Jim Kemish asked:
Credit Repair is About Financial Health
Credit repair, in the final analysis, is about your financial health. You may start a credit repair program with concerns about the accuracy of your credit report, but in the end the real benefit of healthy credit is money in your pocket. Credit repair translates into a lower cost of borrowing, and consequently more room in your budget for saving.
Accelerate the Process
Are you ready to leave your financial stress behind? You can do this. Regardless of the current condition of your credit, a proactive approach can transform your financial life, and sooner than you think. Don’t make the mistake of believing that you are destined to spend years in credit limbo waiting for time to heal the issues of the past. An intelligent approach to credit repair will accelerate the process dramatically.
Two Basic Credit Repair Steps
There are two basic steps involved in the credit repair process. Each is as important as the other and cannot be ignored. When it comes to credit repair this balanced approach is required. Done right the results are dramatic. Are you ready to change your life, clean up your credit reports, boost your credit scores and enjoy all of the benefits that come with great credit? Let’s get started.
Understanding the Errors
The first step in the credit repair process is a methodical clean up of your credit report. Does this sound too obvious? You will be surprised. Most people imagine that if they recognize an item on their credit report it is accurate. This is far from the case. If you really want credit repair success you have to get rid of your preconceptions. An enormous percentage of derogatory information on consumer’s credit reports is reported in error.
Spotting Compliance Issues
In many cases these errors are compliance issues. Compliance issues are, by definition, based on some real event, but should not be on your report as a matter of law. Examples include duplicate accounts, derogatory information reporting beyond the reporting period limit, and collections reported by collectors whom no longer own the debt (having sold it to another collector, or returned it to the original creditor). Credit repair is about the details. And every detail matters. If you are confused you should hire a reputable credit repair service to manage the cleanup process for you.
Credit Restoration Time
The second step in the credit repair process is the rebuilding of your credit. Here also there are important details many people miss. A misstep can mean the difference between success and failure. Your credit score is determined by both the positive and negative information on your credit report. It is not enough to eliminate the erroneous derogatory information on your report. If you don’t rebuild your credit your credit repair efforts will fail. But you must rebuild it in a certain way.
The Key to Your FICO Score
You may think that if you pay your bills on time you will have good credit scores. Sadly, this is not true at all. The FICO scoring model is not designed to grade you on past behavior. Many people are horrified after a lifetime of perfect payments to discover that their credit scores are awful. This can be shocker. The FICO scoring model is a predictive model designed to measure the risk of future default and puts weight on such factors as account balances, the age of accounts, and even the type of accounts you open. Your credit repair efforts will succeed or fail based on your ability to shape your credit according to this predictive model.
Revolving Debt as a Credit Repair Tool
I suggest that you focus initially on your revolving debt. Stay away from store cards and consumer debt, such as furniture store accounts. Build your credit with MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover Cards. If you don’t have any credit and can’t get a regular credit card, get two secured cards as soon as possible, and keep your balances low. A single maxed our credit card can knock one hundred points from your credit score. For comprehensive advice on balancing your credit contact a credit repair professional.
It’s Up To You
Aside from these two essential steps in the credit repair process there may be other credit repair tools that can add significant value to your efforts. Many lenders offer rehabilitation programs that can bring your accounts current and even remove the derogatory history from your report. If you have active legitimate collections, knowledge of your state statute of limitation is essential and can put you in control. Used properly credit repair can transform your credit and change your financial outlook, but you have to take action. It’s up to you. Good luck!
Copyright © 2008 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.
Ian Webber asked:
Start Your Credit Repair Right
Don’t make the mistake of rushing headlong into the credit repair battle without doing your homework, as you are certain to meet with disappointment. Invest a few hours in the planning stage of the battle and you can insure your success. You credit repair project is too important to make any fundamental errors, most of which can be easily avoided. Let’s look at the key issues that will determine the outcome.
Make a Commitment
Credit repair success requires a commitment to timely payments from this point forward. It’s time to take an honest look at your personal finances. Dissect your budget. Examine every expense, from basic overhead to the discretionary items you purchase each month. Bite the bullet, put it all in writing, and exclude nothing. If you discover that you are spending more money each month than you have coming in you will need to make some changes. Credit repair can totally change your life, boost your confidence, and even lay the foundation for long term wealth, but you need to be honest with yourself, starting now.
Accentuate the Positive
Start with a focus on the positive. Credit repair success demands the presence of open, well managed accounts. We will get to the more exciting subject of removing derogatory information from your reports in a minute, but in the final analysis it is the positive accounts that will define your credit repair results. You must have at least two open mainstream credit cards. If you do not have any open accounts, now is the time to open them. If you are concerned with your ability to get approved, get secured credit cards. They are the perfect credit repair tool.
The Power of Credit Cards
Credit card management for credit repair success is not hard, but there are two important issues that can make or break the outcome. First, credit cards are not created equal. Store cards and consumer credit, such as furniture and electronics store credit lines, are dangerous for your credit; the FICO scoring model is biased against these forms of credit. Mainstream cards such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover are the only way to go. Second, your account balance relative to your credit limit can swing your score one way or the other by as much as 150 points. Max out your credit cards and your scores will plunge. So watch those balances.
Adjust Your Attitude
Once you have gotten a handle on your personal finances and understand the importance of building and maintaining positive credit it’s time to move the troops into position. Let the battle begin. It’s you against the credit reporting errors that have accumulated on your credit report over the years. If you truly want to win the credit repair battle you need to make an attitude adjustment; give yourself the benefit of the doubt. Don’t believe the information on your credit report just because it is in writing. There are dozens of types of errors that are generated from legitimate issues. This means that an item is not necessarily accurate just because it looks familiar.
Challenge Collections
The most common and damaging credit reporting error is the illicit collection. You may be aware that collections are bought and sold on a regular basis. You may, however, not know that when a collector sells an account to another collector or returns it to the original creditor they are supposed to withdraw their reporting altogether. Unfortunately, there is no penalty for failure to comply, and so many illicitly reported collections linger for years. Examine all collections very carefully. If there is any question that the collector still owns the debt you should challenge it.
Continue the Cleanup
When it comes to other derogatory information on your report, such as late payments, you should continue to give yourself the benefit of the doubt. Late payment reporting errors are extremely common and yet often go unchallenged because consumers recall paying a late fee. This is not an indication of the accuracy of the reporting. Late fees are typically charged when a creditor receives your payment 15 days after the due date. Late payments on your credit report, on the other hand, are not supposed to be reported until you are a full 30 days late.
Reach Out for Credit Repair
When it comes to credit repair, every detail matters. As you get your credit repair project underway it is important to know that there is help available if you need it. Just reach out and ask. Most professional credit repair services offer a free consultation; take advantage. Make the most of your call by writing down your list of questions in advance. Get comfortable, take your time, and do it right. Credit repair success will be yours. Good luck!
Copyright © 2009 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.
John Baril asked:
marketers will often fall into the trap of taking a fairly simple process and making it more complicated. This article will go over 4 of the most common errors which will cause harm to an otherwise simple work from home opportunity.
1. One mistake that I see people make all the time is they do not focus on the opportunity that they are promoting. I think we have all been on a website where you come expecting to see a simple work from home opportunity. You quickly exit after you realize it is nothing but a jumbled bunch of ads and words that don’t make any sense.
If you are not focusing on providing quality information on your work from home opportunity, you’ll never make any sales or recruit any new members.
2. Along the lines of focusing is not staying on theme at all. Again looking at some websites, we may see a website about music that contains links to sports, Internet marketing, cooking, or whatever. That is okay if your website is a shopping mall that’s offering a wide variety of products. But if you have a work from home opportunity website that you’re cluttering up with a bunch of ads don’t relate to that theme, you are doing a disservice to your business.
3. Another common error that will kill the best simple work from home opportunity is not collecting names and email addresses from your visitors. Many internet marketers will work very hard to get traffic to their site, and then allow their visitors to depart without signing their guestbook. In a way, that’s what building a mailing list is. You’re asking visitors to give you their contact information so that you can follow up with them in a future date.
Always keep in mind that the average visitor comes to a website and leaves in a matter of a few seconds. You really have only a small window of time to catch their attention.
4. You should be sure and only offer the highest quality products as it relates to your business. The longer you are online, the better chance you have to brand yourself as a work from home opportunity specialist. If you are not offering high quality products that you have pride in, your credibility will be hurt.
This is 4 common errors that can kill the best simple work from home opportunity. No matter how easy it is for your work from home opportunity to make money, it will not work if you do not keep it simple for your website visitors.
