Archive for September, 2009
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
If you are like many people in this world, your credit is not the greatest, so we are all looking for fast credit repair. We all know that credit, almost literally, makes the world go round. Therefore, if you need to repair your credit, you need to know exactly what steps you can take to do that and fast.
Your credit can mean a great deal to your lifestyle. If you want to buy a home, you need good credit. If you want to buy a new car, you need good credit. In many cases, if you want to rent an apartment or get a new job, you will need good credit. Good credit is essential to getting the things in life that you want. Therefore, with fast credit repair, you can get back on the right track.
The first step to repairing your credit is contacting the credit bureaus. Each one of the bureaus will offer you one free credit report each year. This is thanks to the news laws devised within the United States. You must contact them and ask to receive your credit report. However, keep in mind that you will need to provide proof of identity before they will send it to you, but that should not be a problem.
Once you have received your credit reports, you want to carefully look over each item listed on the report. Every item listed on your credit report affects your credit score. If you have negatives listed on the report, such as late payments, defaults, or judgments against you, this will lower your score, which means you now have less of a chance of getting much, if any type of credit.
One of the quickest ways to improve your credit score is to identify any errors on your report. If there are errors and you can prove they are errors, you can do fast credit repair by notifying the bureaus immediately and providing proof that they are indeed false. If you can fix these errors, you will notice that your credit score goes up. When your credit score goes up, you now have a better chance of receiving credit more freely and at a lower interest rate at the same time.
Fast credit repair begins with your credit report. It is crucial that you look over it at least once per year and fix any errors or problems that may exist. Fixing these errors and getting back on the right track is the first step to repairing your credit.
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
If you have a tax lien on your credit report, you should take immediate action to remove it. This is a very bad mark and will lower your score considerably.
The first step is to have the bureaus validate the lien. You need to send each bureau a dispute letter. Once your letter is received an investigation will occur. The bureaus will contact the government and ask them to verify your debt. If it is verified you are going to have to make payment to remove it.
Depending on the amount you owe it may be in your interest to contact a tax negotiator. This is because they can often negotiate a reduced payment for you. However you can also negotiate directly with the government. It can be collected upon for 10 years, and will stay on your report for 7 years once it is paid.
Upon payment you should wait around 3 months and then send another dispute letter to the bureaus asking for validation. We have learned that once the government has received payment they often will ignore a request for validation.
Thus it will not be verified and will be removed from your report. Additionally if this mark was make in error then send any documentation along with your letter to prove that. It is estimated that 1 in every 4 people have an error on the report.
Repayment
The IRS and state government often accept partial payment. To propose this you will make an offer in compromise, often called an OIC.
The government will look at; your ability to repay, your income, your assets, and what they expect to recover. Additionally it will help your chances of acceptance, if you attach a letter explaining financial hardship. It may be in your interest to hire a negotiator to help with this. However you do not have to just live with this mark on your report.
In sum, you can remove a tax lien and should. You don’t just have to wait seven long years for this mark to fall off.
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
Because of recent laws passed by the Federal Trade Commission, all major credit reporting agencies in the United States, including Equifax, TransUnion, Experian (formerly TRW), are required to provide consumers (that’s you!) with a totally free copy of their credit reports, if requested, up to once every 12 months. This means that you can acquire a 100% free credit report from any of these three major credit reporting companies once every year. It has never been easier or cheaper to stay on top of your credit report and score than today.
Everyone should check their credit report! It’s FREE
There really is no good reason why you shouldn’t check your credit report, at least once a year. Knowing what is in your credit report and your credit score can save you time and money when shopping for a loan or lease. Also, it is an excellent idea to frequently check your credit report for errors, out of date information, fraud, or identity theft. All of these wrongful entries can negatively effect your over all credit score, tarnishing your reputation and relationships with banks and lenders.
All three of the major credit reporting agencies can be contacted for a free annual credit report by going to their official website: http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com. They may also be contacted individually, online or by regular postal mail; however, be aware that when going to one of their individual websites ( www.experian.com, www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com ) they will require you to also sign up for an account and other services to receive your credit report. So your best bet is to not deal with them through their commercial sites, and instead use the www.annualcreditreport.com site.
How Do I Get a Free Online Credit Check?
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Whenever a debt remains uncollected, your creditor could take you to court. If you were found guilty, then a judgment will be issued in favor of your creditor. You will be given another 30 days to file an appeal although it would be a waste of time, if the debt is really your responsibility.
Judgments like collection accounts, charge-offs and bankruptcies can lower your credit score significantly. A ruined credit report will mean difficulties in proving your financial credibility. Even as something as simple as credit card application can be rejected if you are not careful on how you handle all your credit. Removing judgments can actually be done in three ways.
Check Out the SOL
You should determine the SOL or statute of limitations for judgments in your state. On the average, these judgments usually stay in your credit report for seven years but its statute of limitations usually last up to 20 years. This is also the length of time that your creditors will have to try and collect the debt you owe them. If the SOL has expired, the judgment should be removed if there were no renewals filed by the creditor. Any dispute should be reported immediately so that your credit history is updated and corrected.
Another way you can remove the judgment from your report is by negotiating with your creditors. In exchange for the payment of the debt, your creditor will have to request the dismissal of the judgment. The judgment entry will be removed from it completely. Normally, when debts are paid after a judgment has been issued, a rating of “paid judgment” is entered. But if you negotiate removal then it would work wonders for your credit score. Of course, you have to document such agreement so that you will have something to show the credit bureau in case your rating did not change.
Lastly, you can remove a judgment by filing for a motion to vacate. In most cases, this motion is filed if the creditor sued you wrongly. If the court vacates the judgment then it will be removed from your credit report and you are not even obligated to pay your debts.
Learning about judgments is very important if you want to have a fighting chance of removing it from your report and protecting your credit score.
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
There are times when you may be turned down for credit and you do not understand why. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you have been denied credit because of negative items on your credit report within 60 days of the request for credit, if you are unemployed but looking for work, are on welfare, or believe that your credit report is incorrect because of fraud. You may also receive a copy of your credit report for a small fee at any time in which you want to review the information contain therein.
If you dispute any of the information on your credit report, there are steps that you, the credit reporting agency and the information provider must take to have the information corrected or deleted form your report.
1. You should contact the credit reporting agency and request that the inaccurate information be taken off. To do this you will need to send a letter of request and enclose a copy of the report with the incorrect information highlighted. Send your request certified mail and indicate that a return receipt is requested.
2. The Credit reporting agency will forward the request to the information provider at which time they will review and investigate the request. If the information cannot be verified, then they must remove it. They can either correct or deny the request to change the information. They will then send their findings to the credit reporting agency.
3. If the information provider finds that their was an error they will provide written proof of the change and send a copy of the report to you, the credit reporting agency and anyone who has requested a copy of your credit report in the last six months.
4. If the information provider finds that there was no error, you can request that the credit reporting agency send a copy of the disputes with any report that is requested by creditors. You can also provide an explanation of a negative report in 100 words or less that will be included in any reports to creditors. Another alternative is to pay the debt, which would require the creditor to report the debt paid.
You should also be aware that negative reports will remain on your credit for up to seven years at which time they will be deleted in most cases. There are some exceptions, these include, bankruptcy, which can be reported for up to 10 years, and loans or life insurance policies which are in excess of $150,000.00, or criminal convictions, which can be reported at all times.
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