Quite possibly, the most important step in buying a home is obtaining the financing to do so. Knowing where your credit stands can be very important in securing financing. Read on to learn more about how to check your credit scores, and how to repair any negative information on your credit report so that you can buy your Tampa dream home!
Dealing with Credit Bureaus
It is essential to understand that Credit Bureaus are nothing more than record keepers.
Simply put, they keep a record of who has given you credit, when they gave you credit, how much credit you are given and whether or not you paid it back on time. When you want to obtain credit cards, loans, financing for a car or home, leases, apartments and sometimes even employment, the lender or bank will check your credit to see your financial history.
Credit Bureaus are paid by the people who request your credit file.
Credit Bureaus have no legal power over you. Banks, police or the government does not run them; so don't be intimidated by them. They are the Credit Bureaus because they own large computer systems capable of storing credit information on everyone in the United States. However, because of the tremendous amounts of information on their computers, their method of storing information is very basic and ridden with many errors. Since the bureaus have made so many errors in the past, all Federal Laws regarding credit information are very much in your favor.
The Major Credit Bureaus
EXPERIAN
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
(888) 397-3742
experian.com
Trans Union Corporation
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
(800) 888-4213
transunion.com
Equifax, Inc.
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
(800) 685-1111
equifax.com
Crucial Strategies
The only thing you legally need to supply the credit bureaus for a copy of your report is your name, your social security number and a legal mailing address (P.O. Box is a legal address). If you don't want to chance harassment by creditors at this time, it may benefit you to acquire a P.O. Box. Did you know that many of the collection agencies are owned by the credit bureaus?
NEVER give credit bureaus more information than they need!
The bureaus also have a right to request a copy of your social security card, but only give a copy of the front. They also may request a copy of something showing your address if it is different than what is showing on the report. Send them a billing statement that has your address. Do not send them a copy of your driver's license as they request. Remember these bureaus are information-gathering companies who sell your information, not only for credit, but also for promotional reasons.
Before going any further, you should have copies of your current credit reports. If you don't, you can use the sample letter on the following page as a guideline for requesting your credit reports from the 3 major bureaus.
The Credit Bureaus must send you copies of your credit file, free of charge if you were recently denied credit. They will also provide you with one free copy each year. We advise against having anyone you know get your credit file for you because this creates an "Inquiry" on your credit report, and makes it appear as if you are trying to borrow money from somewhere.
If you are in a hurry and cannot wait 5 to 10 days to receive your credit report, simply look in your local Yellow Pages under Credit Bureaus. If the Credit Bureaus have a local office or affiliates in your area, you may go there directly and obtain your credit file without delay.
When you get the reports, there will be an information page telling you how to read your report. And all three agencies use different formats. The first step is to find all the derogatory items.
Look for collection accounts. Equifax lists them at the end of the report; Trans Union mixes them throughout the report. Experian gives a brief paragraph explanation of all accounts. The collections may have a collector's name or account number you do not recognize.
If you don't recognize the account as being one of yours, please don't assume that it is!
How to Request a Credit Report
You can get a copy of your credit report online for free once a year from http://www.annualcreditreport.com/
The following is a sample credit report request letter:
REMEMBER TO REQUEST FROM ALL THREE CREDIT AGENCIES!!!!
January 1, 2001
The Credit Agencies Name
P.O. Box 8030
Layton, UT 84041-8030
To Whom It May Concern,
Please send me a copy of my current credit file. The following is my current identifying information:
John K. Smith
1111 Perfect Lane
Collection, NY 11234
I have lived at the above address for the last three years.
I was born 3/2/51
My Social Security # is 111-222-3333
Thank You,
_________________
Your signature
Print your name
IMPORTANT: Included along with this form must be a proof of address. Show them a phone bill, utility bill, billing statement from any major creditor, etc. It must be a copy of something with your name and current address. Also send them a copy of the front of your Social Security card.
Always send letters to Credit Bureaus through certified and return receipt mail. This is available through your local Post Office. Once you have copies of your current credit files, you may continue to the next section: removing negative information from your credit file.
The following techniques will help correct your credit and should be done with all Credit Bureaus.
In this section you will learn the ways of removing negative items from your credit file. These methods are sometimes referred to as "Credit Repair". These are the exact same methods credit repair clinics and attorneys charge up to $3,500 to perform. Since they do not always do it correctly, consumers have been taken for millions of dollars over the past years. We will also show you all the jealously guarded secrets on how to outsmart creditors who are damaging your credit!
What the Credit Bureaus Don't Tell You
1. Each item on your credit report must be proven or it cannot remain in the report. If the credit bureau cannot verify the item when investigated, it must be removed from your file whether or not it's true.
2. Every negative entry on your report can be denied or challenged at any time. The bureau must reinvestigate and if that item cannot be verified within a "reasonable amount of time", it must be removed from the file.
3. Items when challenged can be mistakenly erased. Consumers say they often experience computer operator mistakes.
4. Many times the creditor does not re-verify in time or the credit bureau is busy and does not handle your dispute properly. It must then be deleted.
5. The older an item, the more difficult re-verification is. It is possible it cannot be verified because records may no longer exist after 1 or 2 years.
Steps to Repair Your Credit
1. Obtain your three credit reports.
2. Review the reports and locate the negative items.
3. Dispute the negative items with the credit bureaus.
4. Disputed items are removed or corrected. Items that were not re-verified are removed.
5. Negotiate with creditors and collection companies.
6. After negotiating and making payment, creditors delete the negative accounts or change them to a positive rating.
7. State the item you are disputing, but do not use dispute forms or file numbers provided by the bureau. This will cause fewer delays by the credit bureau asking for clarification.
8. Do not confirm the account if any information about the item is wrong.
9. Do not use letterhead (you don't want to raise any Red Flags).
10. Do not photocopy a fill in the blanks form letter (another Red Flag).
11. Send disputes during busy times of the year. For Example: The first to middle of November can cause a delay in verification because of Thanksgiving. Christmas rush for the creditor and the bureau can catch them before they can thoroughly investigate within a reasonable time.
Your Rights Are Important!
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
All Federal Laws are in the consumer's favor. This means you have the advantage. The specific law used here is the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
One part of this law states that when you dispute any information contained on your credit file, the Credit Bureau must verify the accuracy of the information with the creditor who reported the information within 30 days. If they are unable to verify the information within 30 days, it must be removed.
Congress passed The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) because they felt we all deserve a second chance. This act gives you the right to correct, update, amend and tell your side of what happened to the credit community. These laws do not work though unless you initiate and use them. A copy of the FCRA is included in the Appendix for your review.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act sets certain guidelines which credit bureaus and your creditors must follow when reporting your credit file, as well as giving the consumer certain rights.
All of this brings us to the fascinating task of working on your credit reports. Begin by getting defensive about your credit report. Remember that these credit reporting bureaus are just private companies selling information about you and are not your friends. You never authorized your creditors to sell this information and you are not sharing in the profits they and the credit bureaus are making.
Your Six Basic Rights under The Fair Credit Reporting Act
1. You, the consumer, have the right to challenge the accuracy of your credit report any time.
2. The credit bureaus must reinvestigate anything you challenge without a charge.
3. The credit bureaus must reinvestigate within a reasonable amount of time. 30 days constitutes a "reasonable amount of time" unless the bureau notifies you otherwise (so keep accurate records).
4. If the credit bureau finds an error in the challenged item, they must delete or correct that information in your files immediately.
5. If the credit bureaus cannot or do not confirm the challenged item within 30 days, they must delete that information from your files immediately.
6. You have the right to submit a Consumer Statement of your view of the problem. If you, as a credit consumer, dispute the accuracy of certain information in your credit report and it is verified by the creditor as correct, then the credit bureau is required to include your explanation of your dispute, if you request, in your credit report. Limit your explanation to no more than 100 words.
How to Remove Negative Credit - Getting the Edge
Important: You do not want us or any other company to file a dispute for you because if the dispute is sent from anyone other than you, the credit bureau will suspect that you have paid someone to repair your credit and this will not work as well as it could have if you sent it directly.
As the Credit Bureaus did not lend you money, they are not as concerned as you if the information they have is correct or not. They are only paid to store the information.
Consumers working on their credit reports say many times their letters are ignored by the credit bureaus. It is believed the credit bureaus try to discourage consumers from working on the reports by making it difficult. Consumer's say even with proof an item is not theirs; its removal from their report can take three or four challenge letters. When the credit bureaus say they have verified or confirmed an item, it seems all they have done is verified it is in their computers. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH PROOF!!! They need to provide greater proof, so read on.
Sending your dispute letter by CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT MAIL greatly increases your chance of a response. This should not be done with the first attempt. Keep a record of when you sent the dispute letters and what date you should expect a response. If you have received no answer to your dispute after 30 to 37 days, attack the credit bureau with a certified return receipt letter, for an updated credit report demanding the disputed items be deleted. If the bureaus do not reply within the 30 days, it must be that the information was either inaccurate, or it could not be verified. In either case, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the items must be immediately deleted.
Consumers have found it possible to eliminate negative marks on credit reports simply by going through this process of disputing items over and over again. Since many creditors won't take the time to defend the negative item, eventually you can "repair" your credit through default by your creditor not responding to the credit bureaus request to verify the item. This commonly occurs. The creditors do not always have time to deal with a bothersome piece of paperwork and that is your advantage. We'll go into this more later.
When you get the updated report carefully review it to see if you have lost the negative items and to see if anything else has changed. Consumers working on their credit report have found while disputing one negative item, for no apparent reason, another negative item or two disappeared. Usually some progress is made each time you challenge, but do not get discouraged if you don't get results each time. Remember, the credit bureau would like you to quit bothering them because if you aren't disputing the report, they can legally continue selling it as profitable information.
After you have received your response, repeat the process all over again. Consumers who have successfully cleaned their credit report say that they have denied a bankruptcy or judgment and have received verification from the credit bureau that it was in public record. They denied a second time and some even a third time, and finally the credit bureau deleted the bankruptcy from the report. So do not get discouraged! Patience and persistence are important keys to incredible success in repairing a damaged credit report.
The creditors who reported the items to the bureaus must be the ones to provide information to verify the dispute. These creditors do not always have the staff and proper records to verify all disputes within 30 days to keep the item from being removed. So you can see how possible it is to remove negative information from your credit file. How well is this going to work for you? The only way is to try. However, our research has shown that certain items are easier to remove than others.
Easier Items To Dispute And Have Removed
* Items older than 2 years
* Discharged bankruptcies
* Charge-offs
* Inquiries
* Repossessions
* Late payments
* Accounts that were late but are now paid off
The reason these items are easier to remove is simple; when you dispute an older account or an item that is now charged off, the creditor is not too concerned with the account any more. They may not even be able to find the necessary information to verify the dispute. Even if the account was once seriously past due, but now is paid off, they usually will not take the time to verify the dispute since they have already been paid.
More Difficult Items To Dispute And Have Removed
* Accounts that are currently past due
* Recent Bankruptcies
* Judgments
* IRS or State Tax Liens
* Current collection accounts
These are more difficult because creditors keep these types of accounts in their current files and they are expecting you to pay them. That is why it will be much easier for them to verify the information and keep the item on your credit file. However, it is always worth a try.
Important: It is completely legal for you to dispute items on your credit file even if you know they are correct. You are simply testing to see if your creditors have maintained the proper records to verify the dispute. You have a very bad memory and forgot that the negative accounts on your credit file are really yours.
Federal Laws require that the Credit Bureaus verify all disputes. If they are unable to verify your dispute, the law says it must be removed from your file.
STEPS TO TAKE TO DISPUTE ITEMS
Step 1: To dispute a negative item on your credit file you need to first identify the negative items that you want removed.
Once you know which items to dispute, DO NOT complete the Dispute Forms that the Credit Bureaus included with copies of your credit file that they sent you. It's much more effective to easily follow the outlines of the SAMPLE LETTERS that follow below.
Be sure to include a copy of your credit file and keep the original for your records. Highlight or underline the items you are disputing. Mail the dispute forms to the address listed on each credit file.
To dispute an inquiry, simply write that you never applied for credit with that company.
Make a photocopy of your dispute letter for your records and be sure to send it by Certified and Return Receipt Mail from your local Post Office. Mail your dispute form to the address provided with your credit file. Repeat the above process for each item that you want removed or changed.
Step 2: After reviewing your updated credit file and finding that most or all the negative items have been removed, you may now focus on building a positive credit profile. Positive information will always outweigh a few negative items that may remain on your file.
Step 3: This technique is extremely effective in removing any negative information that was supposedly verified as correct after your dispute.
Important: Always remember that if the dispute is sent in from anyone other than you, the Credit Bureau will suspect that you have paid someone to repair your credit. This raises all sorts of Red Flags. Since they make so many mistakes it is imperative that they believe you are working alone and trying to fix a real legitimate mistake.
If there is a negative item that you want removed from your credit, such as a bankruptcy, charge off or collection account, you may want to write that this is NOT your account and you want it removed immediately.
If the account is now paid off, but was seriously past due at one time, DO NOT write that it's not your account. Instead, write that it is your account but was NEVER past due and you need it updated to say that everything has always been current.
An Extremely Powerful Technique...
This auditing technique is usually only practiced by attorneys. It would be very expensive to hire attorneys to do this for you. However, by following the instructions you'll get similar results as any attorney (you just won't have to pay).
If the Credit Bureaus were able to verify any disputed information as correct, it would remain on your credit file. So you'll need to contact the creditor who is reporting the information. The creditor who reported the item is listed on the left or bottom of your credit file. If their phone number is not provided, call directory assistance in their city and ask for the creditor's telephone number. Call and ask them to mail you written proof and documentation that this is actually your account, since you do not believe the account belongs to you.
Almost all creditors and collection agencies use computers to store information about debtors and they throw out original, signed contracts along with other original documents. This makes it easy for creditors to store and organize information BUT makes it impossible to actually prove the account is really yours and not just another mistake.
Federal Law requires that upon your request, all creditors must show you written proof that the account in question is in fact yours. Written proof is a copy of the contract you signed with the original creditor. As we explained before, you are stored on the creditor's computer and chances are excellent that they have thrown out all the proof that this is your account.
The only creditors that may have proof are the courts (Recent Bankruptcies, Unpaid Tax Liens, Unpaid Judgments & Unpaid Child Support).
Again, all Federal Laws are in your favor. If you say an account is not yours and the creditor does not have written proof that the account belongs to you, they must remove the account from your credit file and cease all collection activity. If they don't have written proof that the account is yours, there are two ways to get the item removed
Important
Only allow a creditor 7 days to get the proof into your mailbox (3 days to find it and 4 days for the mail). If it takes any longer they probably do not have proof and you should start taking the action listed below. If the creditor does supply you with all the written proof that the account belongs to you, go to Step 4.
Get The Edge Above Your Creditors
A. Contact the Attorney Generals Office in the city of the creditor who is damaging your credit. Get the phone number through directory assistance. Tell them that you have a creditor who is damaging your credit by reporting an account that is not yours. You have requested proof that the account belongs to you and they do not have it. They will contact the creditor and have the account removed from your credit file. This is free legal service and almost guarantees they will get the item removed.
B. If you want to make some money off of the creditor then take them to Small Claims Court. To do this, you will need to call your county courthouse and ask about the proper procedure to follow to get a court date. It's very easy and you can do it all yourself. You'll be asked to fill out one or two simple forms stating your complaint. You may want to write that you wish to remove the item from your credit file since it is not yours and the creditor has no proof that it is your account.
After you receive a court date, mark it in your calendar and make sure to attend at the proper time, place and date. Bring in the receipts from the registered mail you used for your disputes along with your phone bill and sue the creditor for your expenses and emotional stress. Remember, if they do not have proof that this is your account you will win and the account will be removed from your credit file! Also, if the creditor is out of state and does not show in court, you win by their default.
So far, we have not yet heard of any creditor showing up in court. They are simply far too busy to waste time on one person when they have thousands of other people to be concerned with. You may contact an attorney in your area for a free consultation about what your rights are concerning your particular situation.
Step 4: If the creditor is able to supply the written proof you request, offer to settle the debt for 10 cents on the dollar provided that you have the money. If you don't have the money go to Step 5. If you owe $1,000, offer the creditor $100. If they refuse, tell them that you will file Bankruptcy and they will get nothing. This will certainly open them up to negotiating with you. Whatever you agree to pay them, it should be a lot less than you originally owed them. Do not agree to pay interest charges or penalties on past due or collection accounts.
Step 5: If you don't have the money to make payment arrangements, start back at Step 1 of this section. Remember that the laws are in your favor and you are legally allowed by Federal Law to dispute the negative items on your credit file every 30 days. You are allowed to repeat this process as many times as you wish until the Credit Bureaus cannot verify the item and must remove it. As you already know, the creditors do not have the staff to handle all the disputes they receive, so if you persist, eventually the items may be removed.
Sometimes the Credit Bureaus may sometimes reply telling you that they already verified the information as correct. If this happens, write back telling them that it's a Federal Law that they must verify your disputes and that you'll sue them for $5,000 for each dispute that they do not handle properly. Once they know that you are aware of your rights, they'll become very cooperative.
Extremely Important
If you agree to make payment arrangements with any creditor, do so only under one condition. The condition is that before you pay any money, the creditor must mail you a written agreement that they will report the account to the Credit Bureaus as current, paid off and never late! Otherwise, it may still remain on your credit file and may not be worth paying.
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