So You've Been The Victim Of Identity Theft, Or Have Errors On Your Credit Report

This post discusses what you should do in case you find that you have bad credit, are the victim of identity theft, or find out that you have egregious errors on your credit report.  Now, it is from my experience that if you have clear cut fraudulent charges or minor errors on your credit report, you can simply dispute them with each of the three credit reporting agencies.  If you're lucky, the dispute is resolved and all is well.  In the case of bad credit, you can follow the directions of the credit reporting agencies, pay off negative entries on your credit report, and you're good to go.  But what do you do if you your claims are denied, you can't pay off negative entries on your credit report, and are stuck with erroneous entries, or fraudulent charges?

Introducing, Credit Repair Magic! This is simply an AMAZING software, and is an entire credit repair kit in a box! It is your one stop shop! I mean you have everything you could possibly need here for complete credit renewal and wiping your credit report clean of both egregious errors and fraudulent charges. Whether you simply want to repair a bad credit score, or have been a victim of identity theft, Credit Repair Magic is for you.

Here is why you need Credit Repair Magic:

	Having to write lengthy and complicated customized letters.
	Credit Repair Magic offers true point and click simplicity. There's no letters to write, no law to understand, no complications whatsoever. Everything is simple, fast, and very effective.

	Credit bureaus sending back investigation demands due to “frivolous request.”
	Credit Repair Magic eliminates this very common problem by magically customizing each letter and credit report so that it doesn’t appear to be the result of a professional credit repair process. In this case, the less professional-looking the request, the better the results. Surprising, isn’t it?

	Disputing credit items takes months or years to see any results.
	Credit Repair Magic has honed its system to speed up the process, so that results can occur in a fraction of the time. In addition to our core system, we have several “fast track” programs that can actually produce results in a matter of days.

	The time span involved in credit repair makes it difficult to stay on track.
	Credit Repair Magic's Automated Dispute Tracker System is personalized to your needs and eliminates the possibility of you losing your way. We simply will not let you fail!

	24 months of the most popular credit-repair-law-firm service costs $1,036! (And you can double that for your spouse.)
	Credit Repair Magic has all the benefits of a service (in fact, you will actually spend less time with our "self-directed" system than you will when you pay an attorney), but it costs less than one-tenth as much money. Credit Repair Magic has twice been named"Best Credit Repair Buy!"

	Other credit repair programs promise dozens of "secrets" available only to those who buy.
	As of July 2008, the Credit Repair Magic staff has purchased 28 competitive programs to see if there really are "secrets" inside. We read every word and followed every suggestion. Surprisingly, some of the "secrets" were real gems (already included in Credit Repair Magic, of course), but many of the secrets are outdated, impractical, or even illegal. You'll never use them. It's all hype.

Do You Know What Your Credit Score Is???

Did you know that many people actually don't know their own credit score?  I know, it's crazy!  I cannot emphasize the importance of getting your credit score at least once a year from one of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion).  After all, it is your right to obtain a FREE yearly credit score under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) from one of these companies. Obtaining your credit score empowers you to dispute any inaccuracies on your credit profile as well as fight identity theft.  A recent study released by the US Public Interest Research Group in 2004 found that 79% of consumer credit reports surveyed contained some kind of error or mistake (citation). Without your knowledge of its existence, how can you address any of these inaccuracies on your credit history?

So what is a credit score?  Your credit score is a number (statistically based upon lending/credit history) that represents your "worthiness" to obtain a future line of credit in any field.  There are different methods of calculating credit scores.  The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) is the most widely used type of credit score.  It's score ranges anywhere from 300 (poor) to 850 (excellent); with 723 being the American National Average.  Any score below 620 categorizes an individual to be a risk borrower, 640-650 being good, and above 690 to be excellent.  If you find yourself below the 620 range, then you might find it difficult to obtain credit cards, loans, own a home, own a car, make low interest purchases, etc.

If you are on this blog and are reading this, then your first and foremost call to action is to get your credit score from one of the three agencies mentioned above.  This is the first step you need to take in order to free yourself from financial debt, fix your credit history/score, and find some relief in your life.  You can order your FREE credit report/score under the FCRA here.  Do it before it's too late...

Once you have your credit score and a detailed report of your past credit history, you will find peace of mind, as well as be able to identify underlying issues and problems that have plagued you.  With the problem identified, you can then address the next phase (depending on your situation) necessary to obtain good credit.  This next phase will concern the different things you can do to prevent fraud, maintain your good standing, get a loan to pay off debt, or clean up your credit score.

I will post these different actions you can execute on subsequent posts, one post at a time.  So let's move on shall we :-)

How To Prevent Identity Theft And Maintain Your Good Credit Score

In the previous post we discussed how important it is to get your FREE credit report ASAP.  Hopefully you have done so by now.  The next call-to-action really depends on what you have found out about your credit history from your credit report.  There are 4 categories that you now fall under; you either find that you have good credit, bad credit, been a victim of identity theft (aka fraudulent charges on your credit profile), or egregious errors (inaccuracies in your credit report).  This post will discuss the first of these categories; where hopefully you find you have good credit, and now want to know what you can do to maintain this status.  Subsequent posts will explain clearly what to do should you fall into the other three categories.  If you want, you can simply jump to those posts now and find the solutions you deserve.

So you've discovered you have good credit, now what?  Well, for starters, you want to maintain that score by paying your bills on time, never falling behind on any type of payments (but of course you know all this and that's why you have good credit).  But aside from this you need to protect your identity.  You need to do what millions of Americans fail to do, and that is to actively take preventative measures to protect your identity and your credit profile from any future fraudulent activity.

These days credit fraud is such a problem that truly, it isn't a question of if you'll be a victim, but more or less a question of when you'll be a victim.  With such a scary notion in mind wouldn't you want to do everything in your power to prevent this?  Well, now you can!

Introducing CREDIT SENTRY!  Now you can Get Protected in less than 15 minutes, and best of all, unlike other credit monitoring systems, you only pay a small one time fee!

So how does Credit Sentry Work?
For a one-time low fee, Credit-Sentry will show you how you can protect yourself for life.  Just pay a small one-time fee that the credit bureaus may charge.  This credit bureau fee, if charged, varies by state but will never exceed $10.  Again this is a one-time fee that protects you for life; it is not a monthly fee.

Why choose Credit-Sentry? 

Unlike expensive monitoring services that charge you a monthly fee for the rest of your life, Credit-Sentry empowers you to protect yourself using little know secrets that the credit bureaus and other monitoring services don't want you to know about.  Credit-Sentry.com will show you step by step how you can protect yourself for life, and it takes less than 15 minutes.

Is Credit-Sentry safe?

Since you'll never have to provide Credit-Sentry with your personal information, like your Social Security number and date of birth, Credit-Sentry is actually safer than traditional credit monitoring services that require you to provide your private sensitive information.

Try Credit-Sentry 100% Risk Free

How To Fix and Repair A Bad Credit Score

So you have ordered a copy of your credit report, and found out that you have bad credit. Now what?

Well, for starters, if you have a bad credit score you must determine whether or not the copy of your credit report that you have obtained is actually accurate and free of errors. If you find your report has errors on it, you must address these and report them to the respective credit reporting agencies immediately (it is good practice to do this step with all three agencies because they are not linked, and could each carry separate inaccuracies on your credit report). If having inaccuracies is the only reason you have a bad credit score, then once you've addressed the issue at hand with the credit agencies, your job is complete and your credit score should be fixed.

If the credit report you have obtained is accurate and represents a bad credit score, don't worry there are many things you can do to remedy this situation. For starters (and this is simply stating the obvious), avoid late payments for any of your bills at all costs. This is an essential step in fixing a bad credit score. The next thing you can do is close old credit accounts which you do not use anymore (or which have small balances that you can pay off). Doing this will lower the chance for credit reporting errors, as well as financial fraud (and obviously, it also helps with bad credit). Also, when you close old accounts, close the newest old accounts first, and close the oldest old accounts as a last measure (closing your oldest credit accounts can shorten your credit history). The next step you must take is to reduce your credit card debt by paying down those balances (credit card balances that is). This will lower your Debt To Income (DTI) ratio and give you the ability to focus on more pressing obligations. With a low DTI you will more likely be approved for loans (which is actually a great way to pay off your overburdened debts).

Finally, once you have taken all the measures above, there is still much more you can do to fix your bad credit score. It is from my experience that if you have tons of debt and bad credit (or just bad credit), then taking a loan to pay off that debt and raise your credit score is the best way to go. For starters, all your payments and debts get focused to a singular payment which is easy to handle, secondly, you can begin paying off your outstanding debt immediately, and thirdly, once you start paying off your outstanding debt, you will quickly see your credit score rise as well.  So getting a loan is actually the cure all for outstanding debt and bad credit.   But these days, getting a loan even if you have good credit is difficult, let alone getting a loan when you have bad credit.  The best way of going about this is to get a loan through Bad Credit Loan Sources. This is a fantastic website, and once you become a member, you not only have access to 100's of personal lenders who hand out loans like candy (even if you have bad credit), but you can also apply for credit cards, search for jobs, find guides on repairing credit; and the list of resources goes on and on.  Bad Credit Loan Sources is absolutely amazing, it is truly a phenomenal resource to have at your fingertips, and you are almost guaranteed to qualify for a loan.  It will certainly help you get out of debt, and fix your credit score, I recommend it to everyone, even if you have good credit.

If you want to widen your horizon and see what else is out there, you can also try Credit Taxis. Being a member to this site has so many perks that it's quite unbelievable. This site gives you countless advantages and opportunities to fix your credit score. You will have access to everything from bad credit loan lenders, to credit repair kits, to listings of free government grants, etc. There is just so much information and so many resources here that you really can't afford to pass up on this opportunity. Credit Taxis is also a must!

As I mentioned before, you want to widen your horizon right? Well, another thing you can do is build your knowledge base on how to fix your credit score yourself by reading ebooks, and utilizing credit restoration kits and resources sold by professionals. Empowering yourself to take action is probably the best and safest way to repair your credit score. In lieu of this, here's another brilliant product that could change the course of your life, and your financial situation. Check out The Complete Credit Repair Kit. This product was created by a credit repair specialist who goes by the name of Richard Mullins (with over 20 years of experience in the field). It is an extensive credit repair kit (that comes with a 500 page ebook, 20 pre-written letters you can fill in and send to the credit bureaus, a 100 page government grant ebook, and most importantly, on-going support from Richard Mullins and his team). This kit basically guarantees you the ability to clean up your credit score, no questions asked!

Also try The Ultimate Credit Restoration ebook. This ebook teaches you how to raise your credit score by 250 points. The strategies you will learn from here are used by some of the top specialists and lawyers in the industry. This ebook also comes with exclusive access to an insider seminar video series. Tons of great, great information here folks!