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My Credit Repair Kit

by Woody Alpern

A PRACTICAL STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO REMOVE NEGATIVE INFORMATION ON YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT REPORT

This credit repair kit differs from others, in that it is a clear and concise step by step guide guaranteed to remove negative items from your personal credit report.  This step by step guide should be followed in exact details.  We have purposely left out of this guide a lot of wasted information about credit bureaus, your rights as a consumer, etc.  This guide has one purpose and one purpose only – TO QUICKLY AND CONCISELY WALK YOU THROUGH THE STEPS ON DRAMITICALLY IMPORVING YOUR CREDIT. You will be amazed to see what information will be legally deleted from your credit report – no attorneys or legal counsel charging outrageous fees are necessary.

NOW follow the information steps below, and you will dramatically improve your credit and even get a no deposit unsecured credit card.

STEP 1 – BECOME INFORMED

If you are a person that loves to know their rights, and wants to learn more about credit success and credit repair, then Step 1 is for you.  However, if you are like me, (a person that does not like to waste time – a “cut to the chase” type of person) than you can completely skip this step. This Step will simply take you to our link where we have the entire FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICE ACT.

NOW ITS TIME TO “CUT TO THE CHASE”

STEP 2 – APPLYING FOR (FREE ONLINE APPLICATION) AND RECEIVING, UTILIZING AND PAYING YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENT IN FULL ON YOUR NEW UNSECURED VISA.

If you are one of those people that went through Step 1, than you are probably as knowledgeable about this entire subject area as we are.  That’s great – but I must say unnecessary.  For those of you who skipped Step 1, I must inform you that you have caused yourself absolutely no harm.  However, it is crucial that everybody follows the remaining steps exactly as described below – and you are guaranteed to repair your credit. 

Step 2 is going to seem very strange, because we are actually going to have you complete a FREE online application and receive an unsecured credit card.  This link is going to take you to our FREE online application where you are going to have the opportunity to apply for FREE and receive an UNSECURED VISA CREDIT CARD even though you have no credit, or past credit problems. No deposit is going to be required. The card you are going to apply for and receive is a VISA with a credit line from $250.00 up to $1,000.  It will provide you with a worldwide acceptable credit card and also give you ATM access.  We want you to receive the card, and use the card.  Most importantly, we want you to pay the outstanding bill every month.  Even if you only charge $5.00 or $10.00 per month, pay the balance at the end of the month.  THIS IS GOING TO DRAMITICALLY HELP YOU RE- ESTABLISH GOOD CREDIT! [Click here on then on the Apply Now button] .  After you have applied for the card, it is imperative that you continue on with the remaining steps immediately – don’t wait until you receive the VISA card.  You need to complete the remaining steps immediately.

STEP 3 – ORDERING YOUR FREE COPY OF YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT REPORT.

In this step you are going to order a FREE copy of your credit report from 4 of the largest credit bureaus.  95% of the time, the credit bureau will send you a copy of your report for free – especially if you have not ordered a copy within the last 12 months.  But even if you have ordered a copy within the last three months, the credit bureaus are required to furnish you a free copy of your report if you have not received one since the last time you have been denied credit.  Even if you have not been denied credit, you are going to state that you have been denied credit in the request letter.  Our experience shows that the bureaus almost never check to see if it’s true.  They simply process your request and send your free credit report.  Below is a sample of the letter you are going to send to each of the 4 credit bureaus we have listed.  Again, it is imperative that you write your letter exactly as ours is stated. 

LEGEND:  Below is a legend that will be used throughout this guide.  Each letter will require that you type in specific information where indicated. The “inquiry fields” ask you questions, which than will require you to type additional information. “TIPS & HINTS” are not mandatory reading, but interesting nevertheless.  These are indicated in the letter as follows:

·                type request (this is a command instruction you to type the information being requested in the letter i.e. it may say  type your full name here;

·                Inquiry Field – (This field ask you a question. If your answer to the question asked is “yes”, you than type the additional information asked for) i.e.  if you want negative inquiries removed from your credit report, than type the following

·                TIPS & HINTS   (These are interesting tid bits of information related to credit repair issues.  Not necessary to read, but may help you understand why we are taking the steps we have listed below).

·                Anything typed in this font must be typed in your letter identical to what we have typed.  Don’t change a word. 

FORMAL REQUEST #1 – (the “credit report request” letter)

Type today’s DATE

Type Your First Name, YOUR Middle Initial, Your Last Name

Type Your Current Mailing Address

Type City, STATE, ZIP Code

(Below are the 4 addresses you are going to send the letter to):

TRW-CBA Assistance

P.O. Box 677

Cherry Hill,  NJ 08003

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Equifax Credit Bureau Inc.

P.O. Box 105873

Atlanta, GA 30348

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

TransUnion Credit Information

P.O. Box 390

Springfield, PA 19064

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Associated Credit

652 E. North Belt, Suite 400

Houston, TX 77060

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

Dear Sirs/Madams:

Please send me a copy of my credit report.  I’m including the following personal information.  My current address is as follows:

Type your current address here

My former address is as follows:

Type your former address here

My Birthdate is:  type your birthdate here

My Social Security Number is:  type your  social security number here

I have been denied credit by:  Type the name of one institution (such as a bank or credit card) that has denied you credit within the past 12 months

Sincerely,

Signature here

Type Your Full Name Here

TIP & HINT:

We recommend that you type or hand write and mail the letter above certified return receipt requested.  This will document proof of your request (very important).  However, for this request only, you can in fact call the credit bureaus and make the same request as written above.  The phone numbers are as follows:

TRW-CBA Assistance   (800) 862-7654

Equifax Credit Bureau, Inc.  (404) 612-3321

TransUnion Credit Information  (601) 933-1200

Associated Credit  (713) 878-1900

The reason you ordered this credit report is because by correctly disputing any item on your credit report, the credit reporting must investigate, verify, and correct your file within a reasonable period of time.  If the item is not verified within that period of time, the item must be removed permanently, even if the item is accurate. Generally, the credit bureaus consider 6 to 8 weeks as a reasonable period of time.

How to read your credit report.  I’m not going to waste time listing all of the terminology used by the various credit bureaus.  Instead, I’m going to inform that each credit report will come with detailed instructions on how to read the report. 

STEP 4 -  SECOND REQUEST FOR REMOVING NEGATIVE ITEMS FROM YOUR CREDIT REPORT (“THE INVESTIGATE & REMOVE LETTER”). 

This is the next step in repairing a damaged credit report.  You must have completed Step 3 above and received a copy of each of your credit reports.  You are going to mail the dispute letter exactly as written below to each of the credit bureaus.  IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THIS LETTER IS MAILED CERTIFIED WITH A RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED.  REMEMBER – THIS IS A TIME SENSATIVE DOCUMENT, SO WE WANT PROOF OF WHEN IT WAS MAILED.

TIPS & HINTS:

Here are a few Tips & Hints we thought you might find interesting (not necessary to read to repair your credit– but very interesting nevertheless):

• A creditor (someone that you owe money to) does not like to be bothered with having to verify information from a request letter. As a matter of fact, once an account has been closed for over a year, it is removed off their computer and placed onto a back-up media and stored (likely they will ignore the request rather than going thru the time consuming process to find the file and then report back to the agency);
• Creditors are VERY afraid of lawsuits, and many times will ignore the verification request rather than risk sending back incorrect data;
• 50% to 60% of all negative items will generally be removed from a credit report on the first try. If a creditor gets a second verification request, they usually assume that it’s just a second notice of the request and ignore it;
• The holiday season is a time when most offices are understaffed because of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New years.  We think these are the times to send your verification request – one slip up – and the item is off your credit report FOREVER;
• The worst credit offenses are usually the ones that get removed the fastest. Items such as bankruptcies and foreclosures appear as “Public Records”. That means to verify these types of negative items, the credit reporting agency has to go to the county or federal courthouse and locate the desired documents. Do you really think your government is capable of responding in a timely fashion to this type of request?  The answer is – NO WAY.  Therefore, the chances of these types of items being removed from your credit report FOREVER are very high!
• When you pay a bill, always include a few cents extra. This will cause some computer systems to upgrade your credit rating and/or your credit limit.
• You can get “extra” credit from a secured credit card.  Many department stores will automatically give you one of their cards when you show them a major credit card.  You should have already applied for and perhaps even received an unsecured credit card from STEP 1 above.  A good idea would be to now also apply for a FREE guaranteed secured card by clicking here [Brad – again put link to the place where it takes them to application].
• If you own stocks, bonds and other investments do not list them on an application.  These are generally not used to get the loan, but instead will be seized in the event your loan (or card) is not paid.
• Welfare, child support, and alimony can all be claimed as income on an application.  Many banks consider welfare to be a very stable form of income.

OK – enough with the interesting Tid Bits.  Now onto the important stuff.  Here is your SECOND formal request for removing negative items from your credit report;

FORMAL REQUEST #2 – (the “investigate & remove” letter)

Type current date here

Type your first name, middle initil and last name here

Type your street address here

Type your City, State and Zip Code here

Type  the words “Date of Birth”  and then type your date of birth here

Type the words “Social Security Number” and then type SSN here

(Below are the 4 addresses you are going to send the letter to):

TRW-CBA Assistance

P.O. Box 677

Cherry Hill, NJ 08003

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Equifax Credit Bureau Inc.

P.O. Box 105873

Atlanta, GA 30348

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

TransUnion Credit Information

P.O. Box 390

Springfield, PA 19064

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Associated Credit

652 E. North Belt, Suite 400

Houston, TX 77060

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

Dear Sirs/Madams:

This is a formal request to have the following items on my credit report investigated immediately.  Please make the following corrections, in order to show my true credit file.  These items are inaccurate, and therefore injurious to my credit rating.

If your birthdate is not correct on your credit report, than type the following

My date of birth is not correct on my credit report.  Please list my true date of birth as Type your correct date of birth

If your Social Security Number is not correct on your credit report, than type the following

My Social Security Number is not reflected correctly on my credit report.  Please update my Social Security Number,  Type your correct Social Security Number

If you want to remove a previous address from your credit report, than type the following

The following is listed as my previous address.  It is incorrect, please remove the following:

Type your previous address  street, city , state and zip code

If you want to add a previous address to your credit report, than type the following

The following is a list of my previous addresses that are not listed on my current credit report.  Please add the following:

Type the previous address street, city, state and zip code that you want to add to report

If you want to remove a previous employer from your credit report, than type the following

The following is listed on my credit report as my previous employment.  It is incorrect, please remove the following:

Type previous employer name, city and state

If you want to add a previous employer to your credit report, than type the followong

The following is a list of my previous employment that is not included on my current credit report.  Please add the following:

Type emplopyer name, city and state that you want added to the report

If you want inquiries removed from your credit report (remember too many inquiries reflects as negative scoring when someone is checking your credit), than type the following

The following list of inquiries was never authorized.  Please investigate and remove the following:

Type the firm name, ID Code and Inquiry date that you want removed

If you want negatively reflected account information removed from your credit report, than type the following

The following accounts, on my credit report, contain erroneous information.  Please investigate and remove the following:

Type the firm name, ID Code and Account Number that you want removed

If you want the following negative records (such as bankruptcy listings, or garnishments) removed from your credit report, than type the following

The following records, on my credit report, are erroneous.  Please investigate and remove the following:

Type the record type (such as “bankruptcy”) and the description listed on credit report

Please send me a copy of your report and an updated copy of my credit report when you have completed your investigation.  Thank you for your prompt attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

Sign here

Type your full name

STEP 5 – THIRD REQUEST FOR REMOVING NEGATIVE ITEMS FROM YOUR CREDIT REPORT (“THE FOLLOW-UP LETTER”). 

This letter should be sent only after a 4 to 6 week period has elapsed from the time you sent “The Investigate & Remove Letter” in step 4 above, and you have not received a response from the credit bureau.  That’s why we had you mail it certified return receipt requested.  This letter will greatly increase your odds of having negative items permanently removed.  In this letter, you are going to state that a reasonable period of time has elapsed and you want the “erroneous” information removed from your credit report.  Once the reporting agency removes an item that was not verified they are agreeing that it was not verified in a reasonable period of time.  Therefore, even if the verification comes back, the item cannot be replaced.

TIPS & HINTS:

Here are some more interesting tid bits.  Again, it is not necessary to read this, but it wouldn’t hurt.

• If you’ve tried the “Follow-Up Letter” a couple of times, and your creditor has met the time frame each time, check the dates on the verification forms to see how long that it takes them to come back.  If the creditor generally responds within 40 days, send a letter to the reporting agency 35 days after your dispute letter was sent, asking that the items be removed due to non-verification.
• Pay close attention to the name of the person that signs the credit verification form. Send the creditor a letter (made out to the person that signs the verification form) explaining that their information is erroneous and ask them to please not verify it incorrectly.
• Occasionally a credit-reporting agency will state that a dispute seemed to have the wording of a lawyer or a credit counselor and therefore it must be frivolous.  If this happens, write the credit reporting agency back in a hand written note, stating that you are not dealing with a lawyer or credit counselor, however you are well aware of your legal rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This usually fixes the problem right away.

FORMAL REQUEST #3 – (the “follow-up” letter)

Type current date here

Type your first name, middle initil and last name here

Type your street address here

Type your City, State and Zip Code here

Type  the words “Date of Birth”  and then type your date of birth here

Type the words “Social Security Number” and then type SSN here

(Below are the 4 addresses you are going to send the letter to):

TRW-CBA Assistance

P.O. Box 677

Cherry Hill,  NJ 08003

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Equifax Credit Bureau Inc.

P.O. Box 105873

Atlanta,  GA 30348

ATTN:  Consumer  Relations Department

TransUnion Credit Information

P.O. Box 390

Springfield,  PA 19064

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Associated Credit

652 E. North Belt, Suite 400

Houston,  TX 77060

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

Dear Sirs/Madams:

On Type the date that you sent “The investigate & remove letter” in step 4

I mailed you a letter, asking you to investigate erroneous items on my credit report. A reasonable time has passed and I have not received a response from you.

I am formally requesting that the information that has not been verified be deleted from my credit file as required under “The Fair Credit reporting Act”, Section 611, Subsection A.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Sign here

Type your full name

STEP 6 - FOURTH REQUEST FOR REMOVING NEGATIVE ITEMS FROM YOUR CREDIT REPORT (“THE RE-INVESTIGATE & REMOVE LETTER”). 

This letter should be sent at least 3 or 4 times until all the information you want repaired have been removed.  This is to be sent after you have received a response from the credit bureaus in regards to the letter sent in step 3 (“The Investigate & Remove Letter”).  In this letter, we are going to ask the credit bureau to re-investigate items on your credit report that was verified as accurate. Furthermore, you are going to ask for the names and addresses of the individuals that verified this information.  You will see that having these names is very important, and will be used in the Final Step 6 below.

FORMAL REQUEST #4 – (the “re-investigate & remove” letter)

Type current date here

Type your first name, middle initil and last name here

Type your street address here

Type your City, State and Zip Code here

Type  the words “Date of Birth”  and then type your date of birth here

Type the words “Social Security Number” and then type SSN here

(Below are the 4 addresses you are going to send the letter to):

TRW-CBA Assistance

P.O. Box 677

Cherry Hill,  NJ 08003

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Equifax Credit Bureau Inc.

P.O. Box 105873

Atlanta,  GA 30348

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

TransUnion Credit Information

P.O. Box 390

Springfield,  PA 19064

ATTN: Consumer Relations Department

Associated Credit

652 E. North Belt, Suite 400

Houston, TX 77060

ATTN:  Consumer Relations Department

Dear Sirs/Madams:

The following items are currently reflected on my credit report since your previous investigation.  These items are erroneous and injurious to my credit standing.  Please re-investigate the following and send to me the names and addresses of the individuals that have verified the following information.  This request is made in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Section 611 and Section 609, subsection A.

If you want negatively reflected account information removed from your credit report, than type the following

The following accounts, on my credit report, contain erroneous information.  Please investigate and remove the following:

Type the firm name, ID Code and Account Number that you want removed

If you want the following negative records (such as bankruptcy listings, or garnishments) removed from your credit report, than type the following

The following records, on my credit report, are erroneous.  Please investigate and remove the following:

Type the record type (such as “bankruptcy”) and the description listed on credit report

Please send me a copy of your report with the names & addresses of the individuals that have verified the aforementioned information, and an updated copy of my credit report when you have completed your investigation.  Thank you for your prompt attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

Sign here

Type your full name

TIPS & HINTS:

• Many times a credit card companies computer is programmed to report a good credit record based upon several variables. For example, paying off and entire outstanding balance or paying more than the minimum balance can have a VERY POSITIVE impact on your credit rating. Therefore, if you have a credit card bill with $700 due and a minimum payment of $30.00, if you can’t afford to pay off the whole $700, send in $31.25. Or, if you can pay off the entire $700, send in a few cents extra.
• Most mortgages are due on the first and will charge a late fee if payment is received after the fifteenth.  Some mortgage companies will still report a payment as being late even if it is received before the fifteenth, while some will not report as late because their company doesn’t consider it late until a late fee is paid.  Therefore, if you are late and owe a late fee, you may try paying your usual payment.  Then call your mortgage company and ask (or beg) them to waive your late fee. If they do, there is a chance that the late payment will not show up on your credit report.
• Most credit cards have a built in grace period. These are also kept track of by computer. If you have several late payments on a credit card that are all just a few days late each, send your creditor a letter explaining that you mis-understood your grace period section of your contract. Tell them that it’s your fault and that you’ve now changed your payment time frame to correct these previous errors. This may be enough for the credit card company to remove all late payments from your credit report. This procedure works well if you have the name (from the credit agencies verification forms) of the person that is verifying your credit history. Send your explanation letter to that person, and ask them to either ignore the verification request or tell the reporting agency that the payments were made on time.
• Many people successfully have items removed off their credit report by filing a lawsuit in small claims court.  Claim that you have been injured by what is on your credit report, and that you want it removed or you want $3,000 (or whatever the maximum is in your state for small claims court). Many corporations find that it is cheaper to remove it from a credit report, rather than send and attorney down to fight your claim.

STEP 7 - FIFITH REQUEST FOR REMOVING NEGATIVE ITEMS FROM YOUR CREDIT REPORT (“THE FALSE REPORTING & REMOVE LETTER”).

You must have completed the process in step 5 above and have a copy of the name and address of the company and/or individual that verified the information that you want removed. We are now going to put that individual on notice that then are sending erroneous information to the credit-reporting agency.  People do not like to be put on notice, and we find that they will ignore the next verification request. You will then send another “Investigate & Remove” letter as illustrated in Step 4 above.  Keep doing this process over and over until the items you want removed have been.  We find after 1 or 2 times, you have cleaned your credit report.

FORMAL REQUEST #5 – (the “false reporting & remove” letter)

Type your first name, middle initil and last name here

Type your street address here

Type your City, State and Zip Code here

Type  the words “Date of Birth”  and then type your date of birth here

Type the words “Social Security Number” and then type SSN here

(Below are the addresses you are going to send the letter to):

Type current date here

Type the name of the person who verified the info you want removed

Type the name of the company veryfiing the items you want removed

type the street address here

Type City, State and Zip Code here

Dear Type the name of the person who verified the info you want REMOVED:

This is formal notification that you are sending erroneous information to the above credit-reporting agency.  This information is highly injurious to my credit rating.

The Credit reporting agency is currently investigating this information and will be in contact with you.  I would appreciate it if you would correctly verify my current status, or not verify it at all.

Thank-You for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Sign here

Type your full name

TIPS & HINTS: ESTABLISHING CREDIT:

• Apply for a credit card, charge $5.00 or $10.00 per month and pay the balance plus $1.00 each month.  Go to our Free online application for your unsecured VISA (even if you have no credit or bad credit – you will receive the card)  [BRAD – MAKE THIS A LINK TO THE APPLICATION WITH OUR REFERENCE NUMBER]
• Don’t apply for too many credit cards at one time.  Apply for one credit card, wait to receive it, then apply for another if you desire.  Too many credit applications on your credit report does hurt your credit rating. Applicants that appear to be over-extending themselves scare creditors.
• If you are new to a job, make sure the credit bureau has your current employment information on record.  Otherwise, you may get rejected for “lack of employment” even though you’re employed.
• Gas & Oil Cards do not help your credit.  Most of them do not report to the credit reporting agencies. Therefore, timely payments on these cards are not going to improve your credit appearance.
• If you cannot get an unsecured card (although we have provided you a link to one) [BRAD – insert our link again here}m, then go to our secured credit card application.  A secured card will help your credit as well. [Brad – insert our link here]  A secured credit card is a major credit card that is issued to you under the condition that you open a savings account at the bank that issued the card. You can then usually charge up to the amount in your savings bank.
• If you live with your parents or with a friend, and the phone is in their name, have the Telephone Company add your name to the listing. There is usually a small charge of about 75 cents to a dollar per month, but it creates the same effect as having a phone in your name.
• Try to show that you have one address for a long time, rather than many addresses.  Even if you move a lot, perhaps listing one address as your permanent address is better.
• A family is looked favorably upon.  Married with kids is great in the bank eyes.
• Eighteen to twenty five is the most heavily discriminated against when it comes to getting credit.
• Creditors like to see job stability.
• Creditors like to see applicants with a certain amount of debt. This includes house payment or rent, car payment, and credit card bills.  You’re in good shape as long as your monthly obligations do not exceed 50% of your income.
• If you are self-employed, incorporate your company, and have your corporation pay you a salary.  Creditors don’t like self-employed.  They like to see a steady wage being paid and reported on a W-2.
• Many banks that check credit reports as a requirement to open a checking account, do not check credit reports for savings accounts.  You can open a savings account, then three weeks later, open a checking account at the same bank. Some banks do not run credit checks on current customers that are opening a new checking account.

Just need a credit card?  Click here.  Got bad credit but still need a credit card?  Click here.

Woody Alpern

CPA and Registered Investment Advisor