Wondering what’s keeping you from landing that dream apartment you’ve had your eye on all this time?  It could be your credit history.

What went wrong?

Maybe you have student loans that were defaulted, a collection or two in your history, or are just in need of credit repair in general.  Whatever the reason, you need to improve your credit score fast to get that apartment you need.  Here’s how:

Tell them how you feel

Getting that right apartment may seem out of reach when you need credit restoration, but all hope isn’t quite lost.  If you already know your credit report isn’t in good shape, you might try being upfront about your situation.  After all, they do say honesty is the best policy.

If you let the manager know that your report isn’t in the best condition and you’re currently undergoing credit repair, they might be more inclined to give you a second look, so long as you don’t have a lot of outstanding debts to other parties.

Cash upfront

If your pleas of seeking credit restoration prove fruitless, consider renting from a private owner.  They’ll usually be more than happy to overlook your past misdeeds if you’ve got the cash in hand for a new apartment.

Try finding a co-signer

If your efforts at credit repair don’t impress the right people, you can try getting a co-signer for your apartment.  This can prove difficult, as anyone who co-signs a loan with you will be just as financially responsible for the property, but it might be the only way to get into your new home.

Start repairing your credit now

You can make your journey to a new apartment that much easier by paying off any outstanding debts that could show up and damage your chances of renting.  Consider opening a secured credit card to start building new, positive lines of credit to help you improve your bad credit score.  If you still need helping building up your credit history, consider using a debt relief service offering pay to delete negotiations or credit repair agency to bolster your chances of successfully obtaining your new apartment.

Credit repair is serious business. I’m sure you already know that, and so do thousands of companies vying for your bottom dollar online. Some of them make pretty far-out promises – a quick look at some of the hits for “credit repair companies” on Google brings up results for some companies that guarantee permanent results for your report. They’re basically saying all your problems will be taken care of – FOREVER – if you just pick their service. Boy, I wish my fairy godmother would fix all my problems whenever I charged myself into a corner…

Sorry if I’m the one to break it to you, but no matter what some credit repair companies may say, there is no such thing as a quick fix for your credit problems, let alone a PERMANENT one. Think of your credit like a baby: it requires constant care, attention, and one wrong move can leave you with a diaper full of crap. And, like that little bundle of joy, the only one who can really take care of your credit is you.

While it is certainly advisable to consult a firm for advice when looking to clean up your report — like you would consult a baby names book if the best you can come up with is Shiloh — finding the right one can be tricky. Generally, it’s a good idea to keep away from any company that guarantees you results of any kind. Nothing is certain when it comes to re, and anyone who tells you they can make all your problems go away permanently is outright wrong.

If you do need help, and who doesn’t with all the laws and acronyms floating around on the subject, your best bet is looking into any company that doesn’t just offer credit repair, but services that offer pay for deletion negotiations on outstanding debt accounts as well. Any credit repair company that offers to help you pay down your debts in addition to checking into your credit accounts is a real help, as any outstanding accounts you have on your report probably won’t be resolved with a simple dispute letter. Just make sure you keep an eye on them as well, as most companies charge a monthly fee for their services and some have the nasty habit of neglecting to keep in constant contact with you.

Sure it seems like navigating the web for the right credit repair company is like stepping into an online minefield, finding one that works for you can mean all the difference. Stay diligent, keep an eye on your report — and anyone you paid to eye it for you — and you just might make it out of this with your good name intact. Unless it’s Shiloh, that is.

This Week in Credit News

Credit Swaps on Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Jump on S&P Cut

“The cost to protect debt issued by U.S. banks from Bank of America Corp. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. jumped after Standard & Poor’s lowered their long-term credit ratings as it revised criteria for the banking industry.”

A New Credit Score Exposes Even More of Your Financial Life

“Earlier this week, a company called CoreLogic introduced a new type of credit file, which is based on the giant repository of consumer data it maintains on, well, just about everything that most of the traditional credit bureaus do not: missed rental payments that have gone into collection, any evictions or child support judgments, as well as any applications for payday loans, along with your repayment history.”

Credit cards: How to avoid getting tricked this holiday season

“Credit experts say you need to resist the draw to pay low and instead shell out for as much as you can afford in order to break the hold of card debt. That attraction to pay less, Salisbury says, has a greater impact on people who have the money to pay the bill, because they could afford to pay the full amount, but don’t, and end up spending money on interest instead.”

This Week’s Credit Repair Blog

Credit Repair Tips for Keeping Your Holiday Budget Down

How Your Bad Credit Could Be Hindering Your Job Prospects

This Week’s Credit Repair Q&A

Debt Settlement vs. Consolidation: The Pros and Cons

Can More Than One Collection Company Collect on a Debt?

Will Paying Off Collection Accounts Re-Age Them?

With unemployment rates in America hitting a near all-time high, the number of applications being received per position is skyrocketing. Couple the unemployment rate with the increasing popularity of employers running credit & background checks on potential employees and the situation is creating a Catch-22 for many job seekers.

This is because your credit profile may be suffering because you lost your job and as a result you have gotten behind with your bills and allowed an increasing amount of debt to be run up; the predicament is that those same actions may currently be keeping you from landing a job with prospective companies. Many job hunters are unsure whether bankruptcy, credit repair, or simply applying to a myriad of job listings in the hopes that there is no credit check is their best alternative.

So where does that leave the rest of the workforce facing this issue? Well, there is very little that people can do to change their credit profiles over short periods of time. So in reality you need to understand the financial choices that you’ve made and demonstrate to potential employers that your credit reports do not define you. There are a couple of steps that should help if you are one of the many in this exact situation.

Know your credit reports

Job seekers can’t defend their financial history if they are unaware of what their credit reports are saying to employers. Credit reports are free every 12 months from each of the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They will not show you a credit score, but they do list your entire credit profile over the last 10 years exactly as employers will see it.

As a job seeker you need to be prepared to answer any questions, this includes questions about your financial history as well as your work history. If you seem hesitant or confused in your knowledge of your own finances the hiring employer is going to question your reliability and your honesty.

Be honest

Once you’ve analyzed your reports and see what derogatory items are on there, you may be able to save yourself the time and stress involved with waiting for companies to run your credit & background check. Let them know straight away what they’re going to find. Any legitimate employer will tell you up front whether your infractions are going to cost you the position. Additionally, it demonstrates your desire to be honest with your potential employer. It also affords you the opportunity to explain yourself in a manner that abbreviations and codes on your credit reports won’t do.

Would bankruptcy or credit repair services help?

Yes and no. If you need the issue resolved before a prospective employer pulls your credit in the next few days, then neither of these solutions is going to help you get that job in that timeframe. Both bankruptcy and credit repair services are time consuming processes that need to be looked at long before they can be properly implemented.

While there are laws to prevent discrimination against those with a bankruptcy on their credit reports, the same cannot be said if you are simply in debt. Again, this is another Catch-22 since bankruptcy will generally ruin a credit profile for a minimum of 2 years, affecting the score for longer as it remains on the report for up to 10 years; but at the same time there are no laws against discriminating against those in need of just some simple credit repair, which can take anywhere from 3 to 12 months to have properly done while leaving your credit score intact.

Keep your chin up

Unless they’ve lived under a rock for the past few years, everyone is aware of the state of our economy, and accordingly, the state of individual’s finances. Perhaps you ran up a bit too much debt, perhaps you got a bit behind on some of your bill; so what? It’s likely that you’re not exactly in the best position to bring everything current if you’re out there looking for a job. Employers do understand. So, the better prepared you are to discuss with them your individual situation, and your strategy to get your finances back on track, the better shot you have over another applicant who comes across as just numbers and codes listed on a credit report.

Most people do all they can when it comes to credit repair.  They pay their bills and try to keep their credit cards from making the wrong charges, but for some reason, their reports and scores never quite seem to work out as well as they hope.

To help you make some sense out of what may going wrong with your attempts at restoring your credit, the leader in San Diego credit repair services has put together a list of 5 of the top mistakes just about everybody makes in their efforts to repair their bad credit.  Check these off as what not to do when getting your finances back on track:

Closing credit cards. Despite your initial instinct when faced with a poor credit history, closing your credit accounts is actually not the best idea for credit repair.  Doing so will switch them to inactive, which means they’re now essentially dead weight and will eventually fall off your report, leaving you with a smaller credit history.  Having a shorter history can make you look less financially responsible than you are; it’s like you erased that hard work for nothing.

Late or missed payments. The first step to total credit repair is making sure your accounts are current and up-to-date, and that you haven’t been missing too many payments on your accounts.  If you need help with this, set up a budget for yourself to help you manage your money situation better.

Credit accounts are maxed-out. If you use your credit cards to pay for just about everything in life, you’re probably teetering the edge of maxed-out accounts (assuming you haven’t fallen off already…).  If this sounds familiar, consider closing any excess accounts you have and rarely use, and start paying your existing accounts down to around 30% of the available balance.

Too much shopping for new credit. If you routinely shop around for new lines of credit – that is, if you fill out every credit card application that gets shoved in your face – you may be doing much more harm to your credit than you realize.  Each credit application counts as a “hard inquiry” on your report, and unless your credit repair plan calls for 25 new credit cards (hint: it shouldn’t), stop filling these out every time you see one.

Thinking you only have one credit score to worry about. Most people think of their credit score as one number, but it’s actually three separate scores.  When attempting to fix your credit, the scores you should watch closely are your FICO scores, the model used by most lenders to determine your credit risk.  Work on getting that as high as it’ll go, and you’re one step closer to financial freedom.

Say you’re in the market for a new car.  That old ’91 Oldsmobile isn’t quite cutting it like it used to, and it’s time to trade up, so you decide to spend a weekend out cruising the car lots for a new set of wheels (and maybe some sweeter rims to go with it).  Eventually, you find a car with just such a set of rims, and off you go to sign those papers.

Until the dealer turns you down on account of your poor credit history.  Suddenly, you find you’ll need to polish up your credit history before you can polish those rims, so in an attempt at credit repair, you order a copy of your report to try and see what exactly is holding you back.

Here’s what to look for when your credit history arrives.

Fatal error detected

The first thing you’ll want to do upon receipt of your credit report is verify the personal information they have listed for you on record.  Make sure you are who they say you are.  If any of your personal information such as your name or social security number, are incorrect, inform the reporting credit bureaus of the error and request it be fixed immediately.

These kinds of errors on your credit report can account for some of your bad credit history if the name or SS# listed are someone else’s with a bad credit history (conversely, they could be helping your score if that other mystery person with a similar name to yours has a good history, but that’s not usually the case, and you don’t really want to be sharing your credit report with someone else anyway).

Do these look accurate to you?

Next, you’ll want to verify your account history and make sure that information listed there is accurate as well.  Check your payment histories, and make sure they list their statuses correctly – whether or not you’re current on the account and if you’ve ever been late.  If any accounts are reporting incorrectly, get in contact with the agency reporting the wrong information (each credit bureau may report different information on different accounts, so you’ll want to look at all 3 reports when reviewing your credit history), and ask that they have their records updated with the correct info.  Having negative errors cleaned off your report will bring you one step closer to the perfect set of rims, and the car to go with them.

Will the real you please stand up?

Finally, and most importantly, check your credit report for any signs of identity theft, such as accounts that aren’t yours at all or credit inquiries from creditors you never contacted.  If you find anything here that looks suspiciously out of place, include it in your dispute to the credit bureaus and demand they take immediate action to remove the account(s).

Also, if you have a high number of credit inquiries on your report that go back over 2-3 years, ask that they have those cleaned off as well.  Having too many inquiries on your report can drop your score by a few points, depending on how recent they are, and having them removed will only increase your chances of getting a favorable response from creditors and lenders when you go back looking for good deals.

This Week in Credit News

Using Credit Cards to Target Web Ads

“Their plans, if implemented, would represent not only a technological feat—tying people’s Internet lives with shopping activities—but also an erosion of the idea of anonymity on the Web. It’s an effort by the two companies to profit by selling access to the insights they gather about people with every credit-card transaction.”

U.S. credit rating facing another cut soon, Bank of America warns

“The ratings firms are likely to draw the same conclusion if the super committee fails in its task, Harris warned. “The credit rating agencies have strongly suggested that further rating cuts are likely if Congress does not come up with a credible long-run plan,” Harris wrote. “Hence, we expect at least one credit downgrade in late November or early December when the super committee crashes.”

Credit Rating Companies Favoring Borrowers Paying Most

“Credit-rating companies routinely award higher rankings to debt issued by banks and corporations that pay them the most, a conflict of interest that may escape Congressional efforts to change the way they do business.”

This Week’s Credit Repair Blog

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Credit Card Number

How to Spot a Credit Repair Scam

This Week’s Credit Repair Q&A

What Are the Best Credit Cards for Helping Rebuild My Credit?

Do Bank Overdrafts Affect My Credit Score?

Which accounts should I pay off first?

So you’ve ordered a copy of your credit report to check up on your history because you’re thinking about opening a new line of credit and want to check that your credit is up to par.  The report arrives and, much to your dismay, things aren’t quite as peachy as you’d hoped they would be.  Late payments, a collection notice, and even a judgment on your public record round out a list of bad history in your credit file that needs to be dealt with ASAP if you want that new line of credit.

But you don’t know the first thing about repairing your credit, nor do you know how to even contest some of the information you’re seeing on file .  Your next step, then, is to check out some of those credit repair services you’ve see online.  But how do you tell which company is legitimately interested in helping you fix your bad credit, and which is just interested in stringing you along for a few months while they bleed your bank account dry?  Follow these tips for spotting the difference between a real credit repair company, and a scam.

•    Pay all in cash up front. Any service that requires payment before any services are even preformed is something you’ll want to avoid.  If they’re not gonna offer you a test drive on their services, move on.

•    Wipe all your bad history away NOW. If the company makes elaborate promises of being able to completely wipe ALL of your bad credit from your report in as little as a month, you can go ahead and bid them a good day.  Bad credit doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly won’t go away just as quickly.  Any agency that promises otherwise is lying to you.

•    Rights?  What rights? If you’re not made aware of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act or Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or worse, are asked to sign a form waiving your rights under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, bail out.  This is a credit repair scam basically asking to scam you outright, and who wants that?

•    Just sign on the dotted line. But before you do, you’ll want to review any contract the repair agency wants you to sign and make sure they didn’t leave out any crucial information like what they’ll be charging you each month in fees, or exactly what kind of services they’ll be performing on your behalf.  If anything seems intentionally vague or obtuse, consider putting your pen away for now.

•    “I can probably have this ready in 6-8 months or so.  Probably.” As I said earlier, it takes a while to fix bad credit, especially if you have multiple accounts that are in need of a fix.  If you’ve only got a couple of late payments or a collection on your file though, there’s no reason the process should take up to half a year to get through.  If you feel like you’re being strung along for no clear reason, cancel your account.

Hopefully, these tips will give you a better idea of what to watch out for should you decide to hire a credit repair company to spruce up your credit history.

When you’re trying to fix your credit history and improve your credit score, and you want to use a credit repair service to help you, it can be tricky to pick out the good from the bad.  Here’s a handy guide on what to look for when choosing credit repair services.

So you’ve got a copy of your credit report, and it makes no sense at all to you.  The history is filled with acronyms and codes that make no sense at all, and they didn’t even have the decency to pack in a decoder ring to help you decipher it at all.  So where do you turn for help with credit repair?

Stay away from dispute factories

When you’re first getting in touch with credit repair companies, ask how much emphasis they put on dispute letters sent to credit bureaus over negative accounts.  A lot of credit repair companies use this as a quick-fix for people’s bad credit, sort of like throwing darts at a board; eventually, one of them’s bound to stick, right?

However, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, disputing every negative item in your credit history isn’t the best way to improve your credit and will more than likely get you in trouble if the items are really yours.  Avoid companies that rely on disputes.

Getting to know your SOL

You’ll also want to learn your state’s statute of limitations, that is, how long the original creditor has to collect on a particular account.  The Federal SOL is 7 years from the date of last activity on the account.  Your state’s SOL varies wildly depending on the type of account in question (between oral/written agreements, promissory notes, and open-ended accounts), with some states lasting for only 2 years, while others follow you for closer to 15 years, making the road to credit repair seem that much longer depending on where you live.

So instead of allowing any of these companies to randomly dispute every negative account on your report, familiarize yourself with your state’s SOL and be prepared to work out payment plans with the creditors themselves.

Pardon my debt

One other thing to consider when looking for the right credit repair company is whether or not they incorporate debt settlement and negotiation services as part of their program.   If they do, make sure you are able to work out payment plans with both the creditor and the debt settlement specialists so you can work towards reducing negative accounts within your means.

Keep an eye on your accounts, and anyone eyeing them for you, and within a few months time, your report will look cleaner than ever before.

We spend most of our time in these blogs writing about things that you have to worry about affecting your credit report and score while you’re undergoing credit repair.  Things like late or missed payments, too many inquiries, and accounts falling into collections are just a few of the things you’ll want to avoid popping up on your credit score.

But what are some of the things you don’t have to worry about bogging your credit report down when you’re looking to have your score improved?  Believe it or not, not every financial decision you make has an influence on your credit file.  I know I’ve said your credit report is like the realization of the permanent record your teachers always warned you about in the past, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it watches your every action like a hawk.

Here are just a few of the things you don’t have to stress about bogging your credit score down:

• Age, race, gender, or marital status.  Your credit score doesn’t discriminate!
• Employment or salary history.  Your previous employment history may be included in your credit information file, but it has no bearing on your actual credit score.
• Your current financial situation.  Whether you’re laughing or crying on your way to check your bank account won’t factor into your credit file.
• Your address.  Again, this information IS included on your report, but the fact that you have several beach houses or live in a cardboard box behind Walgreens won’t determine what your score looks like this month.
• Your requests to pull copies of your credit report.  These are known as “soft pulls” in the credit industry, and are different from “hard inquiries”, which are made by companies when you apply for new lines of credit and DO affect your credit rating.
• Whether or not you’re working with credit repair services.  The credit bureaus and creditors don’t look down on you if you’re seeking outside help in fixing your credit score, and won’t knock your score down as a result.

So there you have it.  And now that you know you won’t get dinged for asking for help, why not give one of our specialists a call?  Our lines are open…

Here’s a question you don’t normally come across when trying to improve your credit: Is there such a thing as having too much credit?  In other words, will taking on more lines of credit than you already have actually damage your credit score, or will it damage your chances at credit repair?

Well, assuming you already have a good credit rating going for you, you won’t really be doing any long-term harm to your credit history by taking on more new accounts.  Just make sure you take care of those new accounts as well as your old ones, or it’ll come back to haunt you later…

How it’s done

If you already have a good credit score, it shows your lenders that you know how to handle your credit accounts.  You pay your bills on time, you have more than one type of open credit account in your history, and your open accounts all have good payment history on your profile.  In short, your lenders see that you aren’t a high-risk case for paying money back, and so will gladly extend you a new line of credit.

But just because you can pick up new credit so easily doesn’t mean you should just rest on it.  Although the new line of credit, be it a card or otherwise, will help boost your good history, your score will likely be dinged a couple of points initially due to the “hard inquiry” the creditor makes into your credit history.  Your credit utilization ratio will be affected as well, which is why you’d do well to stay away from applying for cards you might only end up using once, then calling it a day.

Be sure to keep an eye on your debt-to-income ratio as well.  The more new lines of credit you open, the higher your limits raise, which could lead to trouble if you’re prone to impulse shopping like I am.  Always try and maintain your balance at 30% of the total available high balance to hold onto the best credit score possible.

You need a high limit to work

There’s also a possibility that your higher limits could work in your favor right from the get-go.  In addition to raising your overall credit limit, lenders – who were once pretty wary of anyone with too high a credit limit – are instead focusing more on a potential consumer’s credit utilization rate.  The more you show that you not only have high credit, but know how to use it as well, the better your chances of being extended more credit will be.

Just make sure you don’t take on any more credit than you can realistically handle.  You’ll need to keep a good handle on your overall debt as well.  Any new lines of credit will need to be watched closely so your debt doesn’t rise too high and start to impact your credit score, leaving you further in need of debt relief.  Be sure to check each potential new card’s policies and interest rates before you sign the dotted line, and make sure they won’t drown you in interest the minute you miss a payment.

At My Credit Group, we always try to hammer home one major point to our credit repair services clients, and that’s how important it is to regularly check your credit reports; not only for possible account errors, but also to help fight against identity theft.

But what is it exactly you should be looking for on your report when you check it?  What are the signs that point out something may be amiss, and how can you root them out before they become a major issue?  Well, look no further than the list below…

How to spot inaccurate account information

One of the first things our credit coaches will check on a consumer’s credit report is name, address, and social security variations (if any) listed in the personal information section.  While having the wrong address on your report won’t trip up your credit score, having the wrong name or SS number can really cause a problem.

If you see your name misspelled on your report, or a wrong SS number – even if they’re only off by a letter or number – make sure you bring it to the credit bureau’s attention as soon as you can.

As to the actual accounts listed in your report, you’ll want to make sure the account history matches your own records, that all of your open credit accounts are listed as open (having them reporting closed can affect your score), and that any negative information that may have shown up in your credit history is being reported within the Federal and State statute of limitations.  If they’re reporting past the 7 year timeframe, they can be disputed.

Rooting out identity theft

Always make sure to check your credit report for accounts that aren’t your own.  When you pull a fresh copy of your report, check each of your credit accounts thoroughly to make sure they’re not only reporting accurately, but that they’re yours to begin with.  Any accounts that don’t look familiar at all should be disputed with the credit bureaus.

Another good way to nip any attempt at identity theft in the bud is to check over your recent credit inquiries.  If you see inquiries from companies that you didn’t authorize to check your credit report, or that you never applied with, it may be time to consider putting a hold on any credit applications and inquiries unless expressly authorized by you and only you.  No sense in having to go through debt settlement for an account you never knew you had to begin with.

Once upon a time, one woman found she needed her credit repaired and, rather than leaving it to someone else to fix, took matters into her own hands and improved her credit score.  Realizing there was a market for this kind of thing, My Credit Group was born.

Today, more than 10 years later, My Credit Group has become a leader among San Diego credit repair services.  Based in sunny southern California, we’ve managed to help tens of thousands of consumers from all over the US – including military service members stationed overseas – to improve their credit scores, settle outstanding debts, and open new lines of positive credit.

Our comprehensive 4 step program covers aspects of your credit report other credit repair companies don’t even seem to know exists (or else they’d step up to the plate).  Whereas other services are content to simply dispute all negatives charges against their clients, MCG recognizes that each account in your credit report is completely unique, and thus requires wildly varied ways of dealing with them.

Rather than claiming that every negative account simply isn’t yours (when you know it likely is), we encourage validation and verification on all details in said account, and dispute anything that is reporting inaccurately.  If a negative account can’t be disputed off your report, we find other ways to work it out.  Pay for deletion negotiations, debt settlement options, letters of goodwill, we cover them all.  We’ve been in this business long enough to have picked up more than a few tricks for handling negative credit accounts, and we use them for consumers’ benefits.

That’s not to say there’s some magic trick for wiping out your negative credit accounts; truth be told, there isn’t.  Anything we do can be done by yourself, on your own time.  But with a veritable minefield of terms and conditions for working with creditors, debtors, and the credit bureaus, it can be more than a little overwhelming to attempt to tackle all on your own.

That’s why we offer credit coaches who are certified under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (meaning they likely know more about your credit than you do) to guide you through the credit repair process, as well as a comprehensive portal website where clients can go anytime to check the progress of their accounts.

Combined with our peerless debt settlement program – which can help you settle accurate collections for as little as 50 cents on the dollar – and our commitment to help you establish new lines of positive credit, there’s really no reason to look any further for the best in San Diego credit repair services.  You’ve already found it.

You might be wondering how having a low credit score can really hurt you; how one number can make or break your financial future.  Speaking as the voice of credit repair services (well, this one anyway), I can tell you from experience that bad credit closes a lot of financial doors that would have otherwise been wide open to you.

Here are just a few of the ways bad credit can bring you down:

• You may not get your loans approved. If you’ve got a lower than average credit score, creditors and lenders see you as more of a risk to lend money to than your fairer credit counterparts.  Since they feel you’re less likely to pay the loan back in a timely manner, they may not extend you any credit at all.

• Say hello to your new, higher interest rates. Other creditors and lenders, specifically the ones behind your credit cards, see your bad credit and make you pay for it with raised interest rates – many times so ridiculously high, you end up paying off only the interest in your monthly payments, meaning you’re making no headway at all on the actual debt.

• And higher premiums to go with it. Your insurance company is checking your credit rating too, and claiming that many of their higher claims are linked to lower scores.  That means if you get in an accident and you have a low credit score, you can probably expect to pay a higher premium than normal.

• Endless debt collector calls. If your bad credit is due to a bunch of overdue bills, you’re probably about ready to throw your phone across the room if you get any more calls from debt collectors.  Want them to stop?  Better start paying those bills, then.

• Still want that nice new apartment?  Too bad! If you’re on the hunt for an apartment with bad credit, chances are pretty high the landlord won’t approve your application for a lease until you get it cleared up.  Even if you are approved, it won’t be at as good a rate as someone with better credit looking at the same apartment.

• Auto loans won’t be easier to get either. Banks and lenders already see you as enough of a risk to deny you any new lines of credit, and if you’re in the market for a new car, you can kiss those dreams goodbye as well, until you can fix the problem.  And what about all those “NO CREDIT?  NO PROBLEM!” ads?  Don’t worry, they’ll more than make up for it in interest rates.

• You might not even be able to land a job. With the unemployment numbers as high as they are, and the job market not exactly looking brighter by the day, you really can’t afford to be turned down from a job because of your credit, but more and more employers are doing just that.  Especially in the financial industry, having a good credit rating could be the key to landing your new job, and isn’t that reason enough to make sure your score is in top form?

Give one of our credit repair reps a call if you don’t want any more doors closed in your face.

Often times when looking up credit repair articles online, a common thread of advice is to build up a decent savings account to help you pay your debts down and then cut up your credit cards; all of them.

Why is that?

As I’m sure anyone who’s ever read any financial blog that has been posted about credit repair and debt relief knows, closing every credit card in your name will ruin credit score.  While the advice to pay down your debts and closing cards you don’t need or use is obviously sound, taking a pair of scissors to every card in your wallet is questionable at best.

It doesn’t quite work that way in real life

Many people think they’re better off swearing off credit forever, and not even having a FICO score so they don’t have to improve their credit, is the way to achieve “financial peace.”

That may be well and good for them but meanwhile, back in the real world, where credit is still king, those who follow advice like that to the letter will find that, while they may be making a little more headway on their overall debt, their credit has gone to hell, which could make trying for any potential loan approval a hassle.  And good luck applying for lower premiums on things like car insurance – without a FICO score or a good credit history to back you up, you could end up paying a premium on your premium.  So again, for every step forward you may take, you’re taking two more steps back.

The right stuff

Even if you were to take such advice at face value, it’ll take years to make any progress on your debts without any progress on credit restoration and credit repair.  And honestly, who wants to spend all that time working towards an overall financial goal when you can do it in half the time by simply keeping a few credit cards open in order to maintain your credit history?

Continue to pay down your debts from smallest to largest, and close some of your cards if you have more than 3 open on the books, but DON’T close them all.  Keep at least 3 cards open, and continue to charge items to them – nothing major unless you want to end up right back where you were; just simple stuff like gas and groceries – so you’ll be able to maintain some semblance of a decent score, which in the end, will make your road to financial freedom that much easier to walk.

For other credit and debt inquiries, consider giving one of our credit repair services specialists a holla to help you map out a plan to steer your finances back into your favor.

I was reading my RSS feeds the other night, and saw a rather interesting survey on consumer knowledge of credit and debt.  The survey’s findings were a little discouraging to say the least.

They found that, despite the hard lessons you’d think most people had learned during the economic downturn, many are continuing to carry high levels of credit card debt, while remaining clueless about not only their credit score, but how to improve it as well.

It’s all a numbers game

One of the key findings of the survey was whether or not consumers attempted to negotiate interest rates on their credit cards.  According to their findings, 93% of those polled knew it was possible to negotiate their rates, yet only 29% actually tried to talk their rates down.  That’s right, less than half of those polled even bothered to try and renegotiate even when they knew they could.  No wonder so many people are in desperate need of debt relief.

Furthermore, they found that 64% of everyone polled had an interest rate of 14% or more on at least one of their cards, with another 31% paying 20% or more in interest.  Meanwhile, those people who bothered to try and negotiate their high interest rates?  68% of them were successful, according to the survey.

Boys vs. Girls

The survey then went on to perform a gender breakdown.  They found that women are less likely to know either their credit score or their interest rate than men (65% of women know the score, as opposed to 74% of men who are aware of their score).  Finally, they reported that a total of 31% of men and women do NOT know their credit score.

So what have we learned?

More than ever, it’s apparent that people are in need of credit repair, but this survey raises the question, “Do they even want it?”  I mean, how else can you explain the fact that just about everyone knows they can do something about their credit score and interest rates, but won’t?  If anything, this proves that the current financial debacle we’ve gotten ourselves into hasn’t really taught us anything about our spending habits; that we’ll just keep digging ourselves further into this hole until we dig our way out of it.

Want to take charge of your credit NOW?

If you look at this survey and find that at least one of these results apply to you, you should know that you can actually do something about your situation.  Find out what your credit card interest rates are, and see if they’re negotiable.  Pull a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com, and if you find that the picture it paints isn’t as pretty as you’d thought, start working towards credit repair now.  Trust us, this is one statistic you don’t want any part of.

So you say you’re in debt.  Not just in debt, but so far deep in debt that you barely know which way is up anymore, and it’s getting harder and harder to tread water.  So why don’t you start taking steps to find debt relief and clean up your credit?

With a mountain of debt staring you in the face, the task of cutting it down to size can seem insurmountable if you don’t even know where to begin.  Luckily, all hope isn’t entirely lost in your efforts at credit clean up.  Below are 5 simple steps you can take to start your road to credit repair and debt relief.

1. Pull a copy of your credit report. You can order a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com.  This is the only site online that allows you a completely free copy of your report once every 12 months, so pull one up if you don’t have already.  Once you have it, scour the report for any sign of inaccurate information that shows up.  If anything on the report looks wrong to you, from account balances to personal information, notify the credit bureaus the accounts report to, and make sure they make the necessary changes to your report.

2. Look up your credit score. The next thing you’ll want to do is get a look at your actual credit score.  Seeing your credit score will give you a good idea of how much work you’ll have to do.  Unfortunately, there’s no free way (yet) to check your score online, however you can check myFICO.com for a peek at your credit numbers for $15.  Just be sure not to sign up for their monthly watch program, unless you want updates on your credit score every 30 days.

3. Start using your old credit cards. If you have more than 3 open credit card accounts in your name, start taking stock of which ones you use, and those you may not need anymore.  Since the length of your credit history makes up 15% of your overall credit score, according to FICO, you may want to hold onto your older cards so you can keep them reporting in good standing and keep your score from falling any lower because you closed the wrong cards.

4. Weigh your rewards options. Are you actually using those credit card rewards?    If not, start checking your cards’ reward and rebate options and see if you’re eligible for any.  You can also use each card’s reward options to decide which ones you want to keep open, and which would best be left untouched.

5. Seek professional help. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed by the process, or you just don’t have the time to deal with it all on your own, consider consulting a credit repair company.  I know it can be tricky to separate the real deals from the scams, so look for companies that stay away from making high financial promises and instead work to help you pay down your existing debts so you can start fresh.  And hey look, you’re already here!

You ever see that show Hoarders on A&E?  It’s about people who can’t seem to throw anything away.  And I mean ANYTHING; some of these people have cereal boxes from 1985 tucked away in a corner somewhere.

Now, I’m by no means a hoarder, but I do find that I have trouble throwing some things away sometimes.  I know I’m not alone on this either; honestly, how many of us have boxes of old junk and paperwork lying around that need to be sorted through and put into a “keep” or “throw away” pile?

It’s common knowledge that too much clutter is bad for you.  It can keep you from finding things when you really need them, even those of you (like me) who believe we have a method to our madness.  I mean, we kinda do, but having too much clutter can make finding something important (like, say, a cable bill that you’re pretty sure is due in the next couple of days) a hassle.  It can also be one of the biggest reasons you’re still in debt, or in need of credit repair services.

How’d you come to that conclusion?

Let’s be honest here – if your home office is filled with piles of papers laying around in no real order at all, there’s a serious possibility that your lack of organization extends to other aspects of your life, like finances.  Odds are you don’t have a monthly budget for yourself, and so spend money freely on whatever comes your way, and worry about the bills whenever they come in (assuming you can find them, of course).

Having stacks of papers scattered over every table or really any hard surface in your house makes it incredibly difficult to locate any misplaced bills or statements when you need them, which can end up in late payments, raised interest rates, and promises to finally clean this dump up for real this time, so help me God!

Okay, so how do I fix it?

Start by clearing up your clutter so you can actually find your bills and statements.  Come up with a plan to help you find debt relief sooner rather than later.  Remember that no one can get completely organized in a day, and work towards setting up a monthly budget for yourself based on your income and expenses.

If you find that you’re behind on some of your accounts, work up a payment plan to get your account(s) back on track.  Remember to take it one step at a time, and stick with your financial plan, and you’ll be able to clear up the clutter.

For more information on all your credit and debt questions, contact a credit coach at My Credit Group.

Want any further proof that you aren’t as important as the rich and powerful in this country?

According to reports from consumer lawyers and other legal documents, the 3 major credit reporting – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – have a super exclusive VIP list of their own; one that features everyone you’d expect to find on this type of list, from wealthy politicians and celebrities, to even courtroom judges.

Those on the list get preferential treatment when it comes to fixing credit errors; sometimes even having minor errors corrected almost immediately.

Meanwhile, the rest of us get to wait around up to 30 days for a response to a dispute inquiry.  Whenever you or I find an error on our credit report, we naturally send a letter on inquiry challenging the information’s accuracy.  Our disputes are put into the credit bureau’s automated system, which our carefully-worded analysis of the account and breaks it down to something simple like, “Dates wrong” or “Account not theirs” before they ship it off to the original creditor so they can deal with the problem.

While we’re waiting on pins and needles for a response…someone….anyone…about our credit inquiries, those lucky enough to make the credit VIP list have anything that might look bad on their credit reports taken care of before it’s even a problem.  The rest of us are filed under “guilty until proven innocent” should any negative information surface on our credit report(s), meaning you can kiss that potential new job, home, or car loan goodbye if your credit information isn’t in order.

So what can you do?

Well, if you don’t want to jump into bed with Washington or Hollywood, but want to make sure your credit report and file is always looking good, you can always start monitoring your credit information more closely – especially if you’re planning on applying for a new credit card or anything else that would give lenders cause to pull your credit.

You can also start contacting the credit bureaus directly if you have an account pop up that’s causing you problems.  When asked about VIP lists, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion all danced around the question, stating that anyone can call them directly and speak to a customer service specialist – because, as we all know, talking to a customer service drone is the best way to get anything done.

If you pull your credit report and find it stacked with errors, you can always call one of our credit specialists to help you repair your credit score.

Ah, there’s nothing quite like getting your Federal and/or State tax refund.  It’s like a late (or early) surprise birthday present from your favorite uncle Sam.  And just think of how you’ll spend it all….

Now, far be it from me to tell you what to do with all that extra cash you’ve got coming in.  God knows I’ve wasted more than a couple tax refunds on a new TV or iPod, but if you want to spend that extra bit of money on something that actually matters in the long run, here are a few ways My Credit Group can think of to spend your tax return.  They might not sound like fun, but chances are you won’t regret the decision to save a little more money in the long run.

1. Pay your credit cards down.

Let’s be honest: If your first thought upon seeing that refund check come through was to take it out for a night on the town, chances are pretty good that you’ve got at least a little unpaid credit card debt that you can take care of with that extra government money.  Yeah, it’s not as fun as spending the money at the mall, but you also won’t have to worry about overspending your refund and adding to your credit card bill, either.

2. Pay your cards off completely.

If you’ve only got a little unpaid credit card debt in your name – say, enough for a tax refund to take care of – you might consider taking care of it completely, so you won’t have to worry about it hanging over your head like a guillotine waiting to fall.  If your credit score has been suffering as a result of late payments, collections, and/or other negative items showing up in your credit report, now would be a good time to take care of them, as leaving them alone will only damage your credit history even more, and leave you in need of credit repair services later.

3. Start an account for emergencies only.

That is, if you don’t already have some funds set aside in case of an emergency (such as unexpected car maintenance or a hospital bill), now would be a goodtime to do so.  If you’re already living on a paycheck to paycheck basis, having an emergency fund set aside is absolutely vital if you don’t want to end up in serious financial trouble down the line.  I’d recommend building up a fund of at least $1000 (meaning most of it will likely come from your own pocket), and never dipping into the account for anything other than a real emergency.

4. Take care of another unpaid bill.

Got some accounts you’re running behind on, or some bills that are about to fall into collections?  Use that refund money to pay them down and put out a fire before it spreads.  Your credit score is dependent on the number of good, open accounts you have in your profile and if you want it to keeping looking as good as it does (or make it look even better), you need to stay on top of each of your accounts and make sure they’re paid on time.  Putting that extra refund money toward these accounts can go a long way towards making your efforts at credit repair successful.

5. Give yourself a little something.

Thought I was gonna ignore you completely, didn’t you?  While you shouldn’t spend ALL of your tax return solely on yourself, you should at least treat yourself to a little something nice.  After all, it’s free money and you’ll be doing your part in helping the economy get back on track, as well.  Just don’t overspend yourself, unless you WANT to keep yourself mired in unpaid debt, of course.

For a complete review of your credit report, contact one of our credit specialists for a free consultation.

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