There are a number of tools available to consumers that can be used to remove derogatory credit items from a credit report. One such tool is the goodwill deletion letter. The goodwill deletion letter is a simple request to a creditor such as a credit card company or auto lender or bank that request the creditor remove a negative reference regarding an individual credit history as a matter of good will. Unlike a pay for delete letter, in which the request to delete a derogatory account … [Read more...]
Judgments, Bankruptcies, Public Records and Credit Scores
July 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bad credit comes in a number of different flavors. Late payments on a credit a card, collection accounts or a charged off medical debt can all fall under the heading of bad credit leading to a bad credit score. While these accounts and trade lines are all contributing factors to bad credit, there are some items in your credit report that are more damaging than others. The biggest contributors to poor credit and a low credit score are judgments, bankruptcies and other public records. A … [Read more...]
Getting a Free Credit Report When You are Denied for a Loan
June 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Under the current credit reporting laws, consumers are entitled to receive a free copy of their credit report for a number of different reasons. Consumer are entitled to receive a free credit report from one of more of the three major credit reporting agencies when they are denied credit based on information in their credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the law that covers credit report access based on loan and credit denials. The law allows the consumer that is denied … [Read more...]
Credit Report Dispute Letter
April 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The credit dispute letter is the foundation for credit report repairs and the number one way to improve a credit score. After reviewing your credit report, if you find something incorrect in the report, you should notify, in writing, the credit reporting agency that provided the report. This is the process to dispute credit report information. The error that is to be covered in the credit dispute letter can be small or large, the account balance, payment history or date last paid. As … [Read more...]
Improve Your Credit Score by Identifying Errors in Your Credit Report
April 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
One of the first steps to improving your credit score is locate the problem areas. To identify the problems in your credit report you first have to review a current report and find the individual tradelines, accounts or other data that poses a problem. This requires more than just obtaining your credit report and highlighting the inaccurate data. Inaccurate data that is not causing your credit score to fall is of little importance unless you simply want your credit report to reflect the … [Read more...]
Debt Settlement Letter
March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Making arrangements to clear up collection accounts in your credit reports should involve a debt settlement letter to spell out the terms of paying the outstanding debt. Working with a collection agency or any collection account directly with a creditor can be a difficult chore, writing a debt settlement letter is an important tool to ensure that the best arrangement you can make is established in writing. There are certain guidelines you should keep in mind when approaching a debts … [Read more...]
Credit Report Security News with FTC Actions
March 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Credit Report security and identity theft is big business for both the crooks stealing consumer data and the U.S. governments efforts to stop the thieves. The Federal Trade Commission has recently taken action against some businesses that engage in reselling credit reports but failed to take proper security precautions to safe guard the consumer credit data. A number of credit reporting agencies act as resellers of credit data that is mainly derived from the big three credit reporting … [Read more...]
Buy a Credit Score
February 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The process to buy a credit score can be a little confusing. A credit score can be calculated by a number of different methods and can be offered by more than one company. An individuals credit score may be based on different credit score models using different credit reports. It certainly does sound like a complicated mess of information. Thankfully it appears more complicated than it really is. Consumers need a little advance knowledge to be aware of their credit score and credit … [Read more...]
Charge Offs, Avoid This at All Costs
February 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Being late paying your bills is not unusual and happens to the best of us. If a situation arises where you suddenly cannot pay your bills – loss of a job or a medical emergency – it is important to understand just what will happen if you find yourself delinquent on a loan or other debt. The last stage of a delinquent debt is generally identified as a charge off and this item, when it is recorded in an individual’s credit report may very well be one of the most damaging items impacting … [Read more...]
What is a Judgment
February 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A judgment is the legal document stating the final decision on the outcome of a lawsuit. For many consumer credit cases the judgment involves a debt that is owed. In these cases, the judgment is frequently a monetary award to the plaintiff which is usually a creditor such as a credit card company or bank. The judgment in debt disputes may include a formal document issued by the court ordering the defendant to pay a certain amount of money to the credit card company or bank or whomever who has … [Read more...]
Avoid Quick Fix Debt Elimination Scams
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Consumers that are looking to improve their credit and credit score often look for ways to get their existing debt under control. Managing and reducing existing consumer debt is certainly one way to help manage debt payments, credit reports and credit scores. Unfortunately, too many consumers in need of debt relief fall victim to debt elimination scams. Debt elimination will help with an individual’s credit score over time. With lower monthly payments, a consumer can now better manage … [Read more...]
Credit Scores and the Cost of Living
December 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Despite all the attention that has been given to credit scores and the impact credit scores have on numerous aspects of our day to day lives, many consumers still do not understand the weight these numbers have on what we can and cannot do. Credit scores directly or indirectly impact the cost of living for most consumers in the U.S. Credit scores can be a big factor in credit decisions for financial firms like banks but they are also a significant factor in insurance rates, employment, … [Read more...]
Identify Credit Report Problems
December 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
One of the first steps to improve a credit score is to fix the credit report that is the underlying problem directing the low score. An individual’s credit score, whether it is good or bad, is based solely on the data found in that individuals credit report. To improve a credit score therefore requires an improvement in the underlying data in the credit report. In order to repair any issues in a credit report that is the cause of an individual’s low credit score, it is necessary to … [Read more...]
Lexington Law Firm Credit Repair
November 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Lexington Law firm is a company that works with consumers to help improve their credit and subsequently improve their credit score. Lexington Law is essentially a credit repair company. Federal law gives all consumers the right to have inaccurate information in their credit reports corrected. Having inaccurate, negative information removed from your credit report is one of the fastest methods to increase your credit score. Lexington Law works as a facilitator to help remove bad credit … [Read more...]
How to Increase Your Credit Score
November 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In order to improve your credit score, it's important to know where your credit stands currently. By understanding how your credit report looks now, you can see what factors are driving down your credit score and what aspects of your credit needs work to increase your credit score. Your credit score is calculated based on the information in your credit report. Any errors or negative information in the credit report can push your credit score lower as can limited credit or limited … [Read more...]
Contact Credit Reporting Agencies
October 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
There are generally two reasons consumers need to contact credit reporting agencies. Credit reporting agencies can be contacted to obtain a free credit report or the credit reporting agencies may be contacted to handle a credit report dispute. To contact a credit reporting agency in order to obtain a free copy of your credit report, the best method is to use the website set up to make these requests for all three of the major credit reporting agencies. The three major consumer credit … [Read more...]
Advantages of a Good Credit Report and a Good Credit Score
October 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The benefits and advantages of a good credit score and good credit report is far greater than just obtaining the ability to have easy access to credit. There are several advantages to maintaining a credit score of which one is certainly, lower rates for new credit and bank loans. Lenders will use a credit report, along with a credit score, an evaluation of your capacity to repay and any collateral in making decisions to lend you money. Most lenders also take these same matters into … [Read more...]
Credit Report Dispute
October 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
To help fix your credit score or credit report, the process that often has the quickest and biggest impact is the credit report dispute. To dispute the information in your credit report you must send a dispute letter to each of the major credit reporting agencies. A dispute letter is a consumer’s means to challenge the accuracy or validity of information in their credit report. The value of the credit report dispute letter comes from the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA … [Read more...]
Credit Reports are the Foundation for Credit Scores
October 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A credit score, often referred to as a FICO score, is a number based on the information in an individual’s credit file or credit report. Because your score is constructed from the information in your credit report it is always worthwhile to review your credit report to find out what is causing either a low credit score or a good credit score. In fact, it is hard to improve your credit score numbers if you don’t know what is in your credit report causing the low numbers. Since a … [Read more...]
Credit Score Quick Facts
October 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Here are some quick facts about credit scores that consumers should keep in mind when reviewing their credit score, credit report or putting together a plan to help improve their credit scores. You need to have and use credit to have a credit score. Credit reporting agencies gather and report a consumer's credit history that includes debt repayments to credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and other creditor accounts. Credit reporting agencies also record information on judgments, liens, … [Read more...]