Fix Credit Report – Repair Boost Score Ratings

Rick Belden asked:




Boost your credit score by collecting all your bills and financial papers and giving them a spring cleaning, regardless of the time of year. Everyone wants a perfect credit score of 850 or to increase their credit rating to the best possible credit score. This is the main factor lending agencies consider when extending a loan or approving credit cards. Lenders want to know your payment history and credit scores are the way they get this information quickly and easily.

What makes up a person’s credit score? How it becomes part of their credit history? A credit score is based on information gathered by the three U.S. credit bureaus: Equifax, Experion and Trans Union. Your credit score history began with the first purchase you ever made using credit. You didn’t do anything for the credit information to get into your credit history. You simply signed a credit note or credit agreement promising to repay the credit lender the funds of the loan or credit card through payments of a specific minimum amount over a specific period of time. The credit lender extending the credit, whether is was for an automobile, furniture or something else, automatically entered your credit information into the credit bureau systems and your credit payments were recorded and monitored until you paid in full. When you paid a loan in full, that account was marked “closed”. In the case of a credit card, the account would remain open as long as you are authorized to use that credit card account.

If you made no late credit payments, the credit entry became a good reference for your next purchase. All late or insufficient payments were noted and if there were many, a bad mark was placed on your credit history. As you began to use more credit, your credit history grew. The credit bureaus generated a credit score based on your credit repayments. Today, a credit score of 750 is considered a very good credit rating; a credit score over 750 is excellent while a credit scores below 600 is poor.

Boost your credit score by keeping your credit history up-to-date and making every credit card or other credit payment on time. Commit to avoid making any late credit payments. Pay off some of your credit debit completely. Reduce your overall credit debt to income ratio.

You should obtain a copy of your credit score report. Credit reports are now available, at no cost to you except postage and handling, once per year by requesting them from the credit bureaus. Check each credit entry, making certain that all credit entries actually belong on your credit record, that credit accounts you have paid off are marked ‘closed’ and clear up any errors or credit entries that haven’t been recorded properly. You might even find credit history that has not been recorded at all. The credit bureaus will send a form to request any corrections; simply fill out this form and return it by mail. After a few months, obtain another credit report and verify correction to your credit records. Check to see if you have successfully increased your credit score. By increasing your credit score even a few points at a time, you will be able to gain more buying power through prudent use of credit.

Copyright (c) FindYourCard.com

Corey

Mark J Garcia asked:




The Credit Bureaus exist for one reason, and one reason only…to make money! Each and every one of the bureaus is a publicly traded company. They make most of their revenue by selling information to lending institutions, insurance companies, utility companies, credit card issuing banks, and employers.

They DO NOT make money by researching your disputes…in fact, it costs them time, money, and resources to investigate them. Is it any wonder then who the bureaus ultimately serve?

Bureau Secret #1 Credit Bureau Reports – Your 92 Scores

Reports and scores are created “on the fly” whenever they are requested by you, a creditor, or a lender. In fact, you can have up to 92 different scores…23 different scores for each Bureau: Trans Union, Experian, Equifax and don’t forget the little known “other” bureau named Innovis.

Remember your credit scores can vary drastically depending on who pulls the report and the particular profile applied to you. This Bureau process is especially problematic if you are thinking of getting a home loan or mortgage. The score you see if you request it from a major reporting bureau or an on-line service WILL be different – and probably much higher than the score you receive from a Mortgage Broker.

Why?

One reason is that when you pull a report from an online service 18 elements of identification have to match exactly. For example, all of the letters of your last name need to match. That means you are more likely to get accurate information.

When the bureaus pull reports for lenders, usually only 9 elements have to match, for example only 2 letters in your last name. So, more errors and erroneous information will appear on your score – lowering it. Why do the Bureaus provide different – and LOWER – scores to lenders?

Because they’ve decided that by reporting lower – more conservative scores to lenders, they would be less likely to be sued by lenders if the borrower defaults on the loan.

Do you think the major reporting bureaus care about showing lenders your true credit worthiness? I am here to tell you that they don’t! Matter of fact, if you would like to find out more information about how the bureaus are royally screwing over the American Consumer, I have created a newsletter that details shocking news about the 3 Major Bureaus

Bureau Secret #2 Credit Bureau Reports – Your Scores are NOT Accurate

Did you know that your score is probably inaccurate? According to a recent Public Interest Group Research study, more than 70% of Reports contain errors. Oh sure, the Bureaus say to the public that only 20% of reports contain errors, but that’s a bunch of Bureau bologna, because when they are in court under oath they admit that more than 50% of reports contain errors.

What kind of errors are probably on your report – and making you pay more for your home, auto loan, insurance, credit cards and student loans? The study found that 29% of reports contain serious errors that don’t belong including; false delinquencies that can kill your score.

41% of reports contain personal demographic information that was incorrect, outdated, or misspelled. 20% of credit reports – 1 in 5!!!! were missing major loan mortgage or other information to demonstrate the worthiness of the consumer. 26% of reports contained accounts that were in incorrectly listed as open (or) “closed by credit grantor.” When your account is “closed by grantor” it looks like you did something wrong and that’s bad for your scores.
Bureau Secret #3 What Is Your Real, Accurate, and True FICO Score?

Did you know that over 90% of the financial institutions in the world will use scores from one organization only? The name of that company is Fair Isaac Corporation or as they are more commonly known FICO.

The location where I recommend that you purchase your credit scores from is from the Fair Isaac Corporation at their main website. Now, I recommend going to a certain section of their website where you will get a true picture of why your scores are behaving the way they are

This website will not only give you the most current status of your reports, but it will also show you your FICO Scores from all 3 bureaus.

This is the only place you should ever get your scores, because your FICO scores are the ones from where most lenders will base their acceptance of your credit application.

I find it interesting that the major bureaus also have their own version of scores that they try to sell to you and I. However none of the people you are trying to get to extend you a loan will even look at those scores! It is just another example of the greedy bureaus trying to squeeze more and more money from us.

Let’s Wrap This Up…

So as you can see, there are many myths disguised as truths when it comes to credit and credit repair. There are also hidden secrets that the credit bureaus don’t want you to know. I hope that since you are now armed with this knowledge, you won’t fall victim to false information that exists out there.

Your Credit Score Insider, Mark J. Garcia

Amber

Ryan J. Taylor asked:




Usually it’s about the time that someone needs to buy a new car or is about to purchase their first home that they realize that they are going to need to do a little bad credit report repair. While it can be quite costly to hire a professional to help you get your credit rating back on track quickly, there is hope for people who are the more do-it-yourself type and want to save some money.

Bad credit report repair can be done on your own if you have the time and some organizational skills. It is not difficult work to fix your credit, it is just a matter of understanding exactly what makes up your credit score, identifying the problem areas, and then workings swiftly to resolve those issues. All of this can easily be done on your own, without the help of an expensive professional.

The first thing that you need to do is order a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. You can order a copy from each of the three agencies for free every 12 months, and it only takes a minute. Just go to the Annual Credit Report website, enter in your contact information, and you’ll instantly have an electronic copy of your report, which you can save to your hard drive and print out. Just be sure to visit the official Free Credit Report website, as there are many other that suggest you can receive a free report, but only if you sign up for a trial of their monthly credit monitoring service. The official site, however, has no strings attached.

Once you have downloaded your report, print if off and take out two different color pens or highlighters. You are looking for two things that you want to distinguish from each other. The first thing you are looking for is errors on your report. One in four credit documents include misinformation, so chances are you will find some. The other thing you are looking for, which you want to highlight in a different color, is the accurate information that is negatively affecting your credit score. Each report will be slightly different, so thoroughly and carefully look at each document.

Once you have done that, the next in your bad credit report repair plan is to remove the false information and eliminate the negative information. To do this, make two columns on a sheet of paper that that are labeled, “misinformation” and “negative information.” List your items in the appropriate column, but rank them in terms of their greatest impact on your credit score. For example, if you have a bankruptcy on your credit report that did not occur and a typo in your employer’s address, you want to list the bankruptcy first since having that removed will have the greatest impact on your credit score.

Once you have your items ranked in the proper order, you will have an idea of where you need to focus your energy to improve your credit score the fastest. When disputing items on your credit report, you don’t want to do them all at once. Just take care of the biggest problems first in order to get the most cooperation from the credit bureaus and getting them to act fast.

Carl

Julie-Ann Amos asked:




In this day and age it is vitally important to maintain a decent credit score, especially if you plan to make major purchases like a home or a car. If your credit score is 700 or above, your chances for being denied a loan are very slim; and while Triple A credit is a luxury people dream of, few actually achieve that goal due to poor financial choices. However, you can make the most of your score by understanding the credit rating system, and by maintaining awareness of your standing. Doing this before you begin to shop for a home or auto loan can save hundreds and thousands of dollars just on the interest rate. It could also mean the difference between being approved or denied.

What’s In A Credit Report?

Your credit report houses information that ranges from fairly personal information to your income and borrowing habits. It lists things that creditors will want to know before they decide to lend you money; things like

o How you pay your bills

o Your present and past employment history

o If you have been arrested or sued

o If you have filed for bankruptcy

o Your current residence, and past addresses depending on the time you have been at your current address

Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell information within your reports to employers, creditors, and insurers who utilize all information to evaluate your applications for credit, renting or buying a home, and obtaining insurance.

Obtaining Your Credit Reports Online

It is a requirement of The Fair Credit Reporting Act that the three main consumer reporting companies, Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian, provide consumers with free copies of their credit report once every 12 months (upon request). These companies are also charged with promoting privacy and accuracy of consumer reporting.

You can obtain a free copy of your credit report by either requesting it in writing directly from each of the three major credit bureaus, or by using the online request system they have created. AnnualCreditReport.com is a site that is sponsored by TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian to make it fast and easy for consumers to get reports online as they fulfill their legal requirements. You may order all three credit reports from each consumer reporting agency or you may choose to order only one report at a time; either way by law you are permitted to obtain one free copy of your report per year from each of the reporting agencies.

The only information needed to obtain your free credit report is your date of birth, name, address, and social security number. Each consumer reporting agency will ask for different verifiable information only you know because each of your files have been obtained from different sources.

It is recommended that you check all three and not assume all of them to be correct if the first is, since all companies get their information from different resources; you could have an error on one and not another.

Your FICO Score

FICO is an acronym for Fair Isaac Company which was the company that originally created the system used to condense credit history into one distinct number; major credit agencies, businesses, and bank lenders have adopted this system as a means of evaluation for creditworthiness.

Ultimately, one’s credit score is determined by major factors such as amount currently owed to lenders. The general break down of how your score is determined is as follows:

o Outstanding loans, credit cards, and mortgages, and the amount owed on each (as well as the type of debt-revolving, secured, etc.) makes up about 30% of your score.

o At least 35% of your FICO score is based on how successfully you’ve repaid past debts.

o 15% of your score is based upon how long you have been utilizing credit; a lengthy credit history is of major benefit to you. This is not based on age, either-you can be middle aged with no credit if you do not take loans or use credit accounts, or you can be young with a long history of borrowing and repayment.

o 10% of your credit score is based on the amount of inquiries listed-on how many entities you sought credit from and allowed access to your credit report. Lower numbers of inquiries are better as some lenders tend to view frequent applications of credit in a specific period of time to be negative, and from the standpoint of the credit reporting agencies numerous inquiries indicate that you need to shop many sources to obtain credit.

All of these factors determine the number that makes up your credit score. This one simple number is crucial in enabling you to obtain any type of credit. Scores of 657 to 700 are considered good, and with a score of 700 or above you’re likely to be deemed creditworthy by many lenders. If you maintain a score of 600 or below, most likely you will have to invest some time and effort in order to rebuild your credit before applying for any type of loan. In addition, the higher the score the lower the cost of lending will be to you-higher scores net lower interest rates because they are considered less risky, while lower scores show some past trouble and increased risk for the lender, so when credit is offered it will be at a higher rate that allows lenders to recoup more on their loan earlier on.

Understanding credit scores can be difficult, but highly beneficial. When you know more about how banks and lenders evaluate you, and how you can confirm your good rating, you understand where you fall on the lending spectrum, and what options you have for improving your present and future financial situation.

Ellen