Your FICO score is a credit rating produced by Fair, Isaac and Co. It's used by most lenders to help them decide whether you're a good credit risk. Fair, Isaac crunches the numbers from your credit report, and spits out a score somewhere between 300 and 850. A low score says you're a bad credit risk, a score of 750 or higher puts you in the catbird seat. Here are the factors considered when calculating your FICO score and an estimate of how heavily each factor might be weighted. Past payment history (35 percent): bankruptcies, late payments, past due accounts and wage attachments Amount of credit owing (30 percent): amount owed on accounts, proportion of balances to total credit limits Length of time credit established (15 percent): time since accounts opened, time since account activity Search for and acquisition of new credit (10 percent): number of recent credit inquiries, number of recently opened accounts Types of credit established (10 percent): number of various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, mortgage)

Negotiating with the collection agency is probably better since the torch has been passed to it. If the collectors have stopped calling you, it means they're not optimistic about getting paid, and you're in a better position to negotiate a win-win deal. Here are some negotiating hints: Talk to the person who can make the settlement decision. Be polite and accommodating, but don't offer any information on where you work or bank. Know what you can afford to pay, and don't agree to more. Offer whatever you can, 40 cents or 50 cents on the dollar. When the collector turns it down, ask what it's going to take. Be prepared to hand deliver -- or send by overnight mail -- a money order or a cashier's check as soon as the settlement is reached Get everything you've agreed upon in writing before you pay. If you're doing this via phone, have a fax number ready, so they can send you a statement of what you've agreed upon before you deliver the cashier's check or money order.

Absolutely, and for many reasons. The obvious one being that a creditor has erroneously submitted it to a credit bureau. Many consumers' credit reports are incomplete and inaccurate. By law, Credit bureaus are obligated to remove erroneous account information in an expedient manner. Credit bureaus and even government officials employed by the federal trade commission want you to believe that it is not possible to delete bad credit from your credit report. We will do it legally and efficiently, in a manner in accordance with all the rules and regulations inherent upon our company.

Absolutely. We do remove items of public record such as Bankruptcies and have done so for many of our past clients. This includes Tax liens whether Federal or State as well as Civil Judgments. These are all considered items of public record.

To a very limited extent. The best way to improve a person's credit rating is to remove the negative item from their credit profile.

Experian's Phone Numbers Phone: 888-397-3742 Equifax's Phone Numbers: Phone: 800-846-5279 or 866-322-3162 TransUnion's Phone Numbers: Phone: 800-916-8800

In most states, a creditor does not have to inform you before they report a negative listing on your credit report.

When another person adds you to a credit card as an authorized user, the credit card company places the account on your credit report as well. Often, the account will carry a note indicating that you are an authorized user rather than the primary cardholder. Even so, this serves to substantially improve your credit history. Note that if the account goes delinquent, it may negatively effect your credit report and the credit card company may even attempt to recover payment from the authorized user

Most definitely. Whenever you settle or pay off a disputed debt, always get a written agreement from the creditor or collection agency before you send payment. It is not unusual for collection agents to lie about settlement terms in order to get their money, then demand the remainder of the debt once the payment has been collected.

That varies from state to state. Some states are "community property" states where any debt held by one spouse is considered a debt of the other spouse or ex-spouse. The latter only applies if the debt was incurred while still legally married.

A creditor or collection agency can delete any item that they originally reported to the credit bureaus. While some have agreements with the credit bureaus not to settle on the condition of deletion, they will come around if you persist. Keep negotiating. Always operate on the premise that somewhere in the organization there is at least one person able and willing to settle. If deletion is a must for you, hold out until you get what you want

Payment history (35%) Outstanding Debt (30%) Length of your credit history (15%) Recent inquiries (10%) Types of credit in use (10%)

When a creditor (like a mortgage or credit card company) wants to check your credit, they will "inquire" with the credit bureaus. The resulting inquiry can actually negatively affect your credit score for a short time, but not by very much. If a creditor pulls your report without your consent (like to make a special offer) or if you pull your report yourself, the inquiry doesn't count against you.

Anything can be removed, including bankruptcies, foreclosures, late payments, collections, etc. If the bureaus are unable to validate the accuracy of these items, then they are required to remove them.

To qualify for the best rates and terms on a home mortgage, you will need at least a 680 or higher. Many lenders give their best rates to those with a 740 or better. For credit cards and car loans, you should probably qualify for the best rates with anything over a 640, though some lenders make special offers for those with over a 700 score. Anything below 620 will put you in the "sub-prime" category for home mortgages (meaning you'll pay higher fees and get a higher rate). If you have less than a 600 score, you probably won't get approved for most unsecured credit cards. Your goal should be a 770 score. We have yet to see a lender who would not give their best rates and terms to a person with that score.

No. There is a method called File Segregation, but it is illegal, dangerous, and usually unsuccessful.

If so, you are in a small minority. However, you are still able to dispute items based on trivial inconsistencies in reporting. For instance, if an item shows "90 days late," that could mean only that you have gone into the third 30-day period. You really may only be 68 days late. Therefore, you can legally dispute this item and the credit bureaus will have to validate it. If they can't (and we show you how we will make it tough for them), then they will have to remove it from your report.

annualcreditreport.com

You can. But you will likely make many easy avoidable mistakes, and most mistakes that are difficult to undo.

You can see results in a matter of days, or it could take several months. It depends on how many items you have and a number of other factors that are outside of your control. There are shortcut methods to speed up the process if you need to improve your credit in a hurry, as when trying to qualify for a mortgage.

There are basically many things that look the worst on your credit report. This is difficult to state because lenders assess information differently. Some common examples are: multiple inquiry searches, late payments, defaults (paid/unpaid), foreclosure/short sales, bankruptcies and repossession orders

Answer: Most lenders look at the number of years you have worked at your present job, the kind of work you do (the worst to best being: manual work, clerical, self-employed, managerial, professional), the number and nature of negative entries in your credit report, the amount of credit you currently have, savings and or current accounts with the lender, length of time at your present address, is the telephone in your own name, do you own your home.

Not paying your bills is not a crime (except for your taxes, of course). In the case of a secured loan, the lender can repossess on the property that secures the loan. Unsecured lenders can get a county-court judgments. If you have no property of any real value, there is very little a lender can do. If you work or not and no real assets, there is virtually nothing that a lender can do. And if your debt is small, it may be more expensive for the lender to attempt to collect. In most cases, a lender will stop short of legal action, and write off your debt

Disputing any information on your credit reports is your right (see the Fair Credit Reporting Act). You also have the right to negotiate with creditors to change or delete what is on your credit report since they are the ones who decide whether or not to delete or change any information they are reporting.

Any amount of bad credit is devastating to your chances of being approved by a credit grantor. Most credit grantors never actually look at your credit report. A computer pulls your credit report, rates your credit standing, income, indebtedness, and stability, then spits out an acceptance or denial. Even one or two slow pays will usually trigger a credit card or personal loan denial. The slightest amount of negative credit will cause the interest on an auto loan to skyrocket. You will probably find that even a little bad credit, regardless of how much good credit you have, is an unacceptable barrier to credit approval.

Many bankruptcy attorneys do not adequately understand or explain the effects of bankruptcy to their clients. Stated simply, bankruptcy is to the credit rating what the nuclear bomb is to war. When you file for bankruptcy, every credit account that you decide to include in bankruptcy will become an "included in bankruptcy" account. Additionally, a bankruptcy filing and bankruptcy discharge listing will appear in the court records section of your credit report

Paying an old debt does not erase the fact that at one time you were not paying it as you agreed, but it is possible to update your payment history.

We have been helping good people with bad credit reports for more than 14 years.

The amount your credit score will increase depends on a variety of different factors. Some of these factors include the extent to which negative entries on your credit report are removed, the willingness of creditors to negotiate and change the character of credit entries, and the use of good and practical methods of finance and debt management suggested by yellow credit to continue increasing your credit score

No. That would be impossible. If anyone makes such a claim...run. We've seen people raise their score as much as 287 points in 30 days. Most people do see positive results within 30 days. 79% of all credit reports contain errors. Errors are easiest to remove. Accurate negative items can often be removed, as well, but they take a bit more finesse. All of these elements come into play

To contact a specialist for a free consultation (or to hear about our current specials), please call toll-free 888-672-6405..

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How does information about me get into my credit report?::

When you agree to accept credit from a bank, most retail stores, or fill out an employment application – if a credit report is used as a background check – you give the creditor the right to provide information to any credit reporting company. Additional information about you comes from public records, such as court records, debt collection companies, and even the utility companies.

This is rare, there are times when a credit bureau will eventually verify information that has already been deleted from your credit report. The federal law requires a credit bureau to inform you prior to re-listing a previously deleted item. This same federal law makes it more difficult than ever for a credit bureau to re-list a deleted item. Therefore, although it is technically possible for a deleted item to reappear on your credit report, it is highly unlikely. If an item reappears on your credit report we can again dispute it at a future date and work towards a permanent deletion