Instant Credit Repair
Instant credit repair is impossible. That’s the simple message spread by most credit experts out there. Building credit takes time, dedication and careful financial planning. The same formula holds true for credit repair. Forget about the magic wand, the fairy dust, the overnight solutions…miracles simply don’t happen in the FICO-land.
Magic wands surely don’t work with credit bureaus and collection agencies, but credit knowledge does and this is the key to a fast credit repair.
Here are 3 major mistakes that prevent people from raising their credit fast:
1 Thinking inside the box.
Most people do a stellar job thinking inside the box: “I’m deep in debt. Debt is a problem. Therefore I should plan my budget, curb my spendings, save every penny and pay off my debt in full”. The promise of a debt free life and a stellar credit score is dangling somewhere at the end of the tunnel. What most people don’t know is that paying off your debt in full can actually lower your credit score. For example, paying off a collection account that is more than 2 years old will upgrade the account status to “current” and will have more negative impact on your overall FICO score. Paying off your debt in full is also not necessary. Most collection agencies pay literally pennies for every dollar that you owe. In other words, they still make a handsome profit out of you even if you settle for 20 % or less of the amount that you actually owe. The key to fast credit success is not financial discipline and elbow grease, but credit knowledge and thinking outside the box. Which bring us to mistake number 2…
2 Instant credit repair is impossible without credit knowledge.
Do you know how to read your credit report? Do you know how your FICO score is calculated? Do you know which are the two most important factors in the FICO formula? Why different credit bureaus might have a different credit score for you? Do you know your legal rights under FCRA and FDCPA? How to use these rights and exert leverage on credit bureaus, collection agencies and original creditors?How to get creditors to “delete” negative items from your report? How to settle for the minimum amount possible with collection agencies? How to dispute outdated, inaccurate, questionable, ambiguous and unverifiable info on your account? How to prolong the length of your credit history using help from friends and family? There are many invaluable “how to” lessons that can open your eyes to the reality of the credit system. Fast credit repair IS possible, but you have to learn how to play the game first.
3 Quitters never win.
The maxim holds true for pretty much any area in life. Credit repair is no exception. Call the collection agency many times until they agree on your settlement offer. If the customer service representatives are not cooperating, ask to speak to a supervisor. Send a sob story letter to your creditor explaining the circumstances surrounding your one time late payment and ask them to remove it from your credit report. Dispute negative accounts and ask for validation of debt on various levels-credit bureaus, collection agencies and original creditors. The path to credit repair is not always smooth. Setbacks and failures are a standard part of the process. If you fail-get up,dust off and keep on going. Simple as that….
Instant credit repair IS possible, but it requires credit knowledge and a dose of perseverance. Once you start thinking outside the credit box, you’ll be surprised to find how easy credit repair actually is.
