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I hope you’re finding my credit repair course to be useful.  If you’re following my suggestions, you know that the process is a tedious, but it’s worth it in the end.  I’m happy to be providing you this information and I hope that you’re doing your part to make sure that we’re successful in our efforts to improve your credit score.

Now that you know how to dispute errors on your report, you need to be aware of the other factors that can reduce your credit score.  These factors are:

High credit balances
Credit inquiries
Closed accounts
Late payments
High Credit Balances
Your credit score suffers when you have a balance on any account that is greater than 50% of your credit limit for that account.  So, if you have a credit card with a $5,000 limit and you’re running a $4,000 balance, your score will suffer.

Most likely, you don’t have a wad of cash to pay down the balance (if you do have the cash, by all means, pay down the balance).  So, how do you solve this problem?  You can use two strategies to lower your balance.  First, you can simply call the creditor and request a credit line increase.  In most cases, the creditor will quickly and willingly grant you an increase on the spot.  The second strategy is to pay down your balance using available credit from another account.  The point here is that it’s better to have two $5,000 credit lines with balances of $2,500 each than to have one balance of $4,000 and another of $1,000.

The target balance percentage is up for debate.  Obviously, the lower your balance the better.  Most experts agree that you want to carry a balance of no more than 50% of your credit limit.  Many experts believe that your score is not hurt at all if you carry a balance below 30% of your credit limit.  So, shoot for a balance of 50% or less.  And if you can get the balance down below 30%, you’re in great shape.

Credit Inquiries
Almost any time you apply for credit, the creditor runs a credit check on you.  That credit check is an “inquiry” that will lower your score by 3 - 5 points.  So, be careful who you allow to pull your credit.  You want to minimize inquiries as much as possible, particularly before making a big purchase (home, car, etc.).  Don’t go by a car, furniture or any other large purchase involving a credit check while you’re trying to get your credit score in shape for a home loan!!!

A couple of important points…  First, your credit score is not hurt when you check your own credit score with the credit bureaus.  This is considered a “soft” inquiry and it has no effect on your score, although you will see soft inquiries on your credit report.  Second, when applying for credit, all related inquiries in a two-week period count as one inquiry.  This means that you should compress your shopping into two-week time frames so that your score is not hurt each time your credit is pulled.

Closed Accounts
It is best NOT to close accounts when you are trying to boost your credit score.  This is particularly important regarding your credit accounts that have been open for a long time.  You see, part of your credit score is determined by the length of time and the amount of credit you have available to you.  So, if you close an account that you’ve had open for a long time or that has a generous credit limit, you will probably hurt your credit score.

So, what should you do if you pay off the card or no longer use the account?  Well, during the time period that you’re working hard to boost your scores, don’t do anything.  Then, once you’ve achieved the score you need, you can close an unused account, but be sure to specifically tell the creditor that you want the account to be “closed at customer’s request.”  Those are the words your creditor should report to the credit bureaus in order to avoid the appearance that the creditor chose to close your account.

Late Payments
The absolute most important way to improve your score is to pay your bills on time.  That’s not much consolation when you’re in a race to improve your credit score because on-time payments take about 6 months to have an impact on your score.  But the impact is significant.  So, start paying everything on time right now… and you’ll avoid credit hassles in the future.

In summary, to improve your credit health, you should first dispute all errors on your report and then you should:

Maintain low balances (below 50%, or as low as 30%, if possible)
Get creditors to increase your credit limits
Avoid credit inquiries if at all possible
Don’t close out your accounts
Make your payments on time!
Monitor your report frequently to ensure accuracy and improvement

Alright, now we’re getting to the meat and potatoes of my credit repair program.  You’ve got your list of black marks and you’ve identified the ones that you believe are incorrect.  It’s time to dispute!  Here’s what to do to get rid of these pesky marks on your credit report.

Call in a dispute to the creditor (not the credit bureau) that is reporting the black mark
If that doesn’t work, file a dispute with each of the three credit bureaus
If that doesn’t work, re-contact the creditor with your complaint (make a big fuss) AND submit a personal statement to the credit bureaus
Now, I’ll explain each step and tell you how to proceed to give yourself the best chance at removing the black marks on your report.

First, call the creditor that is reporting you to the credit bureaus.  You can get the correct number for each creditor by looking at your credit report in the last section.  There, you’ll see all your creditors and their contact information.

If the creditor is reporting incorrect information, explain why the information is incorrect and tell them you expect them to contact all credit bureaus and correct the information.  You will most likely be required to fax to the creditor any information that supports your dispute (check number, explanation of your dispute, etc.).

If the creditor is reporting correct information, you may still have a chance to get the black mark removed from your credit report.  Explain your situation and the circumstances surrounding the problem and kindly ask them to remove the blemish from your credit report.  In this case, the creditor is not required to remove the black mark, but they have the power to do so and many consumers are successful in their attempts.

HELPFUL TIP: If you are negotiating a settlement with a creditor, you might be successful in getting the creditor to remove the black mark.  But be sure to get their agreement in writing because once you pay on your part of the settlement, you’ve lost your negotiating power and you may end up with an unresolved black mark on your report.

Second, file a dispute with each credit bureau if the creditor will not remove the black mark.  You can dispute online, by phone or by mail, in most cases.  Here’s how to do it.

Transunion:

http://www.truecredit.com/help/disputelc.jsp?cb=TransUnion
By Phone:  800-916-8800
By Mail:  2 Baldwin Place
  P.O. Box 2000
  Chester, PA  19022
Equifax:

https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/sitepage.ehtml?forward=online_dispute
By Phone:  (800) 997-2493
By Mail:  P.O. Box 740256
            Atlanta, GA  30374
Experian:

http://experian.com/disputes/index.html
By Phone:  (888) 397-3742
By Mail:  Not Available
Once you file your dispute, the credit bureau will contact your creditor to verify the validity of the dispute.  If the creditor does not prove the validity of the black mark within 30 days, the credit bureau is required by law to remove the black mark from your credit report… and your score will go up!  Keep in mind that the credit bureaus are only required to remove a black mark if the creditor fails to provide supporting documentation of the derogatory mark within 30 days.  So, if you are disputing marks that you know are accurate, your only hope is that the creditor will not respond to the credit bureau within 30 days.

Here are some helpful hints in disputing inaccuracies.

Gather all of the documents you have to support your claim, and attach them to the letters you are going to send to the credit reporting agencies.
Make a copy for each agency that shows the error on its report.
Highlight the error
Label each supporting document as Exhibit I, Exhibit II, Exhibit III and so on, so you can refer to the specific exhibits in your letter.
Keep it short and simple!
Fill out the dispute form online, or use the attached sample letter as a guide
If you use the attached sample letter, be sure to include all elements of the letter.  If you leave something out, say, your social security number, you could experience significant delays.  We’re trying to get results as fast as possible, so be sure to provide all necessary information.

Now, if you choose to issue your disputes online rather than by mail, you’ll have to be brief.  The credit bureaus usually require you to submit your dispute in just a few sentences.  Many consumers report good results from the online dispute tools, but others feel that the online method provides less of an opportunity to adequately state their claim.  You should go to one of the online dispute links above to see if the online dispute method suits you.  IMPORTANT: be sure to choose one method of disputing each claim.  That is, don’t dispute the same claim online and by mail.

After you file a dispute, you’ll have to wait a few weeks to get an answer.  Your creditors have 30 days to respond to the credit reporting agencies, so be patient.

Okay, so what if you file the dispute and the creditor tells the credit bureau that the black mark is accurate?  If the black mark is accurate, you’ll have to live with it.  But if the black mark is not accurate, you’ve got a battle on your hands.  Call up the creditor and ask to see the documentation they issued to the credit bureau that supports the black mark.  They have to give it to you.  No documentation = no black mark.  If they insist they are correct, provide them will all of the necessary information to back up your claim and insist on speaking with a “higher up” until you get resolution.

If none of that works, the black mark will remain on your credit report.  However, you do have one last option.  You can submit a “consumer statement’ to each credit bureau that will essentially act as an unofficial explanation of a particular black mark on your report.  Lenders may review the consumer statement and take it into consideration when making their credit decisions. The statement remains on your report as long as the disputed information appears or until you request that it be removed.

A word of caution: Don’t give up!  It takes some work and some time to dispute all of the inaccuracies on your report.  You probably won’t win all of the disputes, but you will win some of them… and your credit score will improve as a result.

In the next installment of my credit repair course, I’ll tell you about some of the other factors that can lower your credit score and I’ll give you some quick tips for improving your score.