Credit Repair or Credit Restoration ~ I need my score to go up!

To Repair or to Restore that is the question?

As a mortgage professional of 16 years I am so frustrated with the credit "schemes" consumers are faced with today.  I get it... everything is about instant gratification ~ after all you are reading from a guy with no impulse control!  But really credit repair?

So I am writing this today to help many consumers as possible as we have helped so many in the past with getting the best credit score they can for free. If they have to pay, they pay knowing that the fees go directly to the bureaus not someones pocket.  After all a 640 FICO is now required to fund an FHA loan by all the main investors - even though FHA has a set minimum of 580 - hardly any lender these days will take that risk! 

So the following article with show why Credit Restoration from a true professional is the way to go and to avoid "credit despair"- I mean repair.

CREDIT REPAIR

PLEASE close your wallet and listen carefully: Credit repair guarantees and promises to remove any or ALL derogatory credit information are definitely dangerous and potentially illegal.

As much as you may want to believe it's possible, no person or company (not even a law firm) can remove accurately reported and correctly verified credit information.

NOTE: Outdated, time-barred and/or inaccurate credit information can be challenged and deleted (if that's your preferred strategy) from Equifax, Experian and/or Transunion.

Regardless, credit repair guarantees and promises to remove ALL derogatory credit information are incorrect and legally problematic. Truth is, credit repair "opportunists" KNOW desperate consumers with bad credit buy on emotion, not logic. They KNOW desperate people turn off their brains & whip out their wallets, stepping forward to buy pleasure or remove pain.

Instead of credit repair, I call it CREDIT DISREPAIR - and these opportunists sell the dream, stealing desperate people's money - causing legitimate derogatory disputes to be flagged as frivolous or (worse) uninformed consumers to be sued!

•               Yes, you can be sued when a credit (dis)repair company blindly fires off template dispute letters challenging legitimately reported derogatory credit information.

•               Yes, the BIG 3 credit reporting agencies can flag (even) legitimate disputes as frivolous, preventing you from disputing them again.

Beware Credit Repair Guarantees!

In fact, one particular BIG credit (dis)repair company calling itself a "law firm" generates more complaints than any other person or company contacting me. Desperate people think a law firm can & will fix their credit.

PLEASE do not open your wallet, if you see credit repair offers promising or guaranteeing to remove LEGITIMATE derogatory credit information, including:

1.             Bankruptcy

2.             Foreclosure

3.             Judgment

4.             Charge-off

5.             Collections

6.             Repossession

7.             Late payments

8.             Loan defaults including short sales

9.             Negative tradelines of any kind

10.          HELOC (i.e. home equity line of credit)

11.          Or any other negative credit information

Among the obvious credit disrepair traps include:

•               The company wants you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services. Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed the services they have promised.

•               The company doesn't tell you your rights and what you can do for yourself for free (see the FTC's website)

•               The company tells you they can get rid of most or all the negative credit information in your credit report, even if that information is accurate and current.

•               The company advises you to dispute all the information in your credit report, regardless of its accuracy or timeliness.

Think before you open your wallet.

So what can you do - your friends are telling you - nah bragging that they got rid of that recent foreclosure, that their "guy" helped them get into a house after "removing" derogatory items.  Here is the answer - GET WITH YOUR LENDER YOU TRUST.  Get with yoru lender that doesn't use outside 3rd parties but spends time walking you through your credit.

Here is what a good lender can do for you with yes you guessed it - CREDIT RESTORATION

So how does it work - the restoration part that is?

It is important for consumers to understand that anything on their credit can be challenged, updated, corrected or even removed.  But only inf they have factual proof that the information reported is incorrect.  If you have a BK, or a judgment it will only disappear momentarily not permanently.  But helping clients manage their credit profile will help them for ever.

Did you know that we as professionals have: "what if" calculators a simple tool for a small fee again to the bureaus that will allow us to play around with any scenario - ie what if I pay this card down vs that one, what if I closed this but don't pay off that collection.  We can show exactly the affect it will have on their score positive and negative and the time frame for it to season.  The consumer doesn't have to rely on blind faith and bad advise. 

For any Realtor or consumer reading this they need to know that it is very rare that within 90 days ones credit cannot be restored to a level higher than when we start on a project - for the most part the credit restoration fails because of the consumer's unwillingness to participate and do what's necessary. It also needs to be noted as credit score requirements increase to the high 6's, and the cost of credit cards goes up as scores go down - the credit restoration of your client is paramount. Having a short sale or foreclosure isn't the end - but managing the credit immediately a mortgage payment is missed or a credit card payment is missed is paramount to not having everything else ruined for a long time.

So in summary - if you can find a lender when applying for a mortgage that will work with you for free to help solve your credit challenges so you can buy a home - that loan officer is a keeper!  If you are willing to do what is asked of your loan officer as frustrating and egregious you may feel to that creditor and listen implicitly to their instructions - you will have better results, quicker and with less cost than your friend who bragged their "guy" "repaired their credit.

Feel free to check out the following - fixmybrokencredit

Want to know how soon after a short sale you can buy again? Click

Here is a quick example of Credit Restoration at work:

To find out after a short sale when you can buy again - click

For further information feel free to call Mark Taylor