Any GFY'er successfully cleaned their credit?
 

I paid off all my bills and still my score is below 700...

I have been reading a lot about credit cleaners...

Basically the idea is they send letters to the credit bureaus stating that the info is bullshit and the bureaus ask the creditors to prove it is you, if they can't or fail to respond within 30 days the bureaus remove the shit from your file.

Back in 2002 the place to go would have been Lexington Law since this type of cleaning was relatively new and unheard of by many... But since then the bureaus have been fighting back.

These circa 2002 types will use form letters so the bureaus spot these form letters and instead of working to find the solution, they TAG you as receiving credit counseling.. which really fucks you over...

So now that it is 2007... Has any GFY'er had any success with a credit cleaner? If so, who?

Yes, I know I can do it myself but then I'd have to take time off from making money... If someone else can do it for me I'd rather go that route and save my time...

When you dispute like that all the credit bureau does is contact the creditor to verify your name, address and ssn in order to verify that is you. If the creditor says its you the credit bureau keeps the item on your file.

The credit bureau has 30 days to investigate and if the creditor doesn't respond it does get deleted BUT if the creditor responds LATER than 30 days it will be PUT BACK on your credit report. The 30 day rule only apply to the bureaus, the creditor can STILL put it back on your file later.

seconds???

We used to sell tons of this credit cleaning stuff. The deal was they over whelmed the bureaus with request and they had limited time or they had to remove the issue. Now they respond with a form letter to buy more time. Since you paid it all off and you are not just doing this to trick them it might be worth a try. The companies I sold all went out of business so not sure who to recommend.

Also have you tried to let somethings run on your card for a few months. The best way to build it, is to pay some interest. I know this sucks as you make good money and do not need to do this but it does help.

Actually depending on your situation - if you've paid off items that were on collection or that brought down your score, you should ask for a letter of confirmation that the debt has been paid.

If you have creditcards, keep a running balance - make a little more than the minimum payment since this helps maintain and build your credit.

You should write to the credit bureau and provide the letters that your debts have been paid and even if they don't remove anything (in case you had a bad payment history), they will note that you no longer have that 'debt' so it should bring up your score.

I did it all myself. No cleaner. But yes, I have had a lot of success. The key is that when you pay off a bill, that you IMMEDIATELY have them fax, and later mail you a copy it's been paid.

A lot of those companies do not report (or do it timely) that you have paid. I have even had some tell me that it's MY job to report it. Heh.

Anyways, you have to be the ultimate record keeper when going through this. I know I ran into more than one time where I had grief with a collection agency, and I had to start faxing copies to the MPSC, FTC, BBB and alike to get some results.

It's an INSANELY time consuming process, but the result was a jump of 120+ points in my credit score once resolved. After completed, I sent the horror stories, time lines, names, and numbers of the companies who gave me the biggest grief to my congressmen.

For all of the headache's some of these companies gave me, it was justice to return the favor. Toe hee.

:winkwink:

equifax ;)

Im a minus millionaire

:thumbsup

Use your credit card each time you buy gas or something. Then pay over the minimum payment, but always leave a balance. Your score will shoot up if you do this.

anyone know where you can check your credit? and things against it? (Canada)?

I am not sure for Canada, but I know MyFico.com, and TrueCredit.com work nicely.

MyFico is more accurate (and expensive) but gives you a more accurate idea. However, TrueCredit is nice as well. The layout, and information is helpful. You can check your report, and score daily if you want on there. But the scores are a bit off by comparision.

BOTH will send you a notice when anyone runs your credit, or a new account's opened, credit line increase, etc. Which is VERY nice! :thumbsup

i don't get credit companies. i scored a 685 - i was shocked.

i checked my file and I have no debt over 30 days - all bills paid and all credit card debts are paid in full every month. but the balance if often substaintial so even though it's paid in full every month (and often paid off a couple times a month) I'm told that the fact that it's credit card debt - even though it's regular monthly bills that are always paid in full - kills my raiting.

There is nothing on my rating about my average bank balance or any bank balance or real estate holdings.

the good thing is when i leased my mercedies I asked about this upfront - and it wasn't an issue. never missed any payments so never had a problem with mortages or the like either. they issued my lease the moment it hit the credit desk without question. (this was a $1250/month payment with nothing down)

other than mortages and my car lease i don't really care about my rating as I have the 3 credit cards i need - visa, MC and amex and i'm not about collecting several of the same cards although i suppose you COULD say I have 2 visa's since i do have an epassporte card....

i suppose if i checked my rating the day after i paid my cards off before the next month's bills come in my rating SHOULD be golden then....

www.equifax.ca does it for a small fee

I used a guy here in Dallas that uses the FCRA to clean up your credit. My score is over 700 now from about 625. His name is Terry Orr and his # is 972-274-3780. If anything, you can just call and ask him questions. He's more than willing to help you out and answer your questions.

740 Bitches!!! I have been checking my credit score for the last 4 years with Equifax and transunion and I make sure I correct anything Im ever doing wrong.

just checked it again. I've gone up 2 points to 687 LOL

Incorrect sire.

Not all of the credit cards report monthly. However what I have found is that if you are carrying a balance, they report that shit almost immediately. If you have it PIF, they do not report it until your (next) statement date. Assuming you still have a $0.00 balance.

So in theory, you would need to go 45-60 days to have your report reflect 0.00

you can get a free one per year.

then so long as I like collecting airmiles i'll always have a low score then :(

When I started out in adult in 95 or 96, my credit was blown (ex-wife killed it dead). Once I started to make some porn money, I used it to get a "secured" credit card with a low limit (I put 2k in a fixed term deposit for the bank to issue you me a $1k credit card). I used that card like mad, every month running it up and paying it down, over and over for a two year period.

At the end of the two year period, they gave me back the term deposit and upped the credit limit to $5k. I haven't looked back since.

Take care of any and all outstanding issues. Use whatever create you have and hit your marks for a couple of years. Ask the companies you have good credit with to extend it. Over time, things turn up good.

Nope brother.

If you read up on it, you can use your cards all you like. You will just have the fluxuating score. However, according to everything I had researched, it said as long as you stay below the 20% on average you will minimize your risk.

It's when you get over 50% and close to max that it becomes an issue and your score drops up to 80 points.

Lots of inquiries into your credit will submarine your score fast. Just a thought. :upsidedow

overpay them for two months so you have a positive balance. then keep up on it

im 22 and my score is 785 :)

got a $1000 loan a few days after i turned 18, used that $1000 to make the monthly payments over a year (plus the interest out of pocket)

after that it just kept going up

Lexington law was never the place to go anyway I recently needed to get my score up and did some major things that helped

number one concentrate on bad things on your report that are 18 months old or less as those will effect the score the most, if you are going to settle a bad debt ask them if they can issue you a deletion letter some will some wont.

A few things people dont notice will kill scores

Go to a mtg. broker that uses a service like credit plus, it allows him to run your credit once and then the bank can use credit plus to verifiy the report givin its less then 30 days old, or else the broker will run your report then every bank he tries to get you a loan with and bamn you got tons of people pulling your credit = points go down for each hit.

Number 2: if you have a CC that dont report the CRedit Limit you are going to lose major major points, for example you have a capital one, or amex plat or amex black, it will show on your credit report that your balance is your limit and thats really bad, cancel those cards temporary until your loan goes thru, having a no limit card meant 20 points less so cancel it temporary and do a rapid rescore some info on no limit cards http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ditRating.aspx

The above link explains "credit utilization," once you read it you will understand the next tip better

Pay off every account you have fully, you will be shocked how that will imporve your score

rapid rescore ask your mtg broker to help with that, say you fixed something with a creditor on march 1st but he dont report it until march 25, well by paying approx 90bucks to the beaure per account you want to rescore rapidly you will be able to give them a paper from the creditor saying settled or please delete and the credit beaure will rescore your score within 48 hours

and remember never ever be afraid to ask a creditor something they cant kill you, be aggressive ask to speak to a supervisor whatever because remember when you get a rate for a score that under 700 depending on the loan amount it can mean thousands of dollars extra a year etc

sorry for bad grammer and spelling im real busy

hope this helps

Cap one reports your limit.

not on their "no limit" cards

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ourCredit.aspx

read second paragraph, maybe they changed

I think one reason is that credit card companies hate guys like you because they dont' make any money off you. They make money off interest, and if you're paying your credit off in full monthly, they're not getting interest. They would prefer you pay the minimum balance each month instead. It's like taking out a mortage today, and paying it in full tomorrow - the bank would not have made any money from giving you the loan.

Anyway, like you said, if you're paying off in full each month, you'll have no problems getting a loan for a car or house anyway. I'm like you, I pay off my credit in full each month because I can't stand knowing I owe money on something. I learned that this isn't the "best" way to do things in the eyes of the credit system, even though I believe it's the best way to live, personally.

All I know is my limit is correctly reported on my statement for my cap one card, so I can say for a verifiable fact that at least in some cases they report the correct limit.

Not my point. Read the article. It sas cap one has a policy of keeping information private and never reporting it, which isn't true.

im at 680 =\ I heard it takes 10 years to succesfully clean your credit...

lol even with a bankrupcy it shouldnt take 10 years

I've always had good credit ( my current score is 791) but I know a few people that have been in the 500's and got there credit score back up buy paying off their debt and using a service to help get stuff removed. they also kept one card (usually high interest rate but what can you do) and they only use it a little but always pay it off. they built back up to high 600-low 700 .. within a year. not bad when starting from a low 500 ..

It doesn't, and it won't.

Speaking first hand.

:2 cents:

i was in shock when i checked my credit the other month - I was sure i'd have a higher rating. i checked my file and it goes back 7 years with equifaxand not one late payment on anything and tons of things paid off in it's history for $10s of thousands of dollars.

like i said - got a $1000+ car lease no problem the other day and my bank talks to me regurally and has told me I can have piles more money if i want it so I guess it's really not an issue to me. Just shocking to see it soo low is all. :2 cents:

Debt is not good
 

Why are so many people in debt. This must be a form of control

Well it's almost not ALL credit score. Don't believe the hype. It's important on mortgages, and things of that nature. But a close number two would be debt to income ratio. I do not have much grief myself now either.

While my money keeps going up, I have not upgraded my car, house, etc. So I am still living well below what I could afford. So they take that huge difference into account as well. Other than my student loan (installment) my only other expense (that shows on credit report) is my credit cards (revolving). But even then, all my debt for a month... food, insurance(s), utilities, gas, rent, etc. for a month totals between $1500-2000. Depending on which insurance is due. So $2000.00 max in expenses unless I treat myself to something.

That plays into it as well.

FICO doesn't care about how much you make, how big your balances are or how much your car lease it. Someone making a million a year or $50k a year can get in over their heads in debt just as easily. Like the saying goes, "I don't care if we were just going to McDonald's for dinner -- you were 30 minutes late!"

I used Lincoln law firm or something. It took them like 14 months of letter sending and by the time it was over my bad item on my credit had expired, so it didnt matter that I used them.

it was a fucking slooooooooooooow process.

One of my credit cards (Providian) has a free FICO score that updates once a month and has tips to 'understand, track, and manage it' which is pretty cool but 'TransUnion' is the only source they mention... So even though I can watch my score bounce around... I have NO clue what Equifax and Experian think of my sorry ass :winkwink:

Providian recently merged with Washington Mutual (a.k.a. WAMU) so you can either go to: wamucards.com OR providianservices.com if you wanna check it out.

:error :warning

Some times it just happens, you lose your job for few months, and in that few months you use your CC, once you have a job again, your in debt, sometimes a lot of debt.

Doesn't it seem like everything is designed to fuck you over?

Like you said, my report doesn't discuss the thousands of dollars in my accounts. It doesn't talk about stocks... I don't own a home yet because I want to bail America and travel the world once my kids are in college (2 more years).

Ohh and it doesn't discuss the fact that my kids will go to college on my dollar. It should have 3 options...

1) Guy who's kid is saddled with student loans.
2) Guy who's kids never go to college because he can't afford it.
3) Guy who pays his kids way through college.

The report never discusses option #3 and if it did, I think it would tell a truer story.

This reverses itself when you get into the higher numbers. Visa/MC/AMEX charge for their services. It is a small percentage that doesn't amount to much on $500... But when you regularly charge up $50,000 a month and pay it all off they made money on the 1.7% they charged the merchant. So they in fact do make money on high-rollers.

It royally sucks when you are in the middle. Like you do $5000 a month. Then they make $65 and don't offer you shit.