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Very often, consumers who are beginning to flounder financially and need help, have reached out to professional credit counselors for assistance in straightening out their finances and for help in improving their personal credit scores. There are also free consumer credit counseling services that may better suit your circumstances.

Interest rates on financed loans and credit card debt can become onerous and when you add in penalties and late fees, some people find themselves against the wall. Making minimum payments can get you deeper into debt and the only way to get the help you need is to seek out a reputable consumer credit counselor. They find themselves asking for help because they did not fully understand the system. An experienced consumer credit advisor can save you money and reduce your debt.

I am not going to make excuses for anyone getting into debt over his or her head, but I think it is fair to say that it would be practically impossible for anyone to compete in today’s arena without the aid of a credit card. And that’s where most folks get into trouble. Credit cards make it extremely easy for anyone to be an instant “big spender”. Once you have your credit card, or line of credit with a bank, as long as you stay within your credit limit you can easily shop for big ticket items that you would otherwise have to pay for in cash.

You start out buying something small; maybe shoes or clothing, a couple of books, and the week’s groceries. When you get the bill at the end of the month it is a couple hundred dollars. Hmm. But wait, what’s that at the bottom of the statement? I only have to pay a minimum payment of $15.00? Not the $200.00 or $300.00 total? Boy, what a deal! I got my new clothes and fed the family for only $15.00. Wow! So you try it again; and the next month. Pretty soon you are up to a thousand dollars or more and you are only paying the minimum.

You saw that you only had to pay the minimum payment each month, but did you notice that you are now paying about 19.5% interest on the money your borrowed? A single credit card can charge an APR (annual percentage rate) of 15% to 20% on your unpaid balance. Did you take a look at the late fees? You can find them in the small print on the back of the statement. Try $25.00 to $40.00 for a late payment and possibly additional interest on your balance. If you don’t take a hatchet to your credit card at this point, it could be all downhill from here. And it just seems to gets worse, never better.

If you do find yourself in a predicament like this you need professional help then you should really think of seeing a credit counselor or credit counseling service. Of course you can contact your creditors and try to work out some settlement to ease the burden of high monthly payments and fees. It is quite possible that you will be successful, for a time, but they will never let you off the hook. Usually, you can expect lower payment at higher interest rates and no relief from your debt. With lower payments and higher rates all around, you will never pay it off.

Borrowing more money to pay off your existing debt is a possibility and may also help with lower payments at a reduced interest rate. Depending on the amount it may require borrowing against equity such as your home. A credit counselor can offer you a range of plans and options to help you make the proper decision that is best for you.

A good credit counselor will know the ropes and have a few tips or tricks you would never know about that could enable him to not only negotiate reduced monthly payments and interest rates, but also reduce or have forgiven, a portion of your total debt.

Two areas where your professional credit counselor or counseling service can help you the most are in personal credit risk management and credit solutions to your particular problem. Once you have made your decision they will work with you and your creditor(s) to lower your interest rate, to reduce the amount of your total payments, and help strengthen your resolve to staying on a straight and narrow credit path.

That is the good news. But the bad news is that you could no longer have a line of credit and the settlement will be recorded on your personal credit history. You will have a devil of a time borrowing any more money. This is one of the advantages of having a professional credit counselor. He may be able to not only negotiate a better deal with your creditor(s); he may also be able to minimize the way the newly structured settlement is recorded so that your credit rating will not be severely impacted. He will also work with you to help you to improve your credit rating.

If at any time, you find yourself falling behind in your credit payments and feel that your repayment schedule is dictating your every action and is making a sea change in your lifestyle you should definitely make plans to visit a professional credit counseling service. They will know best how to advise you and how to get you back on the right track. They have a range of solutions and options that can help to lift you up out of the credit hole you have dug for yourself.

Take heart. There is an option that will fit your circumstance, too.

Jack Igan is a part-time writer and webmaster at http://www.bestcreditscoring.com. This website can help you to get better credit and to straighten out an already shaky credit report.

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If you have been denied new credit because of your existing bad credit then you will save time and money by following these three steps.

1. Explains WHY your credit repair rights are legally protected.
2. Describes WHERE you should begin to start your credit repair actions.
3. Dictates HOW your credit repair actions should be performed for maximum effectiveness.

1. Further your understanding of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). These Federal rules, regulations and guidelines have to be followed by consumer reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion in order for them to be consumer reporting companies. Specifically for our purposes we will focus on three parts of the (FCRA)

1. Read FCRA Section 611(a)(1)(A) which states:

   “If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumer’s file at a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency directly of such dispute, the agency shall reinvestigate free of charge and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute from the consumer.”

2. Read the FCRA Section 611(a)(3)(A) which states:

   “…a consumer reporting agency may terminate a reinvestigation of information disputed by a consumer under that paragraph if the agency reasonably determines that the dispute by the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant, including by reason of a failure by a consumer to provide sufficient information to investigate the disputed information.” The law requires that an agency notify you within 5 business days if they determine your dispute to be frivolous or irrelevant. The law does not dare to define what is grounds for making such a determination except for “failure by a consumer to provide sufficient information to investigate the disputed information.”

3. c. Read the FCRA Section 611(a)(5)(A) which states:

   “Historically, an item that was deleted would occasionally reappear on a consumer’s credit file. This occurred when a credit grantor automatically updated a consumer’s payment history. Most often this happened with a credit granter with whom the consumer still had payment activity. However, the new FCRA does not allow a deleted item to be added again unless the creditor certifies that the information is correct.”

2. Take an active role in maintaining an improving your credit by getting your free credit report.

1. The FCRA requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - to provide you a free credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.
2. You can order three ways

1. Online at www.annualcreditreport.com
2. On the phone 1-877-322-8228
3. Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

   You need to provide your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth.

   Tags: credit history repair, credit rebuild, credit repair yourself, legal credit repair, self credit repaircredit history repair, credit rebuild, credit repair yourself, legal credit repair, self credit repair

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If you have been denied new credit because of your existing bad credit and you want to know WHY your credit repair rights are legally protected then you will save time and money by reading further. Let’s start off by defining what the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is:”A United States federal law designed to help ensure that consumer reporting agencies act fairly, impartially, and with respect for the consumer’s right to privacy when preparing consumer reports on individuals.” Simply stated your credit repair rights are protected under the law. So HOW do we use this information to our benefit when embarking on a credit restoration program?
By understanding and focusing on three parts of the (FCRA):

1. FCRA Section 611(a)(1)(A) which states:

   “If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumer’s file at a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency directly of such dispute, the agency shall reinvestigate free of charge and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute from the consumer.”

   EXPLANATION: This means the credit reporting agency has 30 days to verify the accuracy of a credit item that is disputed. You make this section work for you by making sure that all disputes are always written and mailed with a return receipt. This way you have documentation as to when your credit dispute was received and therefore when the 30 day limit starts. This can be used as proof later if you need to verify the actualy date you started a credit dispute.

2. FCRA Section 611(a)(3)(A) which states:

   “…a consumer reporting agency may terminate a reinvestigation of information disputed by a consumer under that paragraph if the agency reasonably determines that the dispute by the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant, including by reason of a failure by a consumer to provide sufficient information to investigate the disputed information.” The law requires that an agency notify you within 5 business days if they determine your dispute to be frivolous or irrelevant. The law does not dare to define what is grounds for making such a determination except for “failure by a consumer to provide sufficient information to investigate the disputed information.”

   EXPLANATION: This means the credit reporting agency can decide not to verify the accuracy of a credit item if they deem it frivolous. You make this section work by making sure you have a specific reason that you feel the credit item is wrong and have a specific action to take when it is verified.

   CREDIT REPORT DISPUTE REASONS

   Reason
   Number Description

   01 Are the balances, high limit, payment and date opened all correct?

   02 Is the date of last activity correct? (Last time you paid or they reported you late)

   03 Is the account being reported by a collection agency and the creditor?

   04 Has it been paid off but is not reflected?

   05 Was it closed by you but does not reflect that?

   06 Is it a spouse’s or relative’s account?

   07 Is it current but showing late?

   08 Is the account number right?

   09 Is your name correct on the reports?

   10 Is your social security number correct on the reports?

   11 Was the credit card ever stolen?

   12 Was there fraud on the account?

   13 Was there a billing error such as you gave a change of address and they did not change it, resulting in a late pay.

   14 Are there duplicate accounts for the same lender listed?

   15 Is the account listed positive on one report but negative on another?

   16 Was it closed and refinanced but is not reflected.

   17 Did you file bankruptcy but the accounts included do not reflect “included in BK.”

   18 Is your bankruptcy accurate: Filing date, discharge date, dollar amount filed for etc.?

   19 Is your tax lien satisfied or vacated but does not reflect it.

   20 Was your judgment paid but no satisfaction of judgment was ever filed.

   21 Was the debt ordered to be paid by the x-spouse?

   22 Did you receive shoddy service or defective merchandise?

   23 Was it a medical bill that the insurance did not pay?

   24 Was it a workers comp bill?

   25 Has the statute expired to legally report the debt? Very important!

   26 Did your spouse use your cards without your knowledge or forge your signature?

   27 Has the creditor or collection agency validated the debt on their end?

3. FCRA Section 611(a)(5)(A) which states:

   “Historically, an item that was deleted would occasionally reappear on a consumer’s credit file. This occurred when a credit grantor automatically updated a consumer’s payment history. Most often this happened with a credit granter with whom the consumer still had payment activity. However, the new FCRA does not allow a deleted item to be added again unless the creditor certifies that the information is correct.”

   EXPLANATION: This means successfully deleted credit items can not be re-inserted into a credit file unless they are proven to be accurate. You make this section work by using it “FCRA Section 611(a)(5)(A)” as a reason whenever you have a previously deleted credit item re-appear on your credit report.

Understanding the WHY of credit repair will save you time and money as far as restoring your credit is concerned. Time because you will get the maximum effectiveness from each action you perform. And you will save money because effective credit repair actions will ultimately lead to lower interest rate payments.

Copyright (c) 2005 by Bruce A Hoover. All Rights Reserved.
Effective legal step by step HOW-TO credit repair information.
“Credit Guru” Author Bruce Hoover has taken this information on-line to serve you better. Visit the On-line Credit Report Help Center at http://www.renewmycreditreport.com. Subscribe to Credit World! Send a blank email to CreditWorld@renewmycreditreport.com

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