please help with credit repair
please help me--
once i order my credit reports, should i dispute the charges by sending a letter? how do i check to see that the credit company has disputed the account, and how do i follow up within 30 days? can i call the credit companies?
if i have supporting documents for the dispute, should i send those also? how often can i dispute 3-4 errors on my report without having my account red-flagged?
thanks so much for helping me repair my credit!!
I repair credit for clients of my bookkeeping business. We do it online. Make sure to dispute it through all three bureaus, though.
They will send you a new report and notice of their findings once they have settled your dispute. If you dispute it online, you can check back there.
Good Morning Erics;
I have been giving free credit repair seminars for over a year. The one thing you must know is, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME ON FOR PROFIT CREDIT REPAIR CONSULTANTS. The same measures they take to dispute items on your credit report, you can preform the same actions.
Here is what you are going to do, step by step:
1) Get your credit reports from the three reporting agencies.
Equifax
PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 (800) 685-1111
Trans Union
PO Box 390, Springfield, PA 19064-0390 (800) 916-8800
Experian
PO Box 949, Allen, TX 75013 (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742)
2) Each item needs to be disputed on a separate form. In otherwords, if you have multiple erroneous items on one report, each item should have its own dispute letter. If you have supporting documents that can strenthen your claim, send a copy of that as well.
3) Although you can now publish your claim via the internet, the best way still is through certified return-reciept snail mail. One reason for this, the return receipt has a time and date stamp as to when the agency received the correspondence. Two, you have a good shot of them not researching your claim within the time limits dictated by law. (we'll get to this in a minute).
4) Once the 30 days, has passed, and you have not heard from the credit agencies, you will once a send another certied return-receipt asking them to remove the negative information. Provide in that correspondence a reference to the previous claim and a copy of the original return receipt.
That's the basics of disputing. Here are some valuable to tips for maximum results:
1) Timing is also an important facet in the credit repair process. The best times to repair credit is around the major holidays. The agencies become inundated with disputes. It is possible at this time that they would not review your claim in the time alotted. By default the information would have to be remove from your credit report.
2) All correspondences should be hand written. The correspondence should not be formal. It will appear as though you've taken a credit repair template letter which they (credit repair agency) deem as frivolous.
Once all these things are done, you need to get a crdeit card or two. Make several small purchases that you know you can pay off in shot. The trick here is, you are not going to pay it in one shot. You need to build up your beacon score. What you are going to do is pay the items off over a period of 2 to 4 months. You must make timely pays and pay more than the minimum balance.
Another thing you can do is apply for a loan at the bank. NOT A HOUSE LOAN. You will be applying for a smal personal loan at your bank using your current bank account as the collateral. You will pay this off over the course of six months. Mid-way through theis process, go to another bank and take out a loan for $500 -$1000. Again you will be paying this back oover the course of six months as well.
These little tactics builds your beacon scores quickly.
Remember the motto:
nullnullDO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME ON FOR PROFIT CREDIT REPAIR CONSULTANTS. YOU ARE YOUR BEST CREDIT REPAIR CONSULTANT.
I hope this helps. Should you need further assistance or just have a general question, do not hesitate to send me a line.
BEST REGARDS
Some of this was good info, other things I disagree with. You do not need to send a seperate letter for every negative. How expensive can that be if you have a lot of negatives. Also, there are certain ways to dispute each issue, start with "it's not mine", you can go from there. When the 30 days are approaching, call. Record names and info, you will need them. Never send them any info unless it is a remove derog notice from original creditor. Don't give them more ammo, never send other CRA's credit reports. Don't give them more info, make them find it unless you have a udf form.
wow! thank you both for the great info! it is very helpful! what do you mean by "it is not mine?" what should i say for why i am disputing the charge? it is a simple mistake and was posted in error? also, when i call, will they be able to respond to my inquiries and take action? have you tired this?
thanks so much for the help!
Just to add my 2 cents, remember that opening too many new accounts in a short period of time will hurt your score because that info is tracked. Also, if you have 2 credit cards and one of them is maxed out while the other is paid off, it will be a good idea to move 50% of the balance of the maxed card to the empty one because using the maximum credit available on a revolving account is negative to your credit score...
Tell me what the error is. I'm not sure what you mean by the charge is an error. Is it wrong info on a good account or a negative account you want removed?
hi!
if i have negative information that i want removed, how should i phrase the letter?
thanks!
it all depends on what the negative information is and how far back it goes. Negative information that goes back a couple of years is harder to verify than something that has only recently happened. Charge offs are very difficult to remove. You basically need to inform the reporting agencies that you cannot verify this information as it conflicts with your records and could they please open an investigation into the matter. Make sure all your correspondence is via certified mail. Also if you send these out during the holidays they are harder pressed to meet the turnaround times. Hope this helps.
One thing to keep in mind is that each of the three credit agencies have different information. Just because you fix a problem with one does not mean that it is fixed with the other two. But, be careful with blanket e-mails or letters, an error at one credit agency may not even show up at the other two.
It might be a good idea to start by getting reports from all three agencies or one of the three-in-one consolidated reports and then find the differences.
Take you time reading and re-reading things, you may find some holes between the different agencies reports that you can use when you dispute them.
I have been actively fixing my credit for about two months now and it really works!!
Like the previous poster said - Do it yourself and you will not only get smarter, but may learn some valuable information along the way.