40 Credit Repair Secrets

Clever Credit Repair - 40 Credit Repair Secrets

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1. Get a copy of your credit report from all 3 bureaus
Because all 3 bureaus may have different data about your credit, it is a
good idea to get a credit report from all 3 bureaus. Luckily you can get all
3 in a combined report. We have reviewed what we feel is the top 5 3-
bureau credit reports here.

2. Read your credit report and review for innacuracies
Your credit report will be divided into 4 sections. Identifying information.
credit history, public records and inquiries. Check over your personal
information for innacuracies such as incorrect SSN number or credit lines
that don't belong to you.

3. Myth: Checking your own credit will do damage to your credit
This is false. Checking your own credit is considered a quot;soft inquiryquot; and
will not be a blemish on your credit report.

4. Soft Inquiries vs. Hard Inquiries
A hard inquiry is when a lender checks your credit. An example might be
when you apply for a credit card. Too many quot;hard inquiriesquot; can
temporarily drop your score. Since very often you may be applying for
many to many places at one time for a credit card or auto loan, all quot;hard
inquiriesquot; in a 2 week period are considered as one inquiry. A soft inquiry
is when you check your own credit report and is not counted against you.

5. Pay your bills on time
Probably the number one thing you can do to keep your credit in good
standing is to pay your bills on time. Because even one 30 day late
payment can adversely affect your credit, this is important. If you're not
sure if a creditor or utility then pay it on time. Don't forget about the less
obvious bills like a gym membership or movie rental place.

6. Online bill paying
For those bills you know report to a collection agency, it would be
advisable to setup online bill paying. This way you know for sure those
bills are being paid on time.

7. What if I'm not sure a creditor reports to an agency?
If you are not sure which of your creditors report to a collection agency,
then call them and ask. It's really that easy. Make a list of all the bills you
pay each month. Call each one and check if they report to a collection
agency.

ORDER THE CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE NOW TO IMPROVE YOUR
CREDIT SCORE AS MUCH AS 249 POINTS



8. What is a credit score and how does it help me?
Your credit score is what lenders use to determine whether or not to
extend you credit. A number too low and you will not get credit. A number
that is average and you will get a high interest rate. A good score and you
will get credit at a decent interest rate.

9. Having a good credit score will save you thousands of dollars!
Because you will be extended credit with the best interest rate, you will
save tens of thousands of dollars on home mortgages and thousands of
dollars on interest on auto loans and credit cards.

10. So what is a good credit score?
Below 620 Poor Credit (in other words - hurting!)
620-660 You will be extended Sub-Prime financing. Still, ouch!
660-720 This is Average, but you will still be assessed higher rates.
720-750 This is Excellent. We all aspire to this.
750 + Champaign pours from the heavens. Perfect Score.

11. What is a FICO score and why is that important?
There are many scores out there. A score is basically compiled from good
and bad information from your credit report. The FICO score is a score
compiled from software created by the Fair Isaac Corporation. Each of
the major credit reporting agencies provides a FICO score. This FICO
score is what is used by most lenders. All other scores attempt to
simulate what your FICO score might be.

12. Who is the Fair Isaac Corporation?
The Fair Isaac Corporation is the developer of the FICO score. Because
each of the big credit reporting agencies is slightly different in the way they
present your credit report, a different credit scoring program was written
for each. Each credit reporting agency then will have it's own FICO score
representing your credit. Since a lender may pull your credit score from
only one reporting agency or a combination of scores, it's advisable for
you to find out what your score is at each credit reporting agency.

13. What are the 3 big credit reporting agencies?
The 3 national credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

14. Myth: Closing old accounts will improve my credit score.
This depends. Old accounts typically have credit history associated with
them, so removing them removes the history. Any negative items
associated with that account will not be removed. Most likely this will have
an adverse affect on your score. One possibility where it might help is if
you have too many credit cards. Choose wisely which accounts to delete.



15. Myth: Paying off creditors with negative data will help my score
There are ways to remove negative data from your account. For
information, see The Credit Secrets Bible for techniques on how to do this.
Paying off an account will mark an account as paid. But negative items
will remain on the credit report without attempting more advanced
methods.

16. Co-signing a loan can be bad news
Be careful when co-signing a loan. You take as much repsonsibility for
paying the loan as the other co-signee.

17. Keep low balances on credit cards
Keeping a high balance will affect your debt to credit ratio. To keep your
score high, you need to keep you balances below 50%. Ideally you want
to keep your score high, you should maintain a 30-35% balance and make
your payments on time.

18. Debt to Credit ratio
Keeping a proper debt to credit ratio will help improve your credit score.
Believe it or not paying off your credit cards every month doesn't improve
your credit score. It will actually drive it down slightly. Lenders look for
balances on credit cards and someone who can make consistent monthly
payments.

19. Are you saying keep a 35% balance on my credit cards?
Yes and no. If you are in the market for an auto loan or home mortage/
equity line of credit, then I would suggest maintaining a 35% ratio on your
credit cards (revolving credit) to drive up your credit score. Start this
process about 3 to 4 months before applying for new credit.

20. Revolving Credit vs Installment Credit
Revolving credit is credit from credit cards. Any credit that doesn't have a
fixed length monthly payment is considered revolving credit. You can
borrow and pay back at will. Installment Credit is fixed payment credit like
an auto loan or mortgage loan.

21. PFD - Pay for Delete
When negotiating with collection agencies, always try and get a PFD (Pay
for Deletion). In a nutshell, they have the ability to remove the negative
information from your credit report. In negotiation, always try for PFD. It
would even be worth paying a little more to get the negative information
deleted.




22. How do I establish credit in the first place?
Credit is a two way street. Every time you apply for credit, the lender will
pull your credit report and score from one, two or all three credit bureaus.
Based on the information they see they will perhaps extend you credit in
the form of a credit card or loan. Once you have credit established the
lender will then report to these same credit agencies any negative
information such as late payments.

23. You will need a balance of credit types in your record
In order to maintain a good credit score you will need different types of
credit history in your credit report. You most likely won't be extended a
$500k loan if you only have a few credit cards. Lenders like to see
installment loans as well (even ones that have been paid in full) like auto
loans, school loans and mortgage loans.

24. Myth: My credit report is identical between credit bureaus.
This one is false. Because lenders aren't required to report your credit
activities, they may report to only one, two, all three or even none of the
credit bureaus. For this reason, each of the credit bureaus is most likely
maintaining different credit histories on you.

25. Credit Monitoring
Most of the services today that you can order a copy of your credit report
from also offer a service called credit monitoring. Credit monitoring
allows you to do several things. Some allow you to view your credit report
at anytime while on their service. Most allow alerts to be setup in the
event of major changes to your credit report or score. This can help you
identify the possibility of Identity Theft.

26. Where can I go to establish Credit Monitoring?
We have done an extensive review of credit monitoring sites here.

27. Identity Theft and credit monitoring
Monitoring your credit is certainly one way to detect Identity Theft. Most of
the credit monitoring services offer alerts that can indicate the possibility of
Identity Theft as well.

28. Shred all those credit card offers
Shred all those credit card offers. One of the easiest way for someone to
steal your credit (identity theft), is to hijack pre-approved credit card offers
and fill them out in your name.

29. Shred anything with an account number or an SSN
I hope this is an obvious one but before throwing away anything with an
account number or SSN, shred it first!



30. Disputing Negative Information
If you have bogus negative information on your credit report you will need to
submit a dispute with each credit agency that is reporting this information.
Contact each of the 3 big bureaus for the necessary dispute forms. I suggest
filling out the forms by hand and sending certified mail. The credit agencies have
30 days to verify and remove the erroneous information.

All these advanced techniques are covered in the Credit Secrets Bible

31. What do I do if my Identity is stolen?
Keep good records. Send everything by certified mail and keep a record of all
correspondence and communications. You may need it if you find yourself in a
lawsuit.

Call the police. Report whatever was stolen. Although most likely they won't be
able to help you, the police report may be able to help convince creditors of what
has taken place.

Contact the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC's identity theft hot line is
877-438-4338. Call them and file a complaint. This may help to lead to law
enforcement action.

Continue to check your credit report. New accounts don't show up for sometimes
1-month up to 6 months.

Contact each of the credit bureaus and put a fraud alert on your file. This will aid
in preventing new accounts to be opened without your express permission.

Freeze fraudulent accounts. Make contact with all the creditors, banks, utility
companies etc., and have them freeze all the fraudulent accounts. You will
probably only be liable for only $50.00 of the fraudulent charges against you.

32. Contacting Experian
PO Box 2002

Allen, TX 75013

(888) 397-3742

Web site: www.experian.com




33. Contacting Equifax
P.O. Box 740256

Atlanta, GA 30374

(800)-685-1111

Web site: www.equifax.com

34. Contacting TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000

Chester, PA 19022

(800) 888-4213

Web site: www.transunion.com

35. What factors make up your credit score?
35% of your score is based on Payment History.
30% of your score is based on Amounts you owe.
15% of your score is based on Credit History
10% of your score is based on New Credit (new accounts and recent requests)
10% of your score is based on Credit in Use (types of credit - mortgages, auto
loans, credit cards, etc.)

36. What is the Credit Secrets Bible?
In this ebook, we have barely tapped some of the really great ideas and trade
secrets revealed in this bible of credit repair. Here are a few more examples.

Sub-Prime Merchandise Cards for establishing credit
Advanced Credit Profiling
Forms, Forms, Forms (and good ones!)
It basically lets you repair credit like the pros!
Check it out here.

37. What if you just don't want to do it yourself?
There are many credit repair services out there. Probably the most trusted and
used would have to be Lexington Law Firm.

38. You can always file for Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is something to avoid at all cost. Other options might be consolidated
loan payoffs or negotiating with creditors on an individual basis. Although
bankruptcy might seem like an option, please make it your last resort.



40. You have to hire a lawyer to fix your credit

You might be surprised to find out that lawyers and credit repair agencies
don't have any more clout in cleaning up your credit than you do. What
they do have are the right forms and strategies for attempting to remove
negative information from your credit report. You too can have access to
the the same strategies and forms the pros have here.


40 Credit Repair Secrets

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