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Hi. Thanks for all the info I found on this site. I found it very useful. I do have a few questions maybe you can help me answer though…

Why do all my credit reports differ so much?

For example, a GMAC repo was removed from TransUnion due to its age, yet …

Original article from: Broken Credit Blog — Let’s Talk About Free Credit Repair Mortgages

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My husband and I have had our share of bad credit, but have recently tried to clean it up and made it a point to never be late on anything…however when we tried to get furniture we were denied by 3 offices…what could have happened…confused

L.V.

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Hi L.V.,

Lending in all forms: …

Original article from: Broken Credit Blog — Let’s Talk About Free Credit Repair Mortgages

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It was added an hour or so ago and I already see people are registering for it, so may as well make a post about it.  I was going to wait until January 1, 2008, but what the heck.  Why wait?

The Raise Your Credit Score seminar for 2008 is available …

Original article from: Broken Credit Blog — Let’s Talk About Free Credit Repair Mortgages

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Simply asking a creditor to a remove bad credit entry is probably something not too many people think would render any positive results. You might be even more skeptical if the debt is paid. After all, you have already paid the debt, what reason do they have to dedicate their resources to removing a bad entry from your credit report? Well, they don’t have any reason, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

When I finished college I forgot to turn in my dorm room key. A couple of week later I received a bill in the mail for $70. My response was something like, “Screw you, I have given your institution over 20 grand for a semi-lousy education –most of which I could have learned on my own.” Their response was something like, “Okay, we’re sending this to collections.” Now I don’t know how the debt got paid, because I never paid it (for I vowed never to do so). Perhaps in the chaos of wrapping up everything, my parents paid it?? I cannot be for certain, but still, it showed up as ‘paid’ on my credit report.

Forward 3 years

The entry still showed up as ‘paid collection’ on my credit report and was therefore hurting my credit score 50+ points. Here is how I got it removed: I kindly asked them to remove it out of goodwill using a little known method called ‘writing a goodwill letter’.

If memory serves me correctly, my letter went something like this:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Following college graduation, I accidently forgot to return my dorm room key. The university sent me a bill for $70 which I was unable to pay. I had very little money and was trying to get on my feet, and therefore the $70 dorm room key charge was sent to your collection agency. The collection has since been paid. I am now on my feet and attempting to purchase a home for my family, but am unable to receive decent mortgage rates due to having a collection on my credit report. I am kindly asking that perhaps out of goodwill, your agency would consider removing this collection from my credit report and thus helping me purchase a home.
Best regards,
Ryan Lynch

I didn’t expect this to work, but three weeks later the collection was completely removed from my credit report.

Many people have small paid collection entries on their credit report and probably don’t realize how much these little bastards are hurting their credit score. In all sincerity, you’d be surprised how well goodwill letters work. They work best on small collection accounts, and the key is to make them feel sorry for you.

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Original article from: The Better Credit Blog - Credit help, Dispute forms, and Fix bad credit

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If most of you reading this are like me (which is unlikely because my mom always told me I was special) you receive a lot of pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. Do you typically just throw it away? If you do, don’t. The advice I am about to give might seem overly cautious, but more and more people are going through trash to retrieve information to steal identities. What should you do then? Good question. What I do is to take the response card and anything with personal information on it, and put it through the shredder. This way, no one can go through your trash, fill out the forms, and receive a pre-approved credit card in your name. Taking this measure to protect your identity and credit score can go a very long way. Better yet, you can also do what I have done, in an attempt to cut down on the pre-approved offers, is to take yourself off the list. You can “opt out” by going to http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and taking yourself off the mailing lists for pre-approved offers. If for some reason you can’t opt out online, you can also call their hotline at 1-888-5OPTOUT.

And remember, keep reading to increase your credit score. I received a report from one subscriber (aka a friend) who has increased his score by 40+ points in just a few months from tips that have appeared on this blog.

Original article from: Increase-Credit-Score.com

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I stumbled over this the other day when checking my bank account with Bank of America. Currently, under the Customer Service tab when logged in, choose monitor credit report. You can do a 30 day free trial, assuming you cancel before the 30 days, and get your credit reports and scores from the 3 agencies for free. I am assuming this is a standing offer. See the screenshot for exactly how to do it.

Original article from: Increase-Credit-Score.com

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Many people think that it is only individuals without money that should be worrying about their credit scores and reports. Late night marketing blitz’s on TV and internet ads don’t help this stigma since they actively target middle to lower class individuals. While credit scores are an important thing to worry about for these individuals, especially since people with less money might be more likely to mismanage their credit, it is a topic everyone should be concerned with. I even have a recent family anecdote to back this up.

In a recent conversation with my parents, who are in their 50’s and very financially sound, my mother told me how they recently had their credit card number stolen. To make a long story short, someone stole their number and ran up several charges on their credit card for Adult website memberships. It was because of this that my mom started asking me what I knew about Identity theft. I asked her if they had ever checked their credit report to see what accounts were open in their name. I was shocked to hear her say “I don’t even know what our credit score is, I don’t think we’ve ever run our own credit report”. I told her she should do it ASAP and that one of the best ways to check for identity theft is to see if there are any open lines of credit they did not authorize. Actively checking credit history can greatly reduce the impact of identity theft and also catch it at the same time. Not to mention, that it is incredibly easy to get a free credit report these days, so there are no excuses.

It just goes to show you that even financial sound or wealthier individuals should be concerned with their credit score/credit report, it isn’t just about getting a lower interest rate.

Original article from: Increase-Credit-Score.com

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I have made quite a few posts on here over the last several months so I figured that I would do a recap of everything as a quick resource to find relevant information.

Back in May I presented 4 credit score myths and answers to common credit questions. I also broke down what many people feel is very complicated, and showed how credit scores are calculated. Then, in basically a compilation of the information, I showed how all this can be combined to get lower mortgage rates. I also posted about several easy ways to check your credit score for free, and honestly, I think this is the most valuable post on here.

Remember, increasing your credit score is an ongoing process, don’t get discouraged. To break it down to the simplest form, develop long credit history, control your spending, and pay your bills on time. If you’re still having trouble doing it yourself, even after reading everything on this blog, using a debt negotiation company might be a viable alternative. I would suggest doing research on credit card reduction and bill consolidation to see if it is right for you.

Also on a side note, in the UK, landlords have access to services where they can buy a tenant credit report on line, often within a few hours of placing an order. Such reports provide a detailed tenant credit history helping landlords to make the optimum decision when letting a property.

Original article from: Increase-Credit-Score.com

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Having bad credit can definitely be a problem, especially when you’re trying to buy a house or a condo. Under current market conditions, it will become a little harder to get many offers on mortgages - especially since some of the sub-prime lenders have taken a serious hit. You should know, though, that there still are some lenders who are looking to lend money were it is needed. Here are some things you can do to get a mortgage with a bad credit rating.

The first thing you should do is to increase your credit rating as much as possible. The things that will effect your credit the most will be determined by how low your credit rating is. You will get a better interest rate if you do a full-documentation mortgage, rather than a no doc mortgage. The lender will be more inclined to extend the loan if you have full-time employment, as opposed to being self-employed, and have a rather steady work record - you don’t change jobs often.

Another thing that a lender looks for in your credit score is to determine what is the amount of debt you have compared to your present income. For the best interest terms, this needs to be below 36% of your pretax income. This percentage does include your mortgage, taxes, and insurance costs. The closer you are to being near or below this percentage, the better deal you get.

If it means waiting a little bit before you apply for your bad credit remortgage - it would be worth it. You could save thousands of dollars simply by reducing some of your debt first. Another way to get an even greater level of savings would be to make a larger down payment. By putting something down, even if it is around 5% - that will give you a better interest rate – and more savings, as compared to someone who doesn’t.

You will want to go to a mortgage broker to save some time. Most banks will not give people with bad credit a mortgage. A broker, or a broker Web site can enable you to quickly receive a number of quotes from one simple application. Be careful about lenders, who want to give you too much loan, or who encourage you to buy a larger house than you can afford - they are not looking out for your best interest.

As you look over the various quotes for mortgages that you received, be very careful about hastily taking one - just because it will do, rather than because it is the best. When you have bad credit, you especially want the best deal, because it will enable you to strengthen your credit rating even more.

If necessary, you may need to take a loan at the higher interest rate now, and then see about refinancing it a few years down the road – giving you much better terms. The one drawback here, though, is to make sure you can handle the payments adequately until you can refinance. Never take a loan if you can’t afford the highest possible rate, especially with an ARM that can reset.

It is also important that you read up on the different types of mortgages and become familiar with the terms before you apply. This will enable you to compare mortgages and make the right choice.

Original article from: Increase-Credit-Score.com

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From time to time I will be having people guest write on this blog. This will allow for different perspectives, especially for people in markets outside of the US that I normally do not cover. This will be our first guest article, from friends at Nationsfinance.co.uk.

Every one will sooner or later have need of emergency cash. It can often come at the most inconvenient times, too. This means that when you need the cash - you need it in a hurry. Here is how you can get that emergency cash you need from a payday loan - regardless of your credit score.

Payday loans, also called cash advances and other things, have not been around all that long - but many people have already had to use them at one time or another. The best part is that you can get one in most places you go. Some states may not allow them, or if they do, may limit the amount of cash you can get. For instance, some place the maximum amount of cash at $500, and will only permit an individual to have one loan at a time. Other states, however, permit up to about $1,500 loans and the possibility of having up to three payday loans out at one time.

Your credit score is not a problem to the payday loan lenders. It will not even be checked in most cases - simply look at their advertising to find out. While they do not care about your credit rating, they will want to know about your employment and income. You will need to have been employed at the same place in order to qualify, and you will need to be taking home more than $1,000 per month in income. Those on a fixed income may make less than this, but will also not be able to take out as much.

Besides your employment, you will need to have had a checking account open for at least two months. After any payday loans are approved, they will deposit your money directly into it, and will take the money out from it when it is due.

In order to get your loan in a hurry, you will need to be prepared to fax them a few documents. If required (many do not require it - but it means that it will usually take longer - called no fax), you will need to fax them copies of your recent pay stubs and possibly income tax reports or bank statements if you are self-employed. Faxing will enable you to get what you want - the cash - in about an hour.

Even though the payday loan lender will not check your credit score, they do have a system that they will check with, called Telecheck. This computerized system informs the payday loan industry about who currently has payday loans out - and how many. This serves as a protection for them.

The good thing, though, is that having no credit is not a problem with your getting a payday loan. You can still have your cash in about an hour. One restriction, though, is that the best time to apply for a loan is Monday through Thursday. Applying too late on Friday, however, may mean that you do not get your money until Tuesday. Be sure to shop around for your best results and lowest interest rates.

Original article from: Increase-Credit-Score.com

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