Build a Solid Foundation
If you want to repair your credit you need to make sure your foundation is solid. There is little point in investing time or money in credit repair services if there is a likelihood of backsliding. One step forward and two steps back will never get you to your goal. One of the most powerful aides to credit repair is an intelligent, clever, and even entertaining budget. Did I say entertaining?
Financial Enlightenment
Solidify your foundation first and then start your credit repair. There are many amazing benefits to setting up a budget and none of them need to resemble an austerity program. The initial process of developing a budget can be entirely enlightening. It is a process of gathering, sorting, sifting, categorizing, and understanding the money you spend.
No More Fuzzy Understanding
Unless you are a credit repair veteran and have already gone through this routine it is not likely that you truly know about your financial life. True, it is your money, but it is likely that you do not see the whole picture. In fact, if you are like most people you live your life, spend the money you earn, or more, and have at best a fuzzy picture of where it all went.
Leave No Leaf Unturned
Clear your mind and your kitchen table. The big credit repair payoff is coming, but first comes the work. Get a full size pad of paper and a pen. Grab the last few months of credit card and checking account statements. If you keep a box of spending receipts, break it out. It is time to list every single dollar you spend, from daily incidentals to the monthly biggies, like rent and your car payment. Leave no leaf unturned.
Do the Math
Write down everything. Put the expenditures into categories, double check that you got everything. If you pay your insurance quarterly, multiply by four and divide by twelve to arrive at a monthly number. If you take an annual vacation, estimate the number and divide by twelve. Now it is time to add it up. How does it look?
Personal Self-Knowledge
The goal is to look deeply at the flow of your money. Personal self knowledge and credit repair are best of friends. Beyond credit repair there are wonderful emotional consequences of knowing where you stand. Living within your means can eliminate enormous stress from your life. Now is the time to take an honest look at the numbers.
Take a Tally
If you are earning more than you spend, congratulations! It is wonderful thing, and you are ready to embark on the credit repair journey without fear of falling. If you are spending more than you earn you are running a deficit that will come back to bite you, sooner or later. Now is the time to look at ways to recalibrate your spending. It does not have to cause pain.
Go on a Sweet Adventure of Life
Here are some sweet and happy ways that have worked well for many people in need of budgetary solidification prior to taking the credit repair journey. You should look at everything and put your brilliance to work, but for your consideration, how about these ideas: Eat at home more often, stage a weekly movie-at-home night, take a stay-cation this year and explore your own city instead of heading out of town, pack a lunch for work instead of hitting the deli for a ten buck sandwich, and you might even visit your car dealer and trade in your SUV for a more budget friendly vehicle.
Credit Repair is Safe and More
You will be amazed at the amount of money you can save without putting a dent in the quality of your life. In fact, many credit repair candidates report back that they have never been so happy with the money-saving changes they have made. Not only have they protected their long term credit repair results, but they have learned a few new tricks. Nothing warms the heart like a balanced budget. Good luck!
Copyright © 2010 Sky Blue Credit Repair. All Content. All Rights Reserved.
Tricks of the Trade
Credit report repair, done right, can do wonders for the appearance of your credit report, and your scores too! Here are a few tricks of the credit repair trade that will really make your scores move fast. Put them to work individually, or all at once, depending on your own needs, and watch the magic happen.
Open Accounts Right Now
The FICO scoring model will give you bonus points for opening new accounts after a period of bad credit. It is all in the timing. Those old cards that survived the tough times are still worth something, but when it comes to credit repair FICO wants you to prove that you still have what it takes to get back in the swing of borrowing money. If your credit is crummy, secured credit cards are ideal. Small is good! Open now, pay on time, keep your balances low, and your scores may rise over 100 points in the next six months.
The Balance-Limit Connection
This credit report repair tip is just as urgent for those opening new accounts today as it is for those managing already well seasoned revolving accounts. Holy cow! A little change in your balances can send your credit scores flying or diving. Have you maxed out a card lately and then checked out your scores? This is a fairly recent FICO tweak which can work for or against you. Try to use less than 20 percent of your limit for the best result.
Store Cards Do Not Cut It
While you are working on your credit report repair project, do not apply for any store cards. And if you already have some, start chipping away at the balances until they are zeroed out, and leave them there. Store cards should only be used if there is some great financial incentive. Use them, save a buck, and they pay them off. There are a few reasons. The biggie is that FICO just does not like them. They will yield the smallest credit repair benefit when you manage them well, but they will kill you if you do not.
Send Dispute Letters
Review your credit reports. Grab a highlighter and mark up everything that looks funny. Send dispute letters to the credit bureaus. And if you do not like the results, dispute again. If you want the job done like a pro, you can hire a pro. Credit repair services are a great value and will manage the whole dispute routine for you until the job is done. They may even spot a few choice ways to get your scores to pop. It is worth it.
Got a Few Bucks?
If you have any collections, now is the time to try to negotiate a deal. Here we are in 2010, and collectors are hungry. Plan your call in advance. Have the money to send right on the spot if you strike a good deal, and let them know you can. It is a great credit repair tip. You may even be able to get them to knock the collection off your report. The last Friday of the month can be a great time to try this. Good luck!
Copyright © 2010 Sky Blue Credit Repair. All Content. All Rights Reserved.
Reach Your Full Potential
In spite of the FTC self-help credit repair campaign, the fact remains that there are few people capable of managing the job of credit repair on their own, at least to the extent that the full potential of the process is realized. And it is my opinion that to reach anything less than full potential is to fall far short.
It is About Your Life
Your credit will dictate the availability of so many financial opportunities, from low loan rates to employment opportunities, that the suggestion that a job half-done is sufficient is sadly remiss, if not altogether irresponsible. For some, those with generally good credit, credit repair may not be a necessity. And in many cases a simple dispute letter will rectify the occasional minor error, but this is too often not the case.
When a Professional is Needed
There are many analogies that could be used to describe the situational need for professional help, vs. a self–help approach. You may be able to change the oil in your car, but not rebuild the transmission. A headache may need nothing more than an aspirin, but more serious discomfort may require a doctor. Credit repair is no different.
The Cost of Omission
Many people perform an annual credit report examination, scanning for unrecognized accounts or late payments. For most people this is the full extent of their assessment. In fact, for many people, this level of examination may overlook a wide range of reporting errors that fall into the technical category of compliance violations. Without training, these errors would be neglected. And the cost may be dramatic.
The Case of Charge Offs
As an example, anyone that ever had a charged off credit card is likely to have seen their original debt sold to a third part collector. Collectors buy and sell debt regularly, often flipping their portfolios as often as twice per year. When a collection account is sold, the selling collector is required to remove their version of the account from the debtor credit report. They often do not do so; this may cost the victim significant credit score points.
Beyond the Clean Up
Professional credit repair services will conduct a depth of examination sufficient to find all of the reporting errors, regardless of their subtlety, adding immense value to the process, a value which can be measured in FICO points. But the importance of hiring a professional may go well beyond the clean-up phase of the process.
Getting the Edge
Professional credit repair services, at least the best of those available, will provide an additional edge to those looking for the most excellent results by offering critical FICO score credit structuring advice. In many cases a careful structuring of debt, account types, and balances, in conformance with the FICO score model, can mean a major boost to your scores.
Do Not Settle
What do you want from your credit report? If you have ad credit issues, now is the time to rise to the occasion and demand that your credit be completely free from score depressing errors. Unless you have the time and inclination to master the task on your own, consider hiring a credit repair service for the job. Do not settle for a job half done.
Copyright © 2010 Sky Blue Credit Repair. All Content. All Rights Reserved.
Many Collections are Not Valid
Many people in credit repair programs face some level of collection activity. Between phone calls, dunning letters, and the often cryptic list of debts that appear on credit reports, it can be problematic to identify legitimate debts and determine the best course of action.
A Unique Breed of Collector
There is a unique breed of collector that specializes in buying and dunning ancient collection accounts; debts over seven years old. These accounts are unattractive to first level collectors as they are beyond the statute of limitation for enforcing through the courts. They are also beyond the credit bureau reporting period limit.
Profiting From Ignorance
Of interest to anyone in a credit repair program, the age of the debt means that legal action can be neutralized by the statute of limitation defense, and any threat of reporting to the credit bureaus is not valid. The lack of legal leverage does not stop these collectors from vigorously practicing their craft. In fact, these last-chance collectors represent the most profitable part of the collection industry!
Credit Repair Education Pays
What is their secret? They prey on consumers who do not know their rights. If you are contacted by a collector about an ancient debt, just examine the statute of limitation, check out the reporting period limit, and send the collector a cease communication letter. They will go away forever. There are many great credit repair resources online. A little education goes a long way!
Another Common Quirk
While a bit of credit repair education can arm you with the knowledge you need to vanquish these collectors of ancient debt, there is another type of collection account that can be eliminated quickly with a dispute letter, if you know what to look for…
Compliance Failures
A significant percentage of all collections on credit reports fall into a very special category. These accounts are everywhere. Left alone they can linger for years, in some cases decades. They have the power to depress the credit scores of their unfortunate victims, often dramatically. And they should not be reporting.
Failure to Vacate
Collectors buy and sell debt. Over the last decade this practice has become commonplace, and much more frequent. Many collectors will sell an account in as little as six months if it does not pay. When an account is sold the collector is supposed to vacate all credit bureau reporting. Sadly, this often does not happen. And yet a little credit repair could eliminate the offending account completely.
The Credit Repair Solution
If you have collections on your credit report, it is fairly certain that you are a victim of this type of defunct account. Credit repair is the answer. The first and most obvious indication is the presence of more than one collection account for the same debt. If you examine your credit report and find several collections for the same debt, all but one is erroneous. And the last one may be too!
The Value of Vigilance
Given the speed at which collectors churn their portfolio these days. It is quite feasible that even the most recent collection on your report is in error. Once you remove all of the duplicates, examine the last, most recent, account. It may be legitimate, but if the reporting date is over six months, or if you have been contacted by a different collector since the reporting date, it may be a candidate for credit repair as well. Good luck!
Copyright © 2010 Sky Blue Credit Repair. All Content. All Rights Reserved.