Credit Repair

what is the best way to increase my credit score ? can credit repair companies really help with credit ?

Public Comments

1. try to have at least 3 lines of credit,keep the limit of your credit half way..example if you qualify for 1500 for macy's only use 750 ,and very important always make your payments on time,something that helps a lot is making payments with higher amount than just the minimun accepted...credit repair companies i dont trust them
2. I suggest visiting the forums on myfico.com. There are so many different things you can do to help improve your credit score, it is impossible to list them all here. I don't recommend credit repair companies because most of the time they don't do anything that you couldn't have done yourself.
3. There is no "quick fix" for credit scores. If there were, everybody would do it just before applying for a loan and they wouldn't mean anything. About the only part that you have control over is the percent of revolving credit used and the number of credit cards. The best amount of credit to use is 1-9% of your revolving lines, although 10-30% is not bad. You can either pay down the cards, or call the cards and ask that your line be increased. If you have 7 bank credit cards, it's too many. 2 is best and 3 isn't that bad. Credit repair companies can't do anything legally that you can't do yourself and sometimes actually mess up your report trying to play games with the bureaus in your name.
4. There are many companies that claim to repair ones credit, and many are just rip offs. There are things to watch out for when and if you decide to hire someone. Avoid credit repair agencies that charge a fee to improve your FICO score by removing negative, but accurate, information from your credit reports. No one can force credit reporting agencies or lenders to remove accurate information from a credit report. Credit repair companies often take your money without delivering what they promise, or provide only temporary improvements of your score, sometimes by removing accurate information that will reappear later. Here are some links to help you find out more http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre03.shtm#improve Building a better credit report. http://www.ftc.gov/gettingcredit/ What you need to know about your credit. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/crdright.shtm Credit and your consumer rights. http://pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/creditscores/your.htm All about FICO scoring.
5. If you really want to repair your credit as badly as you say you do, then the first step is to avoid credit repair services. They don't do anything anymore special than you can do on your own.The first thing that you need to know that knowledge is power. In order to fix your credit, you should know how your credit is scored and how it affects you: 1. Payment history- 35% 2. Total debt owed to avialable credit ratio-30% 3. Length of time establishing credit-15% 4. Types of credit established-10% 5. Inquiries and New accounts-10% With that said, there's 2 things when it comes to bad debts and collection items that you should be aware of, the FCRA and statute of limitations. These are 2 diffferent things. The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) is the timeframe that negative items can remain on your report which is 7½ years from the date it first went deliquent. For example if a debt first became delinquent July 10, 2000 the legal limit that the debt can be reported would be January 10, 2008. Here's a link for the FCRA: http://creditinfocenter.com/creditreports/cr_time.shtml Also, there is a seperate statute of limitations that varies by state on how long a debt can be legally enforced. This is different from the FCRA, because depending on which state you live in the statute may or may not expire before the FCRA. here's a link for that http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml Another important thing to know is that negative items that are less than 2 years old are hurting your score the most. It's possible that you can settle much older debts for far less in exchange for getting them removed from your report altogether. This is called a "pay to delete". I posted several links explaining this in detail http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/settle_debts.shtml http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/neg_rating_after_settle.shtml http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/CanCreditorSue4SettlementDifferences.shtml http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/ActualDebtSuccesses.shtml http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/debt-negotiation.php There's sites like the one I posted along with a few more than can help you repair your credit cheaper and easier than you would if you paid out of the pocket.
6. yes they can if you choose the right one. Visit my website my company even gives you a money back guarantee. you have nothing to lose. www.vrtechmarketinggroup.com/SMoore3
7. here is a in depth analysis on a credit card company http://www.adviceontime.com/Credit%20Repair%20Company.htm
8. They can help but you can do a great deal yourself. Annualcreditreport.com is a free site where you can get your credit report. They have information there on how to dispute incorrect items, if any. Credit repair is different from a credit counseling service or consolidation service as described in another posting. You can find more info here: http://debt.123thebest.info/credit_card.html Good Luck.