Improve Your Credit Scores

What you do affects your credit score or FICO.  Your ultimate goal should be to improve your credit scores. First of all, there is no perfect credit score. The average FICO consumer credit score today is right around 678. Credit scores are not affected by race, creed, education or religion.  Credit scores are individual, meaning married couples do not share a score. But what we must remember is that you can improve your credit scores.. in all 3 bureaus.

What affects your credit score negatively? Ughhhh Bad Credit.

  • Foreclosures
  • Bankruptcy
  • Tax Liens
  • Late Payments
  • Percent of Credit Use to Available Credit
  • Too Many Requests for Credit
  • Having No Credit

So, on a daily basis, what do you need to do to stabilize or improve your credit score? Woohoo Positive Credit.

  • Make Payments on Time
  • Keep Your Balance on Each Card at or Below 30% of Available Credit
  • Make Use of Credit. Do Not Have A Zero Balance
  • Keep Those Credit Cards (Credit Age)

It all sounds so simple but in life, we realize that payments can’t always be made on time. There is job loss, you might move and the bills might not catch up to you, and credit issuers may lower your credit limit and push you past the use of 30% of your credit on any one card. Look, at least 1/3rd of all credit reports have an error in them. Again, forget about the elusive perfect credit score. You should be asking… how do I increase my credit score? What’s a good credit score? Our goal is to get our FICO into the 720+ area. We might as well look at our credit reports and credit scores and right any wrongs in those credit reports.

Fix Your Credit Score

July 18th, 2009 | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments

Do It Yourself Credit Repair

Ok… now that you’ve highlighted the negative information on your credit report, its time to get down to the facts. Do you see any information that is at all questionable? I’m talking about incorrect balances, payments that have been incorrectly marked as late, any accounts that are not yours, chargeoffs or collection accounts which are not correct, an account that you have been paying on which is market too new to report, etc..  Remember, it is your right to dispute ANY information in your credit report that is not correct.
Having said that, I need to get on my high horse here and tell you that I’ve been a victim of identity theft multiple times and each time it has affected my credit reports and credit score. Do yourself a favor and stop identity theft today!

It is time for do it yourself credit repair.

Do it yourself credit repair involves writing a dispute letter. I’ll give you an example of a dispute letter below along with the information that you will need to send the credit bureau that is reporting the information incorrectly.

Sample Do It Yourself Credit Repair Letter

Date

Your Name

Your Social Security Number

Your Address,
City, State, Zip Code

Complaint Department
Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code

To Whom it May Concern:

I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. The item(s) that are in dispute is (are) circled on my credit report.

This item (identify item(s) disputed by name and account number) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe the reason why). I am requesting that the item be deleted (or request another specific change) to correct the information on my account.

(for example   Bank of America VISA Acct: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx-xxx: This account is listed as being 30 days late. I have never been late on this account.)

Enclosed is a copy of my credit report (if you have any backup information supporting your dispute also include and describe the backup information). Credit reporting laws ensure that bureaus report only accurate credit information. Please remove this inaccurate information as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Your name

Well there you have it.  The above do it yourself credit repair letter is very basic but gives you a general idea of how to repair your own credit. What happens next is that the reporting agency contacts the credit in question and they have 30 days to respond regarding the dispute that you have presented. If the creditor does not respond, the dispute should be removed or corrected on your credit report. If the creditor confirms the information, you may just have to keep on top of it and write another do it yourself credit repair letter a couple of months down the road.

If you need more information and the fast track way to fix your credit score, visit:
Fix Your Credit Score

July 20th, 2009 | Posted in Do it yourself credit repair | No Comments

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