July 20, 2011 
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Credit Repair Magic Will Fix Your Credit Faster than Any Other Credit Repair System at Any Price. . . Guaranteed
You only need to invest in one credit repair solution, so why not own the BEST credit repair solution?
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April 26, 2011 0 Comments
When you see advertisement after advertisement on television of businesses who want you to find out your free credit score, that is a red flag that someone is looking to make some money off of you. The funny thing is they are not lying to you but at the same time, you are exactly right that those companies paying good money for television advertising are looking to make a buck off of you.
The truth is, you can actually find out what your credit report says about you. What they are telling you about that is true. Your credit report tells you your credit score which helps you understand how creditors see you which is important if you go to get a new loan. But your credit report also shows a detailed history of your past use of credit, currently open accounts and anyone who has checked your credit score in the last year.
This is important information for you because anyone can check your credit report anytime they want to. And if there are too many inquiries on your credit report, that itself can drive down your score. So if you find someone is checking your score too often, you can take action to put a stop to it.
But there are a couple things they are not telling you on those advertisements. One is that if you use their services, they will give you the credit report for free but not the credit score. They are going to have their hand out for that little tidbit of information. But the truth that those companies will not tell you is that you can get that score at least once a year absolutely free if you know how. In other words, those people hitting you up on television to check your credit score are relying on the fact that (1) you dont know how to check it yourself and (2) you are willing to give them money for something you can get for free if you know how.
The basic information you should know about credit reports is that there are three agencies that maintain credit reporting and they are named Equifax, Experian and Transunion. You can check on what each of these companies has in their file at any given time. In addition to a lot of detail about your credit history as we just discussed, your credit health will be represented in the form of a number of a score. That score will run between 300 and 850. The higher your credit score, the better you will be received by credit organizations who are deciding whether to extend you a loan.
Once you have this information, you can take action to improve how you stand on your credit history. First of all, review the credit detail in depth. You may find accounts still open that you have not used for years. Close those accounts. If you have a credit account that is not being used, it is of not value to you, it only runs down your credit score and there is always a danger someone will use it.
But the next step is to start being credit smart in how you use credit to help see that credit score go up over the next year. The steps to do that are.
Always pay your bills on time. Late payments are reported to the credit bureaus and it runs your score down.
Make more than the minimum payments. If you only pay the minimum on each credit card you owe, that will get noticed by the credit tracking software and make your credit score go down.
Cut down on the amount of times your credit score is checked. Excessive inquiries into your score indicate that you are looking at getting more credit and that hurts your score.
Close unneeded credit accounts.
Start closing some of your credit card accounts once you pay them off.
Dont take out any new accounts.
Dont let yourself get excited by the virtual nonstop advertising about your credit history. You do not need to know this information every day. But check it a couple times a year, no sooner than once every three months to keep tabs on what is going on with your credit history. Its the responsible thing to do and you can just change the channel on those noisy commercials too.
January 25, 2011 0 Comments
When I first began applying for credit after my bankruptcy I noticed a trend.
Lenders would ask me the same series of questions over and over again. They all seemed to care about a few key things. Of course, now I realize they were trying to quickly assess if I was creditworthy or not.
You see, after you file bankruptcy, lenders will be very cautious when considering if they should extend you credit (and rightfully so).
Can you blame them?
After bankruptcy your number one mission is to prove to lenders you’re now a low credit risk.
So what do they want to see from you? The right answers to the following six questions.
Question 1: Are You Discharged?
The first thing a lender will need to confirm is if your bankruptcy is discharged. Or, in other words, if your bankruptcy is complete.
The reason lenders want to know that you’re discharged is because if your bankruptcy is still “open,” then you could technically still add accounts to your bankruptcy (including the lender you’re applying with). Not many lenders are going to grant you credit when you still have the ability to include them in your bankruptcy.
Make sure you don’t confuse the term “discharge” with the term “filing.”
Hopefully you’re not one of the poor saps who’ve had a bankruptcy dismissed.
Having a dismissed bankruptcy is bad, bad, bad. You basically receive all the negative effects of filing bankruptcy-but none of the benefits-since your bankruptcy was not completed.
It’s like paying off one of your collection accounts…then realizing the collection account remains on your credit reports. So your FICO credit scores don’t increase at all. They stay the same.
But there’s hope even if you’ve been dismissed. So don’t throw in the towel just yet. Life’s a garden-dig it …plant some seeds of hope…and watch as you prosper…You can still start the process of increasing your credit scores.
Question 2: When was your bankruptcy discharged?
This is very simple.
The more time that has passed since your discharge-the better.
You see, each lender has different credit guidelines. A lender’s credit guidelines are essentially their minimum requirements that you have to meet in order for them to approve your application.
For instance, you won’t be able to finance a new car through a low interest lender until you’re discharged. Being discharged is a basic credit guideline when financing a car after bankruptcy.
Getting approved for a secured Visa or MasterCard is relatively easy. Just being discharged and sending in your deposit are the two most important criteria.
Unsecured credit card lenders’ credit guidelines vary. Some lenders won’t touch you until the bankruptcy no longer shows up on your credit reports. If you discharge debt with some lenders, you’ll never get another card with them until that debt is paid back (e.g., American Express). There are lenders that will give you a second chance-but it won’t be soon after your discharge (so don’t hold your breath).
Mortgage lending requirements are more complicated. How much time you have after your discharge will determine what type of mortgage financing you qualify for.
Anything less than 24 months after your discharge and you’re considered a sub-prime borrower. If you have more than 24 months after discharge you may qualify for more conventional mortgage programs.
Chapter 13 filers have even more options for getting a mortgage after bankruptcy, most of which are determined by the amount of time since your filing date.
So keep track of how long it’s been since your discharge. Or if you filed Chapter 13, how much time since you filed. They are important dates to memorize.
Question 3: How have you paid your bills since your discharge?
Late payments appearing on your credit reports after a discharged bankruptcy are kisses of death.
Some lenders even consider 1 day late after the due date to be enough for them to report a 30-day late payment to the credit reporting agencies. The reason is that technically, they count everything in the 1-30 day late payment range the same. So even being one day late could burn you.
Bottom line-don’t be late. Pay early, worst case on time. You simply cannot afford to be late.
Lenders will look to see how you’ve handled your credit since your discharge.
And if you think late payments hurt you…collection accounts, judgments, and other nasty things like those will haunt you much more.
You need to be able to tell a lender that you’ve paid everything early or on time since your discharge. When they review your credit reports they will see what you’re saying is true.
Question 4: Have you reestablished new credit since your discharge?
Avoidance is not recovery.
Although it’s good if you reaffirm a few credit accounts through your bankruptcy, it’s even better if you can show lenders that you’ve established new credit since your discharge.
The types of new credit you need to aim for are:
- Home mortgage
- Car loan
- Car lease
- Credit union loan
- Bank loan
- Overdraft protection
- Credit card
- Retail credit card
- Gasoline credit card
- Home equity loan
- Student loan
The catch-22 is that the lenders you really want to work with don’t really want to be the first ones to grant you credit. It can be frustrating trying to open that first account-which is why you need a strategic plan of attack. In other words, don’t apply for a business loan (which can be tricky to get) if you can’t even qualify for a secured credit card yet.
But it all starts with you. I’m saving you months-even years-worth of trial and error. But you have to take the information and put it into action. So get to it!
You simply will not recover unless you jump back into the fire and prove to the world you can manage credit effectively.
Question 5: How much do you have for a down payment?
It will be necessary in most cases to be able to come up with a down payment or deposit. So start saving! Lenders don’t take food stamps, or post-dated checks.
As a general rule of thumb, if you made all your payments as agreed on your last car, you should plan on no more than $500 to finance a new car at a normal interest rate…that is IF you follow what I teach in the free Credit After Bankruptcy seminar.
On the other hand, if you missed or made late payments on your last auto loan, your only option will most likely be 20% down at a high interest rate through a finance company.
If a car dealer is telling you to come up with more money, you’re either at the wrong dealer…or you need to wait until you’ve reestablished your credit a little more.
If you want a good secured credit card-plan on depositing around $250 to $500. There are some secured credit cards that you can get that have lower deposits, but I don’t recommend them. Most of the lower-deposit cards have hidden fees…don’t report to the credit reporting agencies properly…and usually have higher interest rates to boot.
A down payment on a home will obviously depend on the amount of the mortgage. Although 3% to 10% of the purchase price is considered the norm-it’s more than possible to get a mortgage for no money down. And I’m not talking about some crazy television infomercial that’s promising you the world. I’m talking about real, bona fide mortgage programs.
So be prepared. Have a little money down to show you’re a playa.
Question 6: What are your credit scores?
Of course you knew this was coming, right?
Back when I was recovering from bankruptcy, credit scoring was just starting to become popular. You couldn’t even purchase all 3 of your credit scores before 2003.
Today credit scores are used by nearly every lender in the United States and Canada.
If you don’t know your FICO credit scores-you should.
Most important, you need to know which credit reporting agency has your…
…HIGHEST credit score
…your MIDDLE credit score
…and your LOWEST credit score
To gain the most leverage over any lender you should choose to work with the lender that uses the credit reporting agency that has your HIGHEST FICO score. This way you receive the lowest interest rate and best terms.
A Final Note
So there you have it. The six questions lenders will ask you after bankruptcy. Like my scoutmaster taught me many years ago…be prepared.
Chance favors a prepared mind.
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