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Credit Repair and the Perfect Report

Your Credit Repair Makeover

Credit repair can makeover your credit report and improve your credit scores. But the true potential of credit repair goes well beyond a credit makeover; done right it can carry you all the way to credit perfection, that elusive holy grail of the financial world. Whatever your starting point, if you apply the right principles you can regroup and experience quick and dramatic improvement. And if you are scientific about your credit repair mission you can finesse your way to the top, sooner than you ever imagined.

Grasp the Higher Principles

The foundation of genuine credit repair success is a firm grasp of the FICO scoring model. I’m not referring to a technical understanding of the components of a credit score and their relative weights. You need to understand the mind of the FICO model, the true motivation of the engineers at Fair Isaac. The FICO model is not a report card for consumers; it is an early warning system for lenders; FICO is designed to measure the potential of future default. The behavior that will influence your FICO score may surprise you, but it all makes sense.

FICO and Revolving Balances

The apparently inordinate weight that FICO puts on your revolving balances is actually a good barometer of potential financial trouble in your life, and hence a great place to start focusing your credit repair makeover. Revolving debt has the unique characteristic of changing on a daily basis. You use your credit cards, run them up, and pay them down. FICO recognizes that low balances most often occur during times when you have a budget surplus and all is well in your checkbook. Conversely, topped off credit cards occur during tough times and usually indicate a tight budget which can be the forerunner of late payments.

Credit Repair and Revolving Balances

FICO will recommend you to prospective lenders by raising your credit scores when your card balances are low. And they will warn prospective lenders off by lowering your scores when your balances are high. Here are the numbers to put to work in your credit repair effort. FICO measures the usage of your credit lines in 20 percent increments. 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% card utilization are all acknowledged; the lower your balance, the higher your score. Please note that the extremes are dramatic. Get your balances below 20% and your scores will soar. Go over 80% and you could lose up to 150 points.

The Consumer Debt Problem

The FICO scoring model has a built in bias against consumer debt, which includes store cards, gas cards, and store loans for purchases like furniture and electronics. Remember to think like FICO if you want to succeed at credit repair. You may be a responsible user of consumer debt, but on average this type of debt is inferior, a loan of last resort carrying higher rates. In some cases it even features no-payment options which mature into budget-wrecking surprises a year or so down the road. This is a concern for FICO. You should always make good financial decisions, so utilize the best deals you can find, but be conscious of the potential impact on your credit repair.

Think Positive

You need to feed your FICO score. You must communicate positive information to the credit bureaus each and every month by making your payments on time. If hard times have left you without credit you need to open a couple of credit cards, make your payments on time, and keep your balances low. There are no options. Your credit repair effort may eliminate derogatory information from your credit report, but without open active accounts your credit scores will never get off the ground. You must keep that positive information flowing.

Get Expert Advice

Credit repair has become more complicated over the years. Once upon a time if you made your payments on time you would be fine. Now, the subtle issues are many and significantly influential. If you feel up to the task, go ahead and try it on your own. But if at any point you decide that you do not have the time to do it right, hire a reputable credit repair service. Most professional credit repair services will insure that every opportunity is explored, implemented, and managed properly. Good luck!

8 May 2009 | Credit | Comments

Credit Repair and the Perfect Report

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