Credit Repair – Improve Your Scores in 90 Days

Credit Repair in the Fast Lane

Credit repair does not have to take forever. There are things that only time will heal, but the right strategies can turn your credit scores around quickly. Are you ready to do what it takes to see your numbers pop? It's not hard if you know what to do. Here are the best short term credit repair strategies available. Put them all together and you get credit repair magic.

FICO '08 and Authorized User Accounts

Fair Isaac Corp has finally shut down the authorized user account broker industry. The latest release of the FICO '08 scoring software is carefully designed to eliminate all benefit from purchased authorized user credit card accounts. But there is credit repair gold hidden in the news. Fair Isaac makes it abundantly clear that legitimate authorized users will continue to reap the same score benefits as always. So call Mom or Uncle Bob and have them add you to one or two of their excellent credit cards.

Get Two or Three New Secured Credit Cards

You should see a significant jump in your scores from the new authorized user accounts, but this is not a substitute for building new credit in your own name. If your scores are too weak to get regular credit cards, just apply for a couple of small secured cards. This is a powerful credit repair strategy. Make sure to use less than 20% of the available limit on the card. If you max these new cards out it will be credit repair suicide. You have the power. Don't blow it; use less than 20% of the card.

Pay Down Revolving Balances

Maybe you have plenty of credit and don't need authorized user accounts or secured credit cards. If you have existing revolving debt you have the ability to move your scores very quickly by paying your balances down. There are five levels of card usage acknowledged by the credit scoring model: 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%. If you want to boost your credit scores you should go for the gusto and pay your balances down below 20%. If you don't have the resources to do this you should think about borrowing from a relative or friend. Make it happen if you can. This can add up to over 100 points.

Pump Up Your Credit Limits

There are two sides to the balance vs. limit formula. If you can't get the balances down see if you can get the limits up. If you can reduce the ratio of card usage you will get the benefit regardless of how you did it. Just pick up the phone call each of your credit card issuers if they will increase your limits. It can't hurt to ask. Sometimes credit repair takes nerve.

Challenge Your Collections

Get a copy of your three credit reports. Identify the collections and dispute all of them. Sound crazy? Actually, it's almost crazy not to do this. Collections change hands often. It's the nature of the industry. Did you know that the FTC requires collectors to withdraw reporting of collections if they sell the account to another collector or return it to the original creditor? Unfortunately, there is no incentive for them to cease reporting and no punishment if they don't. If you dispute a collection and the collector no longer owns the debt it will be removed. But take care and read the next section carefully, because there is some potential credit repair danger.

Credit Repair and Your State Statutes

Challenging collections is a smart and justified credit repair strategy. But there are cases where it is simply not advisable. If the collection is larger than $1000 and within the statute of limitation (SOL) for collection through the courts, you just might wake a sleeping beast. The SOL for collection is usually less than the reporting period limit, and in many cases as short as three years. Check the SOL for your state and the state in which the account was open; the longer period applies. If the SOL has expired you can dispute with no fear. If the collector verifies the information as it appears on your report you should be able to negotiate the balance and maybe even have the account removed from your credit report.

Credit Repair Assistance

Credit repair help is always just a phone call away. There are many things that can be done to clean up your credit report and get your scores moving in the right direction. If you don't have the time to do the job properly, call a credit repair professional. Don't do the job half-way. It's far too important. Pick up the phone and let a professional make your credit repair project a great success.

Copyright © 2008 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.