"When
I pay off a past-due account, such as a charge
off or a collection account, it will show "paid"
and will no longer be negative"
It is quite difficult to restore
your credit without somehow satisfying your
outstanding debts. However,by paying an outstanding,
delinquent debt you will change the account
status to "paid collection," "paid
was late," or "paid was charged off"
- which will still stand out as a very negative
listing. When you have outstanding debt, it
is almost always prudent to seek professional
help so that you may settle your debts while
creating a reasonable possibility of deletion
of the negative listing at the same time.
"If
I succeed in deleting a negative item, it will
just come right back on my credit report."
The
credit bureaus have cleverly spread this myth
through the news media and government agencies.
In truth, the credit bureaus will often temporarily
delete a negative listing if they haven't heard
from the credit grantor after approximately
thirty days. If the credit grantor reports late,
say after six weeks, and then verifies the negative
listing, the credit bureau will often reinsert
the negative listing on the credit report. This
is often known as a "soft delete."
Usually, though, the creditor simply fails to
respond and the negative listing is permanently
deleted. If the item is verified by the credit
grantor, either before thirty days or after,
the account may still be challenged again at
some future time.
"There
are negative listings, such as bankruptcies
and foreclosures, that are impossible to remove
from the credit report."
There is no type of negative listing
that hasn't been removed from a credit report
thousands of times. Negative items, such as
bankruptcy or unpaid debts, are certainly more
difficult to remove from the credit report,
but this has more to do with the operational
systems of the credit bureaus than with the
severity of the bad credit item. For example,
judgments and tax liens are severely negative
listings, yet are easier to remove.
"Disputing
the credit report is easy and any consumer can
do it himself for the price of a few postage
stamps."
Disputing
the credit report is easy. Getting results from
the credit bureaus is amazingly difficult, complex,
and infuriating. Remember, the credit bureaus
are primarily interested in protecting their
profits. Investigating your challenge consumes
these profits. Short of sparking a mass number
of lawsuits, the credit bureaus seem to do everything
in their power to discourage consumers from
making progress with their credit restoration.
Restoring your own credit report is like repairing
your own transmission or representing yourself
in court; it is possible, but you must decide
if your are willing to take the time and assume
the risks of doing it yourself.
"If
I declare bankruptcy, I can begin my credit
report all over with a clean slate."
Many bankruptcy attorneys do not
adequately understand or explain the effects
of bankruptcy to their clients. Stated simply,
bankruptcy is to the credit rating what the
nuclear bomb is to war. When you file for bankruptcy,
every credit account that you decide to include
in bankruptcy will become an "included
in bankruptcy" account. Additionally, a
bankruptcy filing and bankruptcy discharge listing
will appear in the court records section of
your credit report. Because so many negative
items are attached to the bankruptcy, it becomes
difficult to remove all trace of the bad credit.
If at all possible, you should avoid bankruptcy.
"If
you are not satisfied with the results of your
credit bureau challenge, you may file a "100-word
statement" on your credit report explaining
your side of the story."
Creditors will read your statement
and will take it into consideration. To our
knowledge, no known creditor considers information
given in a 100-word statement. The statement
only serves to verify some of the negative listings
on the credit report. Make 100-word statements
the first things you delete from your credit
file.
"By
changing numbers in my social security number
or by using an EIN tax number, I can fool the
credit bureaus into creating a completely clean,
new credit file under my name."
This scheme has proven to be complex,
difficult, and illegal. Lying about any personal
information on a credit application is usually
a criminal offense. Using these "file segregation"
schemes requires an enormous amount of coordination,
not to mention personal risk.
"If
I build enough good credit, it will offset my
bad credit and make me credit worthy."
After all, I was only
late a couple of times. Any amount of bad credit
is devastating to your chances of being approved
by a credit grantor. Most credit grantors never
actually look at your credit report. A computer
pulls your credit report, rates your credit
standing, indebtedness, and stability, then
spits out an acceptance or denial. Even one
or two slow pays will usually trigger a credit
card or personal loan denial. The slightest
amount of negative credit will cause the interest
on an auto loan to skyrocket. You will probably
find that even a little bad credit, regardless
of how much good credit you have, is an unacceptable
barrier to credit approval.
"I
can improve my credit score by closing down
some credit cards.
For starters,
closing down credit cards usually leads to a
significant decrease in the credit score. What's
more, consumers focus far too much on positive
credit while negative credit still appears on
the credit report. Negative credit effectively
wipes out any amount of positive credit when
the score is calculated.
"It
is illegal for creditors to take a negative,
accurate listing off my credit report."
The law requires that these items
remain on the credit report for at least seven
years. When you speak with credit grantors,
collection agencies, or credit bureaus, their
typically under-educated staff may tell you
all manner of such pseudo-legal nonsense. The
law demands that negative listings appear on
your credit report for no longer than seven
years. The credit grantor or the credit bureau
can choose to delete the negative credit listing
whenever they see fit.
