Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Debt-Free Movement and Credit Repair
On August 4, 2011, the national debt was reportedly soaring at $14.34 trillion dollars. Fortunately, U.S. consumers are not following suit. Despite the government’s declining financial status, households across the country are taking a closer look at their own creditworthiness and, where applicable, their credit repair as well. As of 2011, the average credit score rose for the fourth consecutive year, totaling just under 700 points. Not only does this trend promise a brighter future for individuals, it could help jump-start the economy as well.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Credit Reports
Three Credit Bureaus Means Repairing Three Credit Reports
How many credit reports do you have? It would make sense to most of us to only have one. Right? Somewhere in the credit industry somebody came up with the great idea to have more than one credit report. Why?As it has worked out over the years there has become three major credit bureaus and each one of them keep records on consumer credit. When a consumer inquires about credit at a bank, (that is they submitted an application to get a loan) the bank will then run a credit check. This is how the credit bureaus make their money. The information sent from the credit bureau to the bank called a credit report or credit file is paid for by the bank or financial institution. The credit check/credit report fees are many times then passed down and paid for by you, the consumer.
Anyway, three Credit Bureaus means three different yet similar credit reports to keep track of and repair. That means that you may have accounts on one credit report that is not on the other two.
I highly recommend obtaining all three credit reports if you are going to do credit repair on your credit.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Credit Repair Tips
At Credit Innovations, we always try to hammer home one major point to our credit repair services clients, and that’s how important it is to regularly check your credit reports; not only for possible account errors, but also to help fight against identity theft.
But what is it exactly you should be looking for on your report when you check it? What are the signs that point out something may be amiss, and how can you root them out before they become a major issue? Well, look no further than the list below…
How to spot inaccurate account information
One of the first things our credit coaches will check on a consumer’s credit report is name, address, and social security variations (if any) listed in the personal information section. While having the wrong address on your report won’t trip up your credit score, having the wrong name or SS number can really cause a problem.
If you see your name misspelled on your report, or a wrong SS number – even if they’re only off by a letter or number – make sure you bring it to the credit bureau’s attention as soon as you can.
As to the actual accounts listed in your report, you’ll want to make sure the account history matches your own records, that all of your open credit accounts are listed as open (having them reporting closed can affect your score), and that any negative information that may have shown up in your credit history is being reported within the Federal and State statute of limitations. If they’re reporting past the 7 year timeframe, they can be disputed.
Rooting out identity theft
Always make sure to check your credit report for accounts that aren’t your own. When you pull a fresh copy of your report, check each of your credit accounts thoroughly to make sure they’re not only reporting accurately, but that they’re yours to begin with. Any accounts that don’t look familiar at all should be disputed with the credit bureaus.
Another good way to nip any attempt at identity theft in the bud is to check over your recent credit inquiries. If you see inquiries from companies that you didn’t authorize to check your credit report, or that you never applied with, it may be time to consider putting a hold on any credit applications and inquiries unless expressly authorized by you and only you. No sense in having to go through debt settlement for an account you never knew you had to begin with.
But what is it exactly you should be looking for on your report when you check it? What are the signs that point out something may be amiss, and how can you root them out before they become a major issue? Well, look no further than the list below…
How to spot inaccurate account information
One of the first things our credit coaches will check on a consumer’s credit report is name, address, and social security variations (if any) listed in the personal information section. While having the wrong address on your report won’t trip up your credit score, having the wrong name or SS number can really cause a problem.
If you see your name misspelled on your report, or a wrong SS number – even if they’re only off by a letter or number – make sure you bring it to the credit bureau’s attention as soon as you can.
As to the actual accounts listed in your report, you’ll want to make sure the account history matches your own records, that all of your open credit accounts are listed as open (having them reporting closed can affect your score), and that any negative information that may have shown up in your credit history is being reported within the Federal and State statute of limitations. If they’re reporting past the 7 year timeframe, they can be disputed.
Rooting out identity theft
Always make sure to check your credit report for accounts that aren’t your own. When you pull a fresh copy of your report, check each of your credit accounts thoroughly to make sure they’re not only reporting accurately, but that they’re yours to begin with. Any accounts that don’t look familiar at all should be disputed with the credit bureaus.
Another good way to nip any attempt at identity theft in the bud is to check over your recent credit inquiries. If you see inquiries from companies that you didn’t authorize to check your credit report, or that you never applied with, it may be time to consider putting a hold on any credit applications and inquiries unless expressly authorized by you and only you. No sense in having to go through debt settlement for an account you never knew you had to begin with.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Credit Repair
Credit Repair for Everyone
Everyone wants their credit score to be as high as possible. Not everyone is a candidate for credit repair, but most people can utilize these score raising techniques to one degree or another. For some it is a matter of recovering after a period of financial difficulty, others may only need a little tune-up. Here are the best ways to improve your credit scores, and keep them up!
Positive and Negative Issues
There are two areas that must be addressed as part of any credit repair effort, the positive and the negative. Without positive credit your scores will go nowhere regardless of any progress you make removing erroneous derogatory information. And unless you clean up the negative errors that are weighing down your scores you will be handicapped without the presence of positive credit on your report.
Open and Active Accounts
Building positive data on your report for credit repair purposes does not have to be difficult. Secured credit cards are the perfect way to develop positive history even if your current scores make it impossible for you to qualify for regular unsecured accounts. If your scores are not too bad you may be able to obtain regular cards. Either way, make sure that you have open active accounts showing on your report.
Managing Open Accounts
Before we discuss credit repair techniques for dealing with the negative issues on your report it is important to touch on the ways to manage your open active accounts. It is common sense that you must make your payments on time; a late payment can be a terrible setback. But if you really want the best scores it is critical that you maintain your balances properly.
Using Your Balances Properly
High revolving balances will hurt your credit scores. Conversely, low balances will help. The extent to which this factor can impact your results is very dramatic. There are certain percentage breakpoints that you can focus on: 20, 40, 60, and 80 percent limit usage. If you run a balance up over 80 percent your scores could fall by 100 points. The best credit repair results will come from bringing your balances under the 20 percent mark.
Finding the Errors Can Be Hard
The negative information on your report presents a different set of challenges. Most people these days are aware of the prevalence of reporting errors. What most people are not cognizant of is how subtle some of these issues can be. It is not always easy to find errors. It is not just a matter of looking for late payments you do not recognize. Many errors are hard-to-spot legal violations by collectors and other participants in the system.
Everyone wants their credit score to be as high as possible. Not everyone is a candidate for credit repair, but most people can utilize these score raising techniques to one degree or another. For some it is a matter of recovering after a period of financial difficulty, others may only need a little tune-up. Here are the best ways to improve your credit scores, and keep them up!
Positive and Negative Issues
There are two areas that must be addressed as part of any credit repair effort, the positive and the negative. Without positive credit your scores will go nowhere regardless of any progress you make removing erroneous derogatory information. And unless you clean up the negative errors that are weighing down your scores you will be handicapped without the presence of positive credit on your report.
Open and Active Accounts
Building positive data on your report for credit repair purposes does not have to be difficult. Secured credit cards are the perfect way to develop positive history even if your current scores make it impossible for you to qualify for regular unsecured accounts. If your scores are not too bad you may be able to obtain regular cards. Either way, make sure that you have open active accounts showing on your report.
Managing Open Accounts
Before we discuss credit repair techniques for dealing with the negative issues on your report it is important to touch on the ways to manage your open active accounts. It is common sense that you must make your payments on time; a late payment can be a terrible setback. But if you really want the best scores it is critical that you maintain your balances properly.
Using Your Balances Properly
High revolving balances will hurt your credit scores. Conversely, low balances will help. The extent to which this factor can impact your results is very dramatic. There are certain percentage breakpoints that you can focus on: 20, 40, 60, and 80 percent limit usage. If you run a balance up over 80 percent your scores could fall by 100 points. The best credit repair results will come from bringing your balances under the 20 percent mark.
Finding the Errors Can Be Hard
The negative information on your report presents a different set of challenges. Most people these days are aware of the prevalence of reporting errors. What most people are not cognizant of is how subtle some of these issues can be. It is not always easy to find errors. It is not just a matter of looking for late payments you do not recognize. Many errors are hard-to-spot legal violations by collectors and other participants in the system.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Credit card tips. Help your credit out.
Leave your balances at 30% and below of your credit limit. Simple as that. You want your score to go up every month? Then, do it. Any open balances higher than that will drop your credit score.
Have a great day folks!!
www.cicreditrepair.com
Have a great day folks!!
www.cicreditrepair.com
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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