How My Credit Dropped

By Frances Lexington

A few months, I went through some rough moments in my life. I got laid off after the company I worked for went down. The bills piled up and I was unable to make my monthly payments. Eventually, all of my credit card accounts were charged-off and sent to collection agencies.

My life became a living hell of collection calls and non-stop harassment from debt collectors. Finally, I filed bankruptcy and was relieved of my debt, but the damage to my credit was already done.

For months I was denied the chance to own a house, buy a new car, or even take a trip " all because my credit FICO scores were too low for the lenders to even think of giving me a loan. Getting turned down for loan applications over and over was frustrating and frankly embarrassing.

A friend told me about SBFC Law Group and was ranting and raving about how awesome they were. I was skeptical at first, but after seeing what they did for him, I knew I had to give them a try. So, I got online and looked them up.

SBFC Law Group Changed My Life

I called the 1-800 number at the site and spoke to a credit expert who was very friendly and understanding of my situation. She was also very knowledgeable. So, I went ahead and signed up. Boy, am I glad I did! After about 3 weeks, I started receiving letters from the credit bureaus stating that negative accounts had been removed from my credit reports!

SBFC Law Group did such a great job with my credit score, I would recommend them to anyone who is in the same circumstance. It is so worth it. After the first little while I was able to get a car loan. A year later, and I can now get a home loan. Imagine that. - 31379

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What is a FICO Score

By Caton Hanson

Your FICO score is a vital component of managing your finances. This is the number used by the credit bureaus to determine how good your credit is. The FICO scoring system can appear to be pretty complicated if you do not know how it works. On the other hand, if you know how your FICO score is calculated, you can easily find ways to keep a good score or repair a bad one. Understanding your FICO credit score is key to maintaining good credit and keeping yourself afloat.

The first thing you need to know is the basics of how the FICO system works and what qualifies you for good or bad credit. The highest score you can get in 850. This should be common knowledge but I have been surprised time and time again at the number of people that don't know this basic thing. If you did not know, don't worry. After today, you'll know a lot more than most. The ideal range for your credit score is 720 to 850. This is extremely good. Again, don't worry if this isn't you. If you score is about 675, you are still in very good shape. If it's below 675, there may be some trouble borrowing money in the future. 300 is the lowest.

A FICO score is comprised of many different parts. To determine your FICO score a bureau looks 35% at your paymnet history, meaning how many payments are delinquent or late. If a payment is past thirty days late, it is reported to a bureau and they will then lower you FICO score. Another 30% of you FICO score depends on you credit/debt ratio. Not know what this means? That's ok too. Let's say you have a credit card with 10,000 dollar limits. If you have used 4,000 of that, your debt-credit ratio is 40/60. This is ideal.

15% of the FICO score is based on how long you have had credit. Not only credit in general, but also a particular line of credit. If you have a car payment and have made regular payments for the last three years, this is actually better than paying it all off in cash. At least for your credit score. There is a point of diminishing return though so this isn't always the smartest move.

Some special factors that can influence your FICO credit score include money you owe due to a court judgment or tax lien. These can carry a very large credit score penalty. If you have more than a particular number of consumer finance credit accounts, you will also find that your score is impacted negatively. The number of credit checks made recently can also lower your score, although the credit bureaus do allow for a certain number of checks in a particular window of time, such as might occur when you are shopping for the best rate on a loan. - 31379

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Consumer Credit Repair: 5 C's Of Good Credit

By Tiffani G Peterson

If you've been trying to figure out how to do consumer credit repair, there are five major C words to lenders. Those major areas are character, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions.

Character

Character refers to how well lenders can trust you. If they know you personally, that's great. Oftentimes, this is determined by how well you've made payments on time.

Credit cards especially report 30, 60 and 90 day delinquencies to the credit reporting agencies. Each negative entry counts against your credit score. If it's not already there, you'll want your report to show all accounts in good standing to repair your consumer credit.

Capacity

Capacity is your cash flow. You have to have enough money to handle the debt you're asking for. They look at your income and expenses for each month. Lenders rightfully want to make sure you have enough money to make the payments.

Capital

Capital is your net worth. Even if you're making plenty of money each month, if you have way more debt than you have assets, you're a bigger lending risk. Having more assets shows you're worthy of more credit.

Collateral

Collateral is something to secure the debt. Typically, loans are secured by property such as real estate or vehicles. If there's something to get back should you default on the loan, there's less risk to the lender.

Conditions

Conditions are actually market and economic conditions. With the fall, consolidation, bail out, etc of many large financial institutions, lending guidelines have become tighter.

This also applies down to your local lender. If a banker is having a bad day or maybe you look at him funny, that could affect whether you're approved or not.

When you're looking to repair consumer credit, remember the five Cs: character, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions. - 31379

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Find out how to do your own credit history repair without an agency. Visit www.creditrepairsecrets.org for free credit repair secrets.

SBFC Law Group Does Wonderful Credit Repair

By Garth Dillon

As you know, countless people are being hurt by the economy and are turned loose with nothing but terrible credit. The worst thing is that they will keep this bad credit when the economy turns around and the are left to fend for themselves. Good Luck.

If They Say They Can Erase Bankruptcy, They Are a Fraud

Check it out. Do not waste "one penny" on any service that claims that they can restore your credit for you. That's because if you have any bad credit on your reports that is "legitimate" then you are stuck with it. However notice the word legitimate.

The First Step To Credit Repair

The first thing that you need to do is to get your hands on all your credit report from each of the three bureaus. As long as you don't request the credit score, it's free. Credit scores are about 8 bucks

Seven Years Past the Final "Action" On An Report

Understand that bad credit other than bankruptcies can stay on your report for no longer than seven years (beyond the last action) that was made on the account. Understand? Seven years after your last payment, not seven years after the negative report was logged.

Credit Reporting Errors are Very Commonplace

The days when credit agencies can dodge you when there is a mistake on your credit report are long gone. Learn the simple means by which you can challenge negative credit and use them if you find any mistakes of this type. Believe it! Credit reporting mistakes are all too common.

Credit Cards - A Great Tool For "Building Or Ruining" Your Credit

After all, after you have done everything you can in these areas, credit repair comes down to building new credit to replace any bad credit you have. Credit cards are a good and bad sword. They are great for building good credit but in the used wrong, they can also quickly kill a persons credit. - 31379

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Credit Repair Advice: DIY Vs Hiring An Agency

By Tiffani G Peterson

A piece of credit repair advice: before your hire a credit repair agency consider the pros and cons.

If you hire an agency you'll pay a monthly fee regardless of how much work they do (or don't do). You'll send your own letters and make calls so that you know exactly where you are along the process. When you make all your own contacts with the reporting agencies, you'll provide a personal touch so they know you're a real person the need to work with.

If flexibility is important to you, you'll probably want to repair your credit yourself. Sometimes things come up in life and you need to put your credit repair on hold a while. You can make judgement calls that fit you instead of finding out what an agency did after the fact. For instance, if you see a charged off account that's 6 years old, it might make sense to leave it alone. Most negative items can only be reported for 7 years anyway.

A couple of reasons you might want someone else to work on your credit are that it does take a little time and that you might struggle with self doubt and wonder if you were doing it right. When it comes down to it, credit and financial health are one of those things that you probably shouldn't pay someone else to do. It's like your physical health or raising your children. Yes, you can pay for someone to help now and then but it's ultimately your responsibility.

If you're just getting started, there's more than enough than you could ever need online about how to repair your credit. The challenge is sorting through it and putting it all in order. My advice is to find a reputable book or course that puts all the pieces together for you.

Hiring An Agency

A credit repair agency will do the same thing you can do for yourself. You can send letters. You can read articles on credit repair advice. You can open or close lines of credit and negotiate your rates. On the other hand, sometimes it's nice knowing someone is negotiating for you.

The experience many consumers have had is that credit repair agencies take your money and then simply send out a form letter for you. It's possible the reporting agencies see the letter and reject it based on vague information. Nobody likes being spammed with generic letters.

If you're waiting for the credit repair agency, you might be missing out on other things you could be doing in the meantime. When they're being paid by the month, the incentives are stacked against them moving quickly and keeping you informed.

My recommendation is to do your own credit repair. Spend a little bit of the money you'd give an agency and get yourself a good book or course. Your financial future is up to you. - 31379

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Find out how to do your own credit history repair without an agency. Visit www.creditrepairsecrets.org for free credit repair secrets.

FICO Scoring Meaning

By Caton Hanson

FICO scoring is a system that lenders and underwriters use to determine what your interest rate on a loan is going to be. If you buy a house or car, the mortgage or the loan is determined by you credit report and your FICO score.

The score is based on the system developed by Fair Isaac Company (FICO) and the interest you pay, as well as monthly payments that are based on your personal credit history and score as well.

The same is true when you get a car loan, as well as the premium on your car insurance or homeowners insurance. Your personal credit score can even affect your chances of getting new employment.

There are a lot of things that go into FICO scoring and we will group that into about five categories.

So that you will understand the basics of how FICO score is determined, the percentages below reflect how important each of the categories are in determining your personal credit score.

Payment history (35%)

Payment history is the biggest factor in determining your FICO score. How many late payment or bankruptcies you have can hurt you significantly and the more recent the negative activity, the worse the score will be.

Debt (30%)

How much of the total credit line is being used on credit cards and other revolving charges? High balances or more precisely, balances that are close to your credit limit can negatively affect your credit score. Most lenders think 40%-60% of maximum is ideal.

History of Credit (15%)

How long have your accounts been open? High loan amounts that you have paid as agreed and have had open a long time work best. Closing old accounts can have a negative affect because it makes your credit history appear shorter.

Recent Pull of Credit (10%)

Every time you apply for any kind of credit you create an inquiry on your credit report. A lot of inquiries negatively affect your credit score. However, ordering a copy and checking your own credit report or personal credit score counts as a soft inquiry and does not go against your score.

Types of credit in use (10%).

Is your credit from a car loan or a mortgage? If it is a mortgage, how much do you currently owe compared to the original amount loaned. How many accounts are open. It is not always beneficial to open a new account to receive more available cred - 31379

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How To Repair Bad Credit

By Jody Greggins

One out of ten Americans is facing the trouble of a poor credit rating. If you too are facing the same trouble and are in search of a credit repair program then there are a number of sure fire solutions, including:

Step one of bringing your credit back up is to do some research and find out what it was that was bringing you credit down. To do this, simple request a credit report from each of the three reporting agencies, Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. They all offer free credit report once a year. If you want the credit score, it's an extra eight bucks.

Anyone in debt should first be aware that there is no perfect solution to fixing your credit; no legitimate ways if you will. Stay away from mediators that make "promises" to solve your bad credit through loopholes and such. There people are misguiding and usually put you in a worse credit position than you started in because you just used your credit card to pay them. This can get you in a heap of trouble. So, it is wise to seek professional advise from a law firm or similar to truly fix the issue.

It is vital to cancel all the credit cards for the sake of fixing up bad credits. If you cannot move on without credit cards then you can keep a one card but make sure to use it only for emergency purposes. One of the biggest disadvantages of having poor credit scores is that you can face problem in getting credits in future.

Debtors must be honest to themselves. They must accept that they are going through a terrible financial crisis and spending unnecessarily can worsen their situation like hell. One can slowly fix up credits by cutting out extra expenditure and increasing the income. Lenders make a special check over the gaining capability and expenditures of the applicants before lending money. This is done to assess if the borrowers can pay off borrowed sum or not.

You should always check if there are discrepancies in your reports. Credit bureaus make mistakes in about 40% of America's reports. You're the one that needs to check this because believe me, the bureaus have no intention of checking themselves twice. If you do find an error, you will need to submit it in writing. This sounds like a pain but it is nothing in comparison to what a pain getting a loan will be a year from now if you don't. Bureaus will not accept email.

It is legitimate right of the borrowers to add up such details in their credit report that can improve their credit rating. This extra information can range from complete repayment of a loan to salary increase. One must make a special check over if the authentic details that can boost up credit rating are included in the credit report or not. - 31379

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