Do you need help finding the best credit repair services available to turn your credit score and your life around? It’s no secret that in today’s economy your credit score is more important than ever! With the entire nation tightening its belt, your credit score is a vital to both your economic freedom and your family’s ability to pursue the American dream. So what do you do if you suffer from a bad credit score? Who can you turn to for help?
Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous companies promising to repair your credit that are ready to take advantage of you – like sharks smelling blood in the water – they see you as easy prey,
But, all is not lost; there are plenty of reputable credit repair services available. However, it’s always a good idea to first educate your-self on the art of credit repair.
Fortunately, you can educate yourself online, for free, courtesy of the United States government. The Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) has all the information you need to successfully, and legitimately, repair your credit score. Once on their website use the “Consumer Protection” tab, find your way to the “Consumer Categories” menu, and use the “Credit and Loans” link. Then prepare to be educated.
The Federal Trade Commission explains exactly how to spot the credit repair scams that are currently making the rounds and what you can do about them. Unfortunately, there is no “magic-tonic” for instant credit repair; but there are many excellent sources available and personal that steps you can take.
The Federal Trade Commission provides reliable information on important topics such as: building a better credit report, credit card disclosures, how divorce affects on your credit score, how to dispute credit reports, and much more. Plus, nearly all of this information is downloadable and it’s all free. It’s a perfect place to start when finding the best credit repair services.
The end of the year is a busy time for everyone and it is also a time of year when finances can get a little bit out of hand. This can be due to the fact that it has been a heavy festive season already or perhaps the general state of the economy has got you down. Whatever the case may be you should not feel as if there is nothing you can do. There is definitely some bankruptcy help for you out there if there is no alternative or debt solutions you can come up with.
A lot of people will find as if there is not really an alternative to bankruptcy when it comes to this type of situation and that they are not going to be able to get out of it. But this need not be the situation at all if you know where to look for help and there is definitely some out there. Many times credit card debt is the reason they have to look to this type of action. In fact filing credit card bankruptcy is one of the most common reasons for getting debt relief among most Americans. They get too far gone in their credit cards and cannot manage money well so they end up filing.
Your first port of call should perhaps be your bank manager. Now you might be scared to go and see them and they might be a little bit annoyed at you to begin with. But this is not the situation at all in the long run because they want to make sure that you are able to service your debt. In the current economic climate they are likely to be more approachable when it comes to sorting your problem out.
If you do decide to visit the bank manager then it is also important that you get the timing right. Don’t leave it to the last minute because this means that they are going to think that you have tried to avoid the situation as much as possible and that you are not going to construct a workable plan. You basically have to show your commitment to improving the situation. If you are going to file for bankruptcy help then be sure you have exhausted all other alternatives. Filing chapter 7 or 13 is no laughing matter and it takes years to recover.
A bill consolidation company can help advise you on consolidating your debts. They should also offer other services such as a free no-obligation financial assessment, negotiating with your creditors in an effort to lower your payment rates, and even handle your payments for you.
Bill consolidation companies help transfer all of your existing loans and debts into one loan, which means that instead of having many different payments to make, you will only have one payment per month. Your original credit card balances, loans, and other outstanding debts will all have different interest rates and payment terms. Once all of these have been combined into a single loan you will have only one payment to make at one interest rate instead of all the individual payments. Generally a consolidated loan does not include mortgage or car balances, but it could still simplify your financial situation considerably.
Companies that consolidate bills are sometimes also known as debt management companies. Most bill consolidation companies guarantee that they will do all they can to not only consolidate your debts and loans but also help you pay off your loans and get out of debt within a specific period of time. This is a great goal and a great service as long as you find a good company to help you. There are a number of companies that are not so good and are only after the fee that they charge you. You want to avoid a company like this and find one that is really determined to helping you help yourself get out of debt.
A bill consolidation company has the ability, and the knowledge, to turn your debts around. Those employed by bill consolidation companies are usually well versed in matters of financing, loans and debt management. They are usually adept at negotiating with your creditors to lower interest rates and in some circumstances they can even leverage your creditors to eliminate late payment fees completely or other charges related to overdue or late payments.
The way companies that consolidate bills are able to do this, is by having you pay their company one monthly payment. The monthly payment would equal the total amount of money you need to pay your creditors each month as well as their monthly fees. Most debts and loans can be consolidated in this way, although student loans cannot.
If you are looking for a bill consolidation company to work with, do your research first and look for reputable companies with good track records. You may find it is best to go with a company that deals only in debt management rather than those that also deal with debt negotiation or other services as well.
The amount of work I spent to fix my credit made me keenly aware of my financial shortcomings. There are people who truly do not know they have bad credit scores until they need a loan and get turned down. Once that happens, the only thing that runs through your mind is “what will it take to fix my credit?” In our ADD world, we want to believe we can fix this is thirty days. There are a number of sites online that will tell you that you can fix your credit that quickly. They are lying to you.
If you are serious about getting answers to the question “fix my credit”, you need to start with the question, “why is it bad?” Get your credit report at annualcreditreport.com. This is the only required source for free credit information. You may remember the funny commercials and jingles for other free credit reports. Those reports are part of a paid service. Once you have your report, there are one of two reasons your FICO score is bad. You likely have no or insufficient credit history, or you have negative credit history. These problems require slightly different approaches in the “fix my credit” work.
If you lack credit history, find a secured charge card that also reports to the credit reporting agencies. The secured card is backed by cash you deposit with an issuing company. Some sources of these cards are available at www.fixmycredittodayblog.com. Make certain the card issuer reports to the CRA’s. You still must make monthly payments on these cards, even though the issuing company has your money. You won’t lose your deposit if you pay your bill as agreed. A good practice in using secured cards is to never use more than 50% of the limit on them.
Here’s one of the schemes you will read about from companies claiming to “fix my credit fast.” Its the “challenge the debt” scheme. Here’s how it works. Challenge every negative piece of information on your credit report. You must do this by mail and have some kind of valid reason for it. Federal law requires the companies who posted the negative information to confirm it with the credit bureau. Will it work? Maybe temporarily. Most creditors update their files with the major agencies weekly or faster. All the creditor has to do, and its done by computer, is say yes its a valid debt. The legal requirement is met, and your credit still sucks. Not exactly what I had in mind when I wanted to fix my credit.
If you are planning on hiring a credit restoration company to fix your credit, you will want to read this article. We will be discussing the most commonly asked questions about how to spot a credit repair scam. When you are done reading this article, you should be able to select a credit repair company with complete confidence.
The company I was looking at says they can do more for me than I could ever do for myself. Is this true?
Absolutely not! In fact, I would go so far as to say that no credit company can do as much for you as you can do yourself. The only time you should hire a credit repair company is if you don’t have the time, patience or desire to learn what it is going to take to repair your own credit.
I was told that there was no guarantee of the results. Should I look for another company?
Actually, you want to work with a company that won’t guarantee specific results. Why? Because any company that says that they guarantee a specific outcome is lying to you! The bottom line is that credit repair companies don’t control the credit bureaus, so there is no way they can promise results. By the way, satisfaction guaranteed isn’t the same as promising that they can raise your credit score by a certain number of points.
I saw an advertisement that said for $750 I could get a new credit file. The ad said that it was legal. Is it?
Be honest with yourself. You know that if it seems too good to be true it probably is. In this case, falsely creating a new credit file (most likely through the use of an EIN) is highly illegal and could actually land you in jail. You want to be sure that you work with a company that only uses legal credit repair methods.