ARTICLE 1

(The credit repair process and what happens when a dispute is submitted)

In my opinion, this topic brings the most frustration to a person.  Let me start off with an example of what I am talking about.

I have been in this business for a while now.  Most of our clients don’t understand the true credit repair process.  Because of all the scams that are on the internet making false promises, it is hard to figure out who is real.  Just so you know 9 out of every 10 credit repair companies out there are scams.  We are very proud to not be involved with those companies.  This does make it harder for my company to get the word out to everyone that we are the real thing and we are here to truly help you.

So, with all this confusion it is easy for the average person to not have a clue how this works.  So here it is, the truth will finally be told:

A new client signs up with our service.  They are excited as they should be.  The first couple of months go by (sometimes sooner) and he/she sees some good results and then something happens.  He/She starts getting these one page letters in the mail.  These are called “Stall Letters”.  They send these meaningless sheets of paper on purpose just to make you angry.  At first, this isn’t a problem but if he/she starts receiving these letters frequently it really does start to make them think twice about our service and if we can really do the job as promised.

What is really going on when this happens is this:

Let’s go one step further.  I want to paint a visual picture in your head about how this works.  When we submit the client disputes to the credit companies, they will be delivered to a customer service agent along with a HUGE stack of other disputes.  They will be placed on top of their desk at the beginning of the day.  By the end of the day, that stack of papers must be gone or their job is at risk.  If by the end of the day they still have some papers left, they are going to do one of two things:

1. - They might just decide to trash the rest of their reports and go home for the day.  If they do this you will not receive anything from them in the mail.

2. - They will just mark each item on each report “Verified” and send it right back to you without even trying to check with the creditors you are disputing.

Keep in mind that both of these methods are highly illegal.  So who is going to do anything about it?  Well, the FTC is suppose to but let’s face it, if you were to go rob a bank tomorrow and the cops could care less then you pretty much get away with it, right?  Well that is the best example I can give about how the FTC operates.  They let many things slide and there is nothing you can do about it but to try again.

Notice, I said TRY AGAIN!  This is what everyone needs to understand about this process and why it sometimes can take a while.  The credit bureau’s have the control at the end of the process and if they don’t do their job then it makes us look bad but in reality, we have done our job completely yet the credit bureau’s still made us look bad.  This is why I tell people time and time again, “Do not wait until the last minute to repair your credit!”  You never know what is going to happen.

If this information alone was common knowledge to people before they started credit repair, they would not get discouraged very easily and the definitely would not question the methods being used.  With that said, keep in mind that we have never had a single item that we have not been able to successfully remove from a credit report to this date.  There isn’t a single company out there that can compete with that because they can’t even remove 100% of the negative items to begin with like we can.

So what is the solution?  Honestly, the solution is to try again just like I said before.  If you make one attempt and they pull these tricks, eventually, by making multiple attempts your paperwork will get to a customer service agent that is actually doing their job and your items will be deleted.

That’s it folks.  The information I just told you will not be heard from any other source.  You might ask yourself, why won’t any other credit repair company tell me this so I would stop bothering them about my report not getting done?”  Well, because they usually are charging monthly payments and the last thing they want you to know is that you might be paying again next month.  I mean let’s face it, if you are paying monthly for a service that doesn’t work, the last thing you want to hear is that you are going to have to pay again next month, right?  Of course I’m right.  If it were me, I would go to each month believing with all my heart that my report is going to be clean this month and I’m not going to have to pay them ever again.  Unfortunately, when you go with a company like that, these are common practices.  In fact, services that charge monthly payments don’t even dispute all the items on your credit reports in any given month.  They stretch it out on purpose to get next month’s monthly payment from you.

I’m not saying anyone has to use our services.  Just please be aware of what is out there.  We have many clients who have spent as much as $5,000.00 before they found us.

So that is the honest to god truth about the credit repair process and what happens when a dispute is submitted.

ARTICLE 2
(The Credit Bureaus and Ratings)

I, just like at least 70% of the public, have had derogatory information and/or mistakes placed on my credit report.  In our society, it is very difficult to lead a normal life and provide the necessary things for our families if our credit reports are not spotless.  With even a few derogatory accounts, most all businesses jump at the opportunity to charge you higher interest rates - if you can be approved at all.

For example, a car loan for $20,000 for five years at a 25% interest rate would require you to pay $578.00 per month.  That same loan for the same time period at 6% would only be $368.00 per month.

Going from bad credit to good credit in this example is a savings of $210.00 each and every month.  As you can see, this is an annual savings of $2,520.00 and an amazing total savings of $11,520.00 over the five-year life of this loan.

Most people in this country are taught and believe in something called “forgiveness.”  The credit bureaus do not.  In fact, they believe in penalizing a good person, who tries to do what is right, the very same way as a person who does not care and continues to do what is wrong.  This penalty means that the derogatory information will stay on your credit report for seven to ten years whether you are a good person or not - and whether you have paid these debts or not.

There are all sorts of reasons why a good person can end up with bad credit.  Sometimes it is because of a bad marriage.  Sometimes we lose our jobs, and at other times, we have uncontrollable medical problems or perhaps we just weren’t taught properly about credit and its importance in our lives.

Knowledge is very powerful.  With the knowledge that I will provide for you in this short “Credit Education Course”, you will be able to change the quality of your life style.  However, it is also our hope that you will learn from past mistakes and keep your credit in “A-1” condition for yourself and for your family’s sake.

It is important for you to know that there are many people getting into the “credit repair” business that do not know what they are doing.  And you would be fortunate, indeed, if you were able to erase, eliminate, reduce, get rid of, do away with, transform, change, alter, modify, moderate, revise, or change 25% to 50% of the derogatory accounts.

The one thing they are good at is charging you - usually $2,000 to $3,500 per client and sometimes an additional monthly fee to boot.  On the other hand, the credit bureaus will try to discourage you from restoring your reports and may even tell you that it is not possible in less time than the seven to ten year period.

Ignore them!

The process for correcting and/or restoring your credit varies from time to time.

It is a little known fact that there are approximately 2,000 credit bureaus in the United States.  Don’t panic!  There are only three that matter.  The first is Equifax which primarily covers the South.  Trans Union covers the North, and Experian covers the West.  Between the three of these credit bureaus, they cover the entire United States.

By rule of thumb, the larger the creditor; the more likely they are to use more than one credit bureau.  For example, a company like “Ford Motor Corporation” would most likely be associated to all three credit bureaus, whereas a local company may only use one of these credit bureaus.

When restoring your credit, it is a good idea to restore all three credit bureaus.  The names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and websites are listed below.

Equifax

800-685-1111

P. O. Box 105873

Atlanta, GA 30348

www.equifax.com

Trans Union

800-888-4213

P. O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

www.transunion.com

Experian

888-322-5583

P. O. Box 2104

Allen, TX 75013

www.experian.com

Are credit ratings important?

Of course, the answer is yes!  These credit ratings are usually referred to as FICO or Beacon Scores.  Their purpose is to inform the companies you want to do business with of your capability to repay a loan.  They are not the sole tool of establishing that information.  However, the higher the beacon score, the easier you will qualify for a loan.

There are two main things that affect your score in a negative way.
 

1. Bad (Adverse) Credit History

2. The Amount of Debt Currently Owed

As the debt goes down, the score rises.  If your scores are generally in the 300 to 500 range, chances are that you will not be approved for credit.  For the very few exceptions that are approved, they will usually be assessed as a high risk and will have to pay excessive interest and other related fees.

Different loaning institutions establish different criteria for approval.  They all vary somewhat.  However, most of them will approve loans that read a 600 credit rating or better as long as you meet their other criteria such as a stable job and adequate income.

If your score reaches at least 700, most places will look at this rating as automatic approval.  The goal for anyone is to obtain a high score and then take good care of it.

ARTICLE 3

(Why paying a charge-off can hurt you)

Whoever said it didn’t pay to be the bad guy.  When it comes to doing the right thing for your credit score, being the good guy can definitely do you more harm than good in some cases.  Pay attention to this article because this might be one of the most important pieces of information you learn in this series.

Before I begin, I just want to make one thing clear.  For those of you who think I’m about tell you how much better it is to never pay your debts, you might want to get that out of your head right now.  That is not what I’m doing here.  I would never advise anyone to not pay their debts.  In fact, I always suggest for everyone to either pay or at least settle all debts they have because it will help them over time.

Now, with that said, 4G Credit Network can remove unpaid balances such as charge-off, collections, judgments, student loans, tax liens, medical bills, etc. but that doesn’t mean it is just better not to pay them.  That also doesn’t mean that you are released from that debt permanently either.  All that means is that we can simply remove it from your credit reports.  That’s it!  If the company chooses to file a civil suit to get that money, they are definitely in their rights and we are not responsible.  For more information about bad credit repair just visit our website.

When you acquire a charge-off on your credit reports, if you choose not to pay it or are unable to pay it, whatever the case may be, you are actually about to be hit twice.  The reason for this is because once you have received a charge-OFF THAT company will then sell the debt for about .10 on the dollar to a collection company.  Once this happens, the collection company then places themselves happily on your credit reports just before they start calling you.  What a great gift huh!

The good news is that most of the time collections companies only report the first month and that’s it.  The problem you have is that now you have a charge-off AND a collection on your credit reports from the same debt.  This is very bad.

Now I hope you are starting to see how the once very small hole is starting to get deeper and deeper.

Let me first describe the scenario you are looking at if you choose NOT to pay the debt ever.  Keep in mind, we can remove all of this but if you don’t settle or pay this eventually it will hurt you because the collection company will keep selling it and selling to other collection companies and the debt will just keep getting passed around for years.
 

Let’s say you don’t pay it and 2 years goes by.  You might have used our services and everything is off and you are feeling happy.  One day you pull your credit and you notice a collection company has your old debt trying to collect once again.  Now you have an old problem that has turn into a new one.  My advice is this: PAY IT or SETTLE IT!

Here’s why…

That debt is going to keep haunting you until you do either of those two things.  Now, you are going to have to hire a company like mine in order to have the same debt removed that you already paid someone to remove in the beginning.  You have to ask yourself how much money you are willing to spend to keep removing this unpaid debt.  Don’t you think eventually the amount of money you are spending to have that debt constantly removed would be greater than the debt itself if you had just paid it in the beginning?  Probably so right?  Of course I’m right.

So you can see what problems you might cause yourself in the future by not paying or at least settling your debt.

Here is how paying or settling your debts can help you…

FACT: Anytime you choose to pay or settle your debts it will increase your credit score, even if the debt you are choosing to pay or settle is a charge-off, collection, etc...

A big percentage of your credit score has to do with the amount of debt you owe, even if that debt is “bad debt” so the more you pay off, the better off your score will be.  Now, if it is bad debt such as a charge-off or collection then obviously your score may not go up very much but the good news at this point is that you can now hire a total credit repair service like 4G Credit Network and we will delete it forever.

Now, let’s say your debt is old.  Let’s say it is 5 years old.  What do you do then?  Well, this is where it might just hurt you to pay it off.  Remember what this entire article is about?  It is about, “Why paying a charge-off CAN hurt you!”

FACT: A charge-off stays on your credit for 7 years (Unless you hire my company).

Let’s try and get a visual on this shall we.  Picture you and your friend both have a charge-off on your reports and they are both 5 years old.  You decide to be the good guy and say, “Hey, I’m tired of this darn thing on my report.  I’m just going to pay it and get it over with.”  Your friend says, “Ha!  Not me.  Screw them!  They have messed me up for this long I’m never going to pay them now.”

Well, this is one of those times where your friend is going to come out on top.  The secret about this that they don’t want you to know is this:

Accounts are calculated based on the “date of last activity.”  This means that if you, being the good person you are, decides to pay that charge-off then it is now going to stay on your report for another 7 years on top of the 5 years it has already been there.  On the other hand, your friend doesn’t pay and it comes off of their report in another 2 years.

You have to ask yourself, how fair is that?  It isn’t fair at all but that is what happens.  So now, your good faith has cause that one charge-off to be on your credit report for a total of 12 years because remember, it is from the “date of last activity.”  When you paid the debt that became the date of last activity and the years start over.

You can thank our great credit system for that genius calculation.  Go figure that one.  So if your debt is really old, and you can’t afford to hire a credit repair company like us, then you are much better off by not paying that debt because you are just going to hurt yourself further.

There is something else that you need to know about paying a charge-off.  When you pay a charge-off, the companies will usually trash these records after about 2 years.  This helps you because at that point it becomes much easier for that charge-off to be removed as opposed to not paying it.  They will always keep records somewhere of nonpayment.

This is another advantage to paying or settling your debts if you can because now, worst case scenario, you are looking at 2 years and a few disputes and goodbye charge-off.

Ok, I think I have said enough about this.  I believe by now you have a better understanding of this subject but I would like to say a little more about collection companies.

NEVER EVER admit to having money to pay or settle a debt.  If you admit to having money, if they choose to they can legally come after you for that money if they want to.  Most of them never go this route but some do.  Most of these companies will settle for .50 on the dollar but never admit you have that much.  Very few will even settle for .30 on the dollar but not likely.

Here is a tip…

Calculate what .50 on the dollar of your debt would be.  Act like you are going to have to beg, borrow and plea to others just to get .30 on the dollar even if you could pay them.

Most of the time they will come back and say they will accept .50 on the dollar.  They do this because remember they are still making money.  They bought the debt for .10 on the dollar.  Settle it and get it over with, then have my company remove it forever for you.

Ok, so that’s it for now.  Here are a few key points to remember:

1. - A charge-off stays on your credit for 7 years (Unless you hire my company).

2. - Anytime you choose to pay or settle your debts, it will increase your credit score, even if the debt you are    choosing to pay or settle is a charge-off, collection, etc...

3. - Accounts are calculated based on the “date of last activity.”

4. - When you pay a charge-off, the companies will usually trash these records after about two years making it easier to remove at a later date.

5. - NEVER EVER admit to having money to pay or settle a debt.  

ARTICLE 4

(Active accounts versus inactive accounts)

An active account is an account that you are currently paying on and is usually being updated by the company with which you have this debt.  Therefore, an inactive account is one that you have stopped paying on and May or may not still owe the debt, such as a collection or charge-off.

In most cases, it is very possible to repair either the active or inactive accounts.  To restore an active account, you must approach it differently from the inactive account.  The active account usually means that you are paying on it.  Then the problem is usually late payments.  The solution is to bring the account current and erase the late payments only.  The result will be the restoration of that account to an “R-1” or “I-1” status.

Inactive accounts such as collections, repossessions, and charge-offs, etc. should be erased entirely with no evidence that they ever existed.

Some people say that credit repair does not work.

Please remember that first of all, you do not ask a postal worker of their opinion when you are about to have surgery.  Stick with those who are qualified in their respective fields.  Unfortunately, most people in the credit repair business know very little about what they are doing.  Of course, they are happy to charge you from $3000 to $5,000 for this limited knowledge.

For instance, by using limited knowledge, there is a problem with some accounts reappearing after they have been removed.  This can happen, but mainly just to the active accounts.  If the accounts are still active, it is best to erase the late payments and bring it back current.  Then it will remain excellent credit.

Inactive accounts - once removed - as a general rule, do not return.

The reason so many people jump into credit repair is to make a fast buck on vulnerable people.  They have little knowledge and their primary purpose is to relieve you of the money your family needs.

God made all people uniquely different, some more so than others.  Such is the case with our credit reports.  They are all different.  For example, if a person has 20 pieces of credit, 10 negative and 10 positive - and we remove the 10 negative pieces - they should be in excellent shape with the remaining 10 to be in a position to do the essential things required of life for their family.

If a person has nothing left on their credit report once our credit repair procedure is finished, they will have to start over and re-establish new accounts.

Ok, I hope you understand what I have gone over so far with you on this topic.

There is some additional information you also need to know.  I’m sure by now you have heard everyone tell you how important it is to pay off all accounts to 0 so you can have a great credit score, right?  Well, the reality of this is that most people can’t and just to let you know, the people telling you this information are only half correct.

Sure, if you have no debt your score will go up, for now that is.  Here is what they don’t tell you…

Your creditors like to see some sort of activity.  The credit bureau’s feel the same way.  If you pay off an account to 0 and don’t spend another dime on the account within 6 months, it will go dormant.  This means your score will drop once that account goes dormant.

On the other hand, if you just spend even $10.00 on it and pay it off every month then your score actually increases over time because it shows that you are not only still active with those accounts, but you are paying them off every time.

Never close a revolving account because it will drop your score.  Let it go dormant if you plan to close it so you won’t decrease your total credit limit.  I will cover this more in detail in a later article so don’t worry about that right now.

ARTICLE 5

(What causes sudden changes in your credit score?)

What causes sudden changes in your credit score?  This is very common question but the answers are pretty much what you might think they are.  Let’s talk about the obvious reasons first.

The main reason for a sudden credit score change is going to be a late payment of any kind.  Now, of course any negative item is going to change your score but a late payment is going to have an immediate negative effect on your credit score.

A late payment, especially on a revolving credit account, is going to hit you the hardest.  Just one late payment can cost you up to 100 points even if it is on something as simple as a power bill.  This hardly seems fair but this is the world we live in and the system we have to put up with.

The absolute best item you could place on your credit report is a revolving account in good standing.  What do I mean by a “good standing” account?  I mean pay your bill on time all the time.  This will increase your score greatly in a very short period of time.  Having two or three of these types of accounts will increase your score faster.  However, keep in mind that they will destroy your credit the fastest as well if you choose to be late on these types of accounts.  If you pay your bills on time, these accounts can only help you.  If you don’t pay your bills on time, I wouldn’t suggest having any of these until you are capable of not being late.  Your score will never increase if you are constantly late on anything.

Another reason your score may suddenly drop is “Debt”.  I have a lot of people calling me and emailing me with this question:

I don’t understand what is going on.  My score has dropped 20 points in the last 2 weeks and I have done nothing different.  I am paying all my bills on time.  What is going on?”

The answer to this question is simple.  You are spending your available credit.  You might be using your credit card to buy groceries or pay a bill.  Whatever the case may be, if you spend your available credit, your score will drop.  The closer you get to your high credit limit, the lower your score is going to go regardless of how many negative items are on your file.

Let me give you an example…

Most credit repair companies (Not Us) will lead you to believe that they can increase your score under any circumstance.  If you have spoken to me or any of my staff ever, you will never hear them tell you such crap.  I had a guy that we cleaned his credit perfectly.  He had absolutely zero negative items on his credit report.  Everything was great but his score was still below 600.  There were two main problems with his credit reports at this point:

1. - Too much debt

2. - Not enough credit history

Too much debt is what gets most people…

When they hire a credit repair company to work their magic on their credit files, they are trained (mostly by the false information on the internet) that their score is going to go up if they just remove all the negative items.  So what do they do?  While they are getting their file worked on they are still spending more money and gathering more debt.

This is hurting them completely when they should be paying off as much debt as possible to get the maximum credit score increase.

Not enough credit history is crucial…

Remember how people will tell you to pay your debts off and then your score will go up?  Well this is true but it won’t stay up forever.

Once you pay an account to 0, if you don’t plan on ever spending on that account again, that account is going to fall off your report in 7 years and will not help you after that point.

This is the rest of the reason why this guy couldn’t get over a 600 on his credit files.  All he had left on his file were accounts that were only about 2 years old.  While 2 years is still pretty good, most creditors like to see 3, 5 or even 7 years of history on some accounts.

So if you aren’t building more credit from the time you paid off your other accounts, this will actually hurt you in the long run.  My advice to you is to spend about $10.00 on accounts with a long credit history just to keep them active so your score goes up and not down.  Most people also believe you have to spend a lot of money and then pay it off to get good scores.  No, that is wrong.  You can do exactly what I just said and your score will increase.

Bottom line is this: “When your long credit history drops off your credit score and you have not established any credit, your score is going to drop.”

The older the credit is on your reports, the better your score is going to be.  Anything past 7 years that is paid off is going to drop off your credit file.  Keep this in mind if most of your credit is older credit and you have not established any new credit.

Some people even believe that having no debts to pay is good for your score.  This is not true either.  Creditors like to see you can handle credit some responsibility but if you have no credit at all, this is actually worse than paying off your debts every month as you spend money.

HINT: Don’t ever assume that paying off any one thing is going to increase your score any specific number of points.

How much any one action will affect your credit score is impossible to tell.  This is based on too many other factors.

One of the most important lessons you could learn is this:

GIVE IT TIME!

Most people think that if they pay off their debts their score is going to improve immediately.  This is only the case if you use a credit repair company that can actually do the job like my company.

If you pay off debts but you still have negative items left your score may go up some but not that much.

Credit repair is not a miracle cure and as a general rule, prepare to be involved in this process for several months.

This can be a good thing for you though.  Most people who are given something for free often abuse it many times over.  If you have to work for something you will appreciate it that much more.

With that said, if your credit files takes 6 months to repair as opposed to 1 month, you are less likely to mess it up in the future because you don’t want to have to go through 6 more months(or longer) of dealing with credit repair again.

ARTICLE 6
(How to get out of ChexSystem)
 

Ok, for a lot of you this is the article that a lot of people have been waiting for.  I just want to say this first: This could take some time and patience in some cases but the result will be what you want if you stick with it.

This article is going to be fairly short because I know everyone wants me to get to the point about how to do this.  I promise I will continue to pack this course with more quality content in the next articles.

I want to also say that this is not some information that I’m giving you that I think “might” work.  I don’t do that, ever.  I will always give everyone true, quality content that is proven and that will help you do what you need to do to reach your individual goal in your situation.

The reason I am giving this information out is because a lot of our customers are asking us on a regular basis if we can remove information from ChexSystems.  Well, obviously we can because I’m about to give you the information but we just don’t provide that service for people.  We do credit repair and that’s pretty much it.

If your name has been put into the ChexSystem you may be finding it hard to get a checking account or even write a check.  ChexSystem is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which allows you to dispute claims against you.  You have rights!

The first place you would want to visit is www.chexhelp.com - order a copy of your ChexSystems report.  This will allow you to find out what caused you to be placed on their system and will also give you a Consumer ID number.

The next step on your journey to checking freedom is to send ChexSystems a letter disputing the negative listing.  You need to make a copy of the letter for your files and send the original letter Certified Mail.  This will become a legal document.  You will want proof when it was sent out because ChexSystems is required to contact you in 30 days or delete the listing.

The address is:

ChexSystems Customer Relations

12005 Ford Road Suite 600

Dallas, TX 75234.

You will need to include on every letter:

Your name (printed not signed)

Your complete address

Your social security number

Your Consumer ID number (listed on the ChexSystem report)

Your bank’s name

The negative listing you are being accused of and the date it occurred

Next, you need to create your letter.

MAKE COPIES OF ALL LETTERS AND SEND THEM ALL CERTIFIED MAIL.

Letter 1: (This is the beginning)

Inform ChexSystems that you have reviewed your report and the items they have listed are inaccurate.  Ask them to validate the information from the bank and to send copies of any documentation they have regarding this listing that bear your signature.  At the end of the letter, you need to “DEMAND” not ask, “DEMAND” them to remove this inaccurate information.

Ask to have the information deleted from the file under your social security number.

(This could be your only letter.  This may be enough to have them remove your name from the system)

Just in case they become difficult and decide not to cooperate, here is what you would do in letter 2 30 days later.

NOTE: Only send this letter once you have received the initial dispute back from them.  You need to know the outcome before you send the second letter.

Letter 2: (if your dispute was verified)

Inform ChexSystems that you wish to have a description of the procedure used to determine that the information they sent you was valid.  (Looking at a computer screen does not make it valid)

Also request a listing of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the people they contacted at your bank.

You will want to request that they respond to your letter in 14 days.  If you are not contacted in 14 days you will contact the FTC and your state's Attorney General's office.

You can also file a petition in small claims court for items such as Defamation, Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Negligent Enablement of Identity Fraud.

NOTE: At this point, if you don’t want to go through the headache and you are willing to be patience, you could just go back to letter 1 and re-send that letter and start that process over again.  Basically, you would keep doing letter 1 and letter 2 until it is removed.

If you want to go above and beyond then you can also use the strategy of letter 3.

Letter 3: (If your letter has not been responded to in 30 days)

Inform ChexSystem that you will file a petition in small claims court for Defamation, Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Negligent Enablement of Identity Fraud.  You can file a petition for $20.00 at your local courthouse.  It’s very easy to do and maybe the only thing you can do at this state of the game.

If ChexSystems Has Removed the Negative Listing:

Save all documentation that your account has been cleared.  Keep this information safe.  It may happen that ChexSystems has not informed all banks or financial institutions.  The documentation will not help you at a point of sale place but it will with a bank when opening an account.

As soon as you receive a notice from ChexSystems that your account has been cleared, open a checking account.

It is possible that ChexSystems will allow the disputed claim to creep back on to your report.  You will want to have an account opened by then.

ARTICLE 7
(How your credit score is REALLY calculated)

There are a lot of people out there who “claim” to know everything about credit.  If this is true, why is it that there is so much conflicting information about credit on the internet?  If you type in the words, “Credit Repair” on Google, you will get tons of websites with endless amounts of information about credit repair.

The problem with this is that the information that is being given out from many different places is not consistent.  There are many reasons for this but only a few main reasons as to why this happens.

One reason is that you have a lot of people who do credit repair and claim to be “Credit Experts” in order to help you solve your credit problems.  Most of the time these so called “Credit Experts” have done nothing more than gathered a ton of information from many different websites.  Once they have done that, they go out and buy the first credit repair manual that they see and start repairing people’s credit files.  This is exactly why there are so many scams out there in this industry.

Another reason that most people are not aware of is that the information they are reading about credit repair is usually put there by the credit companies themselves to sway people from even doing credit repair in the first place.

You have to understand that the credit companies don’t want to do any work.  If you are disputing your credit file you are causing more work for them and they don’t like this at all.

Their logic is if they can put false information in your mind about credit repair in the attempt to scare you out of doing credit repair all together, then that leaves little paperwork for them.  Problem solved, right?

Wrong!  Fortunately for you there are a select group of individuals out there that really can make this system work for you.

Here is an example…

The internet and the credit companies will constantly tell you that you can’t remove accurate information.  In fact, any website you visit about credit knowledge will tell you that accurate information cannot be removed; only updated.  If this is so true then how come we remove accurate information every day for people?

Are we doing anything illegal?  Of course not.  Everything we do is 100% legal.  So how can we do this?

We do this by using their system the way it was designed.  That is why we succeed every time.

So how is your credit score REALLY calculated?

The truth to this question is nobody really knows.  They don’t know because not even the credit companies themselves really understand how their systems calculate some credit files.

You can have two completely exact credit files and the scores will be different.

You will find all kinds of crazy charts on the internet about what percentage of your score if for payment history and what percentage of your score is for debts but a lot of those charts are wrong.

This is how your score is really broken up:

1. Payment History (35%)

            Do you have any late payments?  If so, you are killing your credit score.  Just one single late payment can cost you up to 100 points in some cases.

            Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgments, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)

            Severity of delinquency (how long past due)

            Time since past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any).  The             longer the record has been there, the less it affects your score but it STILL has negative effects until they are completely deleted.

            Number of past due items on file

2. Amount Owed or Debt (30%)

            Amount owed on accounts.  Obviously the more debt you owe the lower your score will drop.

            Amount owed on specific types of accounts.

            Number of accounts with balances

3. Length of Credit History (15%)

            Time since accounts opened.  Creditors generally like to see a minimum of 2 years on all accounts.  3 years is better.  Time since account activity.  If you pay off an account and leave it dormant with no activity for 6 months you score will drop a little.  In order to get a high 700 credit score, you must have at least 7 years of credit history on your credit file.

4. New Credit (10%)

            Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account.

            Number of recent credit inquiries

            Time since credit inquiry(s)

5. Types of Credit Used (10%)

            Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)

So that gives you an idea of what makes up your credit score.  Keep in mind that there are other factors in combination with these so you can see how someone might get confused as to how this system works.

For example, in order to increase your score quickly, you must have more than one revolving account.  You also must be spending on those accounts on regular basis.  I’m talking about any unsecured credit such as credit cards.

You don’t have to spend a lot.  You can spend $20.00 a month on a credit card that has a $5,000.00 limit if you want.  This still helps increase your score over time.  Most people think that because they have a high credit limit that they must spend a lot in order to get a lot.  This is not true.  You can have a credit card with a $500.00 limit and spend only $10.00 a month on it and you will help your credit score.  You will even be able to ask for a limit increase after about 6 months.

Installment accounts are also good for your credit but they don’t increase your score as much as revolving accounts will.  Just remember there is a risk/reward factor here as with everything.  They higher the reward, the higher the risk.  Even though your credit score will increase super fast with revolving accounts, it will also decrease at an even faster rate if you make just 1 late payment.

Now, I want to set the record straight about credit percentages.  A very popular question that I get almost every day is how much debt do I need to have in order to maximize my credit score?  I heard it was 30%.  Is this true?”

Yes and no.  Credit scores are also determined by “Total Credit Limit”.

For example, if you have 10 credit cards and each card have a $1,000 credit limit.  Most information you will find will tell you that as long as you have 30% paid down on each card then you are fine.  This is NOT true.  It is 30% of the total credit limit.

So, 10 credit cards with a limit of $1,000 = $10,000.00

To maximize your credit score, you should have no more than 30% of $10,000 charged, not 30% of each account.  Now, in this case the number comes out to be the same for example purposes but other cases that won’t happen.  Your score will not fall if you have $500 charged on 1 card, $200 on another, $700 on another as long as the total doesn’t add up to be more than 30% of your “Total Credit Limit.”

Always go by total credit limit.  To maximize your credit score, add up all your credit limits including your house (If you have one).  Now, multiply that number by .30 and whatever that number is if your debts are higher than that number your score is lower than it could be.

I hope this makes sense to everyone.
 

Before I end this article I want to say one last thing.  I get this all the time with my clients.  They call asking about our program and they think that if all the negative items are removed from their credit files then their score has to go up. This is far from the truth simply because all of the above factors are taken into account.

For example, if someone has 10 accounts on their credit file and 9 of those are bad.  Once we remove all 9 accounts, the credit is not going to increase because there isn’t enough GOOD credit left.

It works the same with people who have just a few negative items but a ton of debt.  In order for their score to go up, they must pay down some of the debt or find a way to increase their total credit limit.

ARTICLE 8
(Are the credit bureau's really trying to help you?)

Are the credit bureau’s really trying to help you?  Unfortunately, there is not a “yes” or “no” answer to this question.  Let’s put it this way…they want you to BELIEVE that they are on YOUR side.

To understand the answer to this question you must first understand the truth about companies and commerce in this country.

Before I get started I just want to clear something up….I’m not being critical of our country.  Personally, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Ok, so now that I got that out of the way….

Businesses care about one thing and one thing only….MONEY!

They don’t care about you.  If they don’t think they can make money from you they will never deal with you.  If they are dealing with you, they are making money from you in some way even if they say the service is free.

For example, do you REALLY think that when a mortgage company gives you a 30 year loan of any type that they are actually waiting 30 whole years to collect?  Of course not.  They would never make money if they did.  I’m not going to get into the details but basically they take your promissory note that you signed at closing, convert it over to them and 30 days later they have sold the value of that note at least twice.

What does that mean?

That means if you bought a house that costs $500,000.00 on January 1st, by February 1st they have already made 1 million for your note.  Most companies can sell it up to six times the value.  Technically, they don’t even own the house you are in.  The best part about this corrupt system is now they have made tons of money from you and as a friendly bonus, they still get to receive monthly mortgage payments from you.

Isn’t that great?

Honestly, that sucks but that is how it is.  That is just one example.  I have many others that I won’t get into.

The credit bureau’s work the same way.  You have to understand they are in business to make money.  They are NOT in your best interest.  They look out for themselves.

Don’t believe what I’m telling you?  Well, read this entire article and let’s see if you feel the same way afterwards.

First let’s talk about who pays the credit bureaus.  Have you ever wondered why bigger companies report to all 3 major credit companies and smaller companies only report to one?  Well, that is because every company has to pay the credit companies in order to report to them.  The cost of that service is so high that only the bigger companies can afford to report to all 3.

How does this affect you?

Since the businesses are paying the credit companies to report, they have to get that money back someone.  That is where we come in.  The indirect agreement that these companies have with the credit bureaus is this:

If the credit bureau’s constant place random errors on your credit report, that means you will maintain a lower than average credit score, which also means the company your trying to get a loan from can charge you higher interest rates on your loan because of your low credit score.  Therefore, the companies make their costs back through you, the consumer.

If everyone had great credit, the lending institutions couldn’t loan you money at a high interest rate therefore they would make no extra money off of you.

Are you starting to see what I’m saying?

This is why it is so difficult for any single individual to have items removed without conflict.  This is why you can’t simply call your creditor and ask them to send a letter to the bureau’s to remove that late payment that you aren’t even responsible for.

It is a big scam and the joke is on us.  Unfortunately, the only action we can take is being done by my credit repair company right now.  I am working hard every day to give everyone a fresh start.  My company has the capabilities and the “know how” to fight this.  We just can’t promise time frames but at least we can get the work done which is more than anyone else can say.

Ok, so that is covered.  Now let’s talk about some other issues that are not known about the credit bureaus.

We have a lot of people call our office pretending that they know what they are talking about.  They give us this whole speech about the consumer credit act and all these other laws that state we can’t do what we ARE doing every day.

Most of this information comes from a brief search on the internet so I don’t blame them for trying to understand.

The problem with this knowledge is that you don’t know what is true and what isn’t anymore.

Here’s why…

The credit bureaus deliberately place false information about credit repair and credit repair companies on the internet to sway you from doing credit repair.  They want you to believe that all credit repairs are a scam and that anyone who tells you different is a scam as well and you should stay away from that company.

They say that because they have only 1 goal: NO PAPERWORK!

They are considered an “Authority” in most people’s eyes so the way they see is if they spread false information all over the internet about credit repair scams then you are not only going to listen to that information, you are not going to do credit repair.  And what happens if you don’t repair your credit?  They get less paperwork.  They win!

For example, how many places on the internet can you read someone telling you have it is impossible to remove “Accurate” items off your report?

If it is so impossible then why do we do it every day?

I’m not going to bore you with a thousand examples.  All you have to do is type in whatever you want to know about credit repair on the internet and the answers you get will probably be somewhat if not completely inaccurate because more than likely someone from these credit companies has placed that information on websites or blogs or anywhere else they can to try and convince you that everyone is a scam.

You know those 1 page stall letters you get in the mail telling you they are not doing any more research on your file?  That is just a scare tactic.

I’ll give you one more example before I end this article.

When you sign up for our service, usually on one of the first stall letters you get from the credit companies is a letter that basically says this:

“Are you using a credit repair company?  If so, are they charging you too much?  Fill out our brief form and let us know who they are and we will help you.”

This is the biggest scam.  This is a catch 22 law. 
First of all, DON’T EVER FILL OUT ANYTHING FROM THEM, EVER!

The law states that you can do credit repair.  I can call them and laugh in their face about doing credit repair for you and they can’t touch me or you.  The catch 22 is this…

If I fill out that letter and returning it to them I am admitting that I am having credit repair done on my file and at that point they will LOCK your file for 10 years so you can’t even get credit and not the best lawyer in the world can unlock it.

What kind of messed up system is that?  It only works in their favor.  So here you are thinking you are helping them out, they have made it look like they are helping you out when in reality they are trying to lock your file so they can cut down on their paperwork.

I could go on all night about this topic.  The most important thing you need to remember is that the credit bureau’s are not on your side.

I hope this education course has helped you.  It has been my pleasure teaching you this valuable knowledge.  Please save this information, pass it around, but don’t forget about it.  Trust me when I say, you are going to need it now more than ever.

Thank you for your time and I hope you keep this information close to you!