of an installment loan would be a car loan, or it could be for furniture or a major appliance. In addition to the above, having a mortgage listed will bring your credit score even higher. Throughout this process, always remember: It takes up to 30 Days for any of these things to get reported and often longer to reflect on your Credit History Reports. It feels like a slow process, but hang in there, because it DOES work. This tedious process can be made much simpler with the automated help of Credit Repair Software to store your user information and merge into its database of letters, saving you many long hours of letter writing. WHAT IS THE BEST CREDIT REPAIR SOFTWARE? Automate the Credit Cleaning process. Easy Wizards guide you to: order Free Credit Reports Instantly online, Generate Letters, Remove Errors and Negotiate with Creditors. Includes Organization and Planning Tools, Financial Calculators and useful Tips. (learn more) *"Excellent - 5 Stars"* - Softpedia "Critic's Choice! 5 Stars" - Credit Software Reviews "5 Stars"** - Tucows User Rating
.\A92005-2007 Credit Doctor Software - All Rights Reserved
sitemap affiliates privacy policy links for business mac español HOME MAIN FACTS VIDEO BUY NOW SUPPORT ABOUT FREE BOOKLET DEMO TIPS CONTACT FAQ REFERRALS FLASH SITE Link to this credit repair site Sitemap Without a doubt, the very best Credit Repair Software on the market is Credit Doctor: Repair Bad Credit Report. It has won nuerous prestigeous awards and has quickly become the most popular way to automate the process of repairing bad credit. Credit Software and Credit repair programs do work to fix bad credit. If the programs designer is fluent in the laws, a bad credit program can be quite effective. Bad credit report repair software is not a science, but it is a huge timesaver. You can certainly repair bad credit yourself, and you can fix a bad credit report yourself without a credit program or credit software, but really bad credit will take many letters and tedious days and weeks to optomize, wheras a software program can automate the process considerably.You can have bad credit erased legally and quickly. For bad credit help and expert bad credit advice we recommend reading our free booklet "Boost your FICO score in 7 easy steps." Bad credit is not only expensive, it removes a persons self esteem. Bad credit repair can improve your way of life greatly enabling you to get the mortgage or refinance loan at the best possible low rate. A bad credit report simply means that you have a bit of work ahead for disputing items to the Credit Bureaus Equifax, Experian and Transunion. A public interest group recently did a study that showed these staggering facts: 79% of all Credit Reports contain errors...and it's mostly errors that are the reason for a bad credit score.You do not have to fall victim to bad credit loans, you do not have to give in to accepting bad credit refinance or a bad credit mortgage. An improved report rating score will qualify you for loans and refinancing at much lower rates. Bad credit software will save tremendous time and energy, rapidly boost fico ratings and boost fico scores. The Credit Doctor program and credit doctor software will help you with your credit repair, and use every legal means to erase bad credit quickly, or your money back. Fast credit repair is what you will have when using our software to fix bad credit ratings and fix bad credit scores. You can certainly fix credit and fix credit reports and improve bad credit on your own, but it helps to have a vast knowledge of the law. Credit Repair software has the added benefit of being co-written and approved by lawyers. Our knowledge of the law and the Fair Credit Reporting Act will help you to improve fico scores, and improve a low credit score and raise fico scores. With our program, you can easily remove bad credit while you repair bad credit ratings and fix your bad credit reports with the click of a mouse button. On our blog we give hundred of free tips, help and advice to repair bad credit scores, and repair low credit scores effortlessly and easily, because our program is fully compatible with all three major bureaus, Equifax, Experian and trans-union (aka trans union). Simply downlad your free Credit Reports from Annual Credit Report Service www.annualcreditreport.com and you will have free credit reports. Once those free reports are in your hands and you've got our $49 bad credit repair program, you will be able to do for yourself (for free) what you would have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to companies like lexington law. As they say on the Federal Trade Comission www.ftc.gov. A Credit Repair Company cannot do anything for you that you cannot do for yourself for free or little cost. The best Credit Repair Company...is yourself. __________________________________________________________________________

Bad Credit Reports can be repaired. free tips to fix your rating, boost FICO Score, and get the loan, mortgage, refinance or card you want. Secrets the Banks DON'T want you to know!

DEALING WITH NEGATIVE (BUT CORRECT) INFORMATION ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT (AND COLLECTION AGENCIES)