How to Remove Charge Offs From a Credit Report

Creditors typically write off or charge off a debt if there has been no payment on the account for more than 180 days (6 months). This does not, however, mean that the person no longer owes the debt. A charge-off is an accounting procedure for tax purposes used by the creditor where an uncollectible debt or charge-off is reported as a loss for the creditor.

If you have any charge-offs on your credit reports, your ability to obtain credit will be seriously impaired and you must actively work to restore your credit. Charge-offs stay on your credit report for 7 years from the date of the initial missed payment that led to the charge-off (the original delinquency date), even if payments are later made on the charged-off account.

Paying an old charge-off will not remove it from your credit reports. It will simply be updated to a “paid charge-off,” which, while slightly better, is still a seriously derogatory item. To qualify for some loans, including a mortgage loan, you must take care of any charge-offs that appear on your credit report. To remove a charge-off from your credit report, you must dispute the account with the credit bureaus. If after numerous disputes the credit bureaus verify the account, you must contact the collector. All negotiations should be in writing. You will likely need to begin on the phone to ascertain the correct person with whom you should be negotiating. However, once you know who that person is, send everything in writing and request they do likewise.

Negotiate with the collection agency to remove their listing entirely from your report. A charge-off is a negative, whether it is paid or not. Make sure you get this agreement in writing as well.

Tags: Business, Collection agency, Credit card, Credit history, Creditor, Debt, Financial services, Loan

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Clean Your Credit Report – You Can Easily Raise Credit Score 100 Points Or More

Having a high credit score is crucial when you are trying to get a new loan for a car or maybe a house. Most lenders will look at your credit score to determine if you are worthy of approving a loan for. Your credit report will show if you have been late on any payments to any loans you have or and credit cards. Your report will also show were you currently live and where you have lived in the past. It is important to have a high credit score but you also want to make sure that your the information on your credit report is accurate.

When a lender checks your credit report they usually will get the report form the three main agencies, Equifax, Experian and Transunion. It is important that you get your report from them at least once a year so you can check to make sure everything is accurate. The good thing is that you are entitled to one free credit report every year form each agency so this makes it easy to keep track of.

If you find that there are some things on your credit report that you do not agree with then you can file a complaint with the credit agencies and they then have to verify the information in question. They will contact the person who reported the information and by law they have 30 days to respond. If they do not respond then the item must be removed from your report.

Remember that when you are monitoring your credit report that you always make sure that it is accurate.

Tags: Business, Credit history, Credit score, Equifax, Experian, Financial services, Loan, TransUnion

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What If the Credit Bureau Cannot Verify Negative Information on My Credit Report?

This is a very insightful question. Right information is power and what I will give you here is the right information on what you should do if the credit bureau cannot verify the correctness of negative information on your credit report within the stipulated time.

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FCRA, a credit bureau that has negative information listed in your credit report has just 30 days to investigate the correctness or wrongness of such information on your report. If within 30 days they are not able to complete their investigation, then they MUST delete the negative information from your report. It does not matter anymore whether the information is actually correct or not.

The important thing in this case is that they are not able to complete their investigation within the period the law mandates and as a result, they are required to delete it from your report.

If on the other hand, they complete their investigation within 30 days and the result shows that the negative information on your report does not belong to you, they are required to delete the negative information immediately. In addition to this, they are required to send you a letter notifying you that they have deleted the negative information from your report.

One important thing you should bear in mind when you are sending your dispute letter requesting the credit bureau to delete the negative information from your report is to send it by registered mail. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. The reason is because you will have an evidence of the delivery of the letter and the credit bureau cannot deny not receiving your letter.

Tags: Business, Credit and Collection, Credit bureau, Credit history, credit report, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Financial services, Law

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Alternative Foreclosure Option – Tips to Avoid Foreclosure Without Affecting Your Credit Report

Worried homeowners who are not able to make their monthly mortgage payments on time are facing foreclosure. It is a kind of legal process in which a borrower under a mortgage is deprived of his own interests in the mortgaged property. Millions of people wanted to avoid foreclosure and are looking for alternative foreclosure option that may save their dream home.

If you are facing foreclosure, then there are various methods to avoid foreclosure without affecting credit report:

· Loan Modification is the best way to avoid foreclosure. It is the most popular foreclosure option that is widely used by the homeowners. You can get your loan modified by adding new terms in it. A loan modification can save a lot of money and it may include certain features such as lowering principal balance, converting to a fixed rate, lower down monthly mortgage payments, reduce interest rate, etc.

· Partial Claim is another Alternative Foreclosure Option which you can ask to your mortgage lender. This option works with you to obtain a one-time payment from the FHA-insurance fund. To qualify for the partial claim, make sure that your loan should be at least 4 months delinquent but not more than 12 months. You need to sign a promissory note and a lien will be placed on your property until the promissory note is fully paid.

· Another Foreclosure Option is that you can avail is short sale. In this, the lender agrees to sell his property on the lesser amount than the outstanding loan amount that forgives any remaining debt.

· Special Forbearance has also been suggested by your mortgage lender which gives a permanent reduction on your monthly mortgage or postpones the payments for a few months. You need to prepare a file of documents including the financial statements which should be submitted with the lender along with a hardship letter to prove that you can pay your payment plan.

· Short Refinance is also provided to avoid foreclosure. In this option, the lender forgives some of your debt and get refinanced the rest into a new loan.

Tags: Business, Federal Housing Administration, Forbearance, Foreclosure, Loan, Mortgage, Mortgage modification, Short sale

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Keeping Your Credit Clean

Many homebuyers frequently wonder, “If I shop for a home loan my credit be affected each time a credit report inquiry is made?”
It’s a smart and logical question to ask, the answer is: not much, if credit checks are done in a short period of time.
When a credit check is done by a potential lender is called a hard inquiry. When a difficult research that has an impact on your credit score. However, when you are shopping for a mortgage or car loan, credit agencies often difficult group questions together because the credit reporting bureaus understand that the consumer is looking for a better deal.
That means, for example, that if you’re buying a new mortgage and three potential lenders pull your credit score within three weeks, which is seen as a test for that purpose.
Keep your credit clean is critical. Here are some things you can do to help ensure healthy credit.

A card that should not carry: Leave your Social Security card at home. Most people have their number of Social Security card, memory. If you’re not one of those people, then just take your card with you when you know you need information on it. Your security card contains personal information that if put into the wrong hands can cause credit dilemmas.

Lock It Up: apartment complexes and condominiums typically have locking mailboxes, but this type of secure mailboxes are not as common in residential, single-family neighborhoods. If possible, people should have a locking mailbox.
Mailboxes with locking devices are increasingly popular in hardware stores because identity theft is spreading. Taking precautions to protect your personal information can save you months of agony.

Shred your documents: If you destroy your personal documents and criminals to access information, the result can be devastating to your credit. Criminals often attempt to open new accounts using your name and contact information. If successful, they will use the new account and divert the account information to deal with criminals or post office.
That will not even know that the account was created. They will be receiving the bills and then cast them out and ruining their credit.

Keep an eye on your credit card: Although it is difficult, people should not let your credit card out of sight or else run the risk of becoming a victim of skimming.
Skimming has become widespread in some restaurants and service stations where an employee may have a small device that scans the consumer’s credit card. Small scanner that captures all information that is on the tape, and then the card information can be cloned.
Of course, keeping your credit card visibly at all times is nearly impossible. If you’re going to a restaurant in an area that is a little uncertain of – that is in a marginal area or are in a foreign country and you are not sure where to go for dinner – - The attempt to use cash.
Additionally, using credit cards make sure you leave the receipt with the trader does not have his credit card number exposed. Most merchants have credit card systems to print only the last four digits of your credit card of a consumer, however, some still show the full account number in print. If your full credit card account appears on the receipt, scratching with a pen. Furthermore, in rare cases where carbon copies are used, ask about carbon.

Check your credit history: consumers can check their free credit report once a year at annualcreditreport.com though free reports will not contain an actual credit score. Scores are available for a nominal fee.

Tags: Business, Credit score, Identity theft, Loan, Mortgage, Security, Social Security, Social Security number

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