| How To Erase Bad Credit This report is provided as information ONLY. The author is not engaged in rendering any LEGAL or ACCOUNTING advice. If such advice is needed please consult the appropriate professional. INTRODUCTION It is the purpose of this report to teach you how to obtain a copy of your Consumer credit report and to remove such things as judgments, late payments, liens, or anything that is untrue or unfair from such reports, thereby improving your consumer credit rating. WHAT IS CREDIT? The average American has a better understanding of General Motors than he or she does about their credit rating. Credit is used every day by millions of Americans, yet most do not have the faintest idea how our credit system really works. Most people only know that they can pull out a plastic credit card and buy something that they don't have the cash to pay for. The dictionary defines credit as financial trustworthiness. Time given for payment for goods SOLD ON TRUST! Actually, the credit system we now use is as old as the business world itself. The trend of today that we see advertised everywhere is: "BUY NOW AND PAY LATER." It is this philosophy that has caused millions of Americans to live from payday to payday, or from payment to payment! Credit has been extended whenever goods are sold, or where services have been rendered and immediate payment of cash has NOT been made. The principle of credit is the same, whether the corner grocery store owner lets a patron "put it on the tab" until payday, or an executive takes a $5,000 cash advance from his American Express(TM) GOLD CARD! What do
you think would happen to the grocery store customer if when payday
came around he DID NOT pay his bill as promised? Well, the
grocer might give him more time, but chances are the grocer would no
longer extend credit to such a customer. The Credit Card Company would be faced with the very same problem. How would they inform other corporations that Mr. Executive is a poor credit risk? And how would they be able to obtain information on other clients who are applying for them for the credit for the first time? The following pages will explain in more detail how credit is established and how you can investigate and improve your PERSONAL CREDIT REPORT. Be sure to read each sentence CAREFULLY as your credit is your FUTURE BUYlNG POWER. More important, your credit is your name! Before you go on reading this report ask yourself one good question. How much is it worth to you to have GOOD CREDIT? The answer is simple. Good credit in our society is virtually ''PRICELESS !" If your credit is not good, you will be severely handicapped in almost any financial endeavor you wish to accomplish. Because of these facts, the very small price which you paid for this financial report and credit guide is going to prove to be one of the best investments you've ever made! Throughout this material we will show you a simple and legal way to develop a AAA credit reputation no matter what your past credit shows this very moment. Regardless of your present credit rating, whether it reflects no credit, slow credit, or simply bad credit, or EVEN if you filed bankruptcy... YOU CAN START AGAIN! You can be one of the more fortunate individuals in the United States who holds GOOD CREDIT! You need it! You deserve it! And NOW you can have it! HOW CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES WORK As credit increased throughout the country, there arose a great need to issue reports concerning those who are NOT a good credit risk as well as those who are CREDIT WORTHY! Because of this great need, credit reporting agencies were formed several years ago. These agencies, known as credit bureaus, receive information about consumers from banks, loan companies, credit card companies, department stores, as well as from other credit
and lending
sources. Credit bureaus earn their profits by giving
Lenders will base
their acceptance or rejection of your There are over
3000 credit reporting agencies in the United
These credit
bureaus keep on file information concerning you and
When you receive a copy of your credit
profile, you may find
You
have the ABSOLUTE RIGHT to know what is in your consumer credit report!
Because it is YOUR personal credit file, you should want to know what
information the credit bureau is giving out concerning your good name
and your credit!
Most
people have thought, and still think, that if they have an HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY OF YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT REPORT You have already
learned how this credit information has been There are many different credit reporting agencies in business today, and there is one in every community. First, this discussion will be limited for simplification, to two of the largest NATIONAL companies.
To evaluate
your personal credit profile, you must obtain a copy of it. You may
obtain a copy of your personal credit report at: You may wish to call your LOCAL credit bureau as well. Look in your local yellow pages under Credit Reporting Agencies. Call up to find out mailing addresses and fees to obtain your report. By the way, if you have been refused credit within the past 30 days and one of the reasons for the rejection was an "unfavorable" credit report, you have certain rights under the law. You first have the right to know which credit reporting agency was used to obtain the report. You also have the right to CONTACT the agency and find out exactly what criteria on your report has caused the rejection You also have the right to obtain this information FREE OF CHARGE if you have been denied credit WITHlN THE PAST 30 DAYS! Because with almost every important financial move that you make a credit report is involved, it is very important that you be concerned with what your credit report says regarding YOU AND YOUR CREDIT! HOW TO CORRECT ERRORS IN YOUR PERSONAL REPORT After you have received your personal reports, determine the status of your credit file. You should attempt to remove ALL unfavorable information using the methods outlined herein. Not all of your credit history is contained in either of the two firm's files. Some information may be duplicated, or not included in the other file. Your name and Social Security number are used for identification. Current and previous addresses, spouse's name, and date of birth are used for further identification. The credit information includes the merchants names, the subscriber number, credit account number, date opened, date closed, highest credit limit, highest amount of credit used, and repayment history. The last item is encoded into numbers, with a series of ones indicating perfect repayment. After you have received your personal reports, determine the status of your credit file. You should attempt to remove ALL unfavorable information using the methods outlined herein. The following descriptions are used to indicate payment history: -Current Account - account open or closed in GOOD STANDING -Inquiry - your credit information was requested by this firmor store -Closed Account - credit account closed -Paid Account - closed account or zero balance -Credit Account Reinstated - previously closed account NOWAVAILABLE FOR USE -Judgment - lawsuit against you... and NOT PAID -Charge-Off - credit amount can not be collected -Repossession - charged item returned to merchant -Foreclosure - collateral sold to collect defaulted mortgage -Collection Account - credit account assigned to collectionagency When you receive your report examine it VERY CAREFULLY. Make certain that all information is current and accurate. If you find any error (for example, a loan that you have PAID OFF is still listed as outstanding), you can take immediate action to correct the error. You must write out EXACTLY what the mistake is, and explain the way that the information SHOULD be listed. For example, "Loan XYZ is NOT outstanding. It was paid in full on 10/31/05." Send photocopies along with all pertinent information to substantiate your claim. If you receive a computer printout of your credit file, there should be a space (Usually on the right-hand side of the report) in which you may PROTEST any item in your report that you feel is INCORRECT. After you have done this, make a photocopy, sending one copy back to the bureau by "CERTIFIED MAIL." When the credit bureau receives your report and the information in question, they are required to investigate and ADVISE YOU of the results of their investigation. There is NO CHARGE for this investigation! YOU HAVE CREDIT RIGHTS! Due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act passed in 1971! Anytime that you are denied credit, you now have the right to know why you were turned down! If, for instance, you are turned down for a charge account at a store, you will receive a statement from the store stating that you were denied credit and their reason for the denial. If their reason has anything to do with the fact that the store used a credit reporting agency, they must provide
you with the name and address of the agency that supplied them with the
report. If this should happen to you, you should contact the credit
agency, so that you can review your report and find out what
information in it is causing you to be DENIED CREDIT. If there is any information in that report that is not true, or if you want to dispute any information on it, don't be afraid to do so. If the agency is wrong on any item on your credit report or file, DEMAND a correction. By law, the company MUST investigate... many bureaus will even try to make the correction "on the spot?!" If for some reason you cannot PROVE that the item is in error or if you are having a disagreement with a certain creditor, you have the RIGHT to tell your side of the story in 100 words or less! This will be ADDED to your report. Often, creditors who see that you have taken the time and effort to dispute an item in your credit file will NOT include it in credit worthiness. This can be VERY HELPFUL to you. Many bureau representatives will even help you word your statement. Be sure to use this rule to your ADVANTAGE! After making any corrections on your report, you have the RIGHT to DEMAND that the credit bureau send corrected copies of your report to ALL CREDITORS who have received the incorrect reports for the LAST 6 MONTHS ! PLEASE NOTE: The credit bureaus WILL NOT do this automatically! -ONLY WHEN ASKED! - So make sure it gets done PRONTO! If, when looking over your report, you notice that it is missing a few POSITIVE items that you recall, you may want to invest some money to upgrade your report. Some credit bureaus will call creditors you name as FAVORABLE to you. If the information that you give turns out to be TRUE, the item will be ADDED to your report. There are small fees of $2 to $5 per item, but this small fee could be well worth it to you. HOW TO ERASE "BAD CREDIT" FROM YOUR CREDIT REPORT Past credit experience which shows delinquent payments, lawsuits, collection and bankruptcy is most definitely UNFAVORABLE on your credit report. Even with several other open accounts in good standing, the unfavorable information can be a cause of credit DENIAL when applying for new credit. Incorrect and unverifiable information can be removed legally with the assistance of the credit reporting agency on whose files the unfavorable information appears. To do this you must contact the respective agency and tell them that you wish to dispute the particular information that you feel is injurious to your credit history. Legally, they must write for confirmation of the information to the source that is reporting it. If NO CONFIRMATION is received by the agency within 14 days... the information in question MUST BE DELETED from your file! - and an updated credit report will be mailed to you for verification! Utilizing this method will eliminate most of the unfavorable information on your credit file, particularly that which is more than one year old, or if the disputed amount is under $500. Any remaining information after the first attempt can usually be removed by subsequent attempts, at one month intervals. Remember, keep on trying over and over again - PERSISTENCE DOES PAY OFF!
If there is any unfavorable information
remaining on your credit file,
you should add a statement to your file that DISPUTES this
information. Remember, the credit agencies MUST add such a
statement, PROVIDING YOU
REQUEST IT! If possible, you
may
resolve the problem with the creditor in question. If so, have the
creditor contact the credit agency FOR YOU.
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