Cleaning up your credit

WE DO NOT REPAIR CREDIT AND ARE NOT IN THE CREDIT REPAIR BUSINESS.

First, you should obtain a copy of your credit report and review it.  If you applied for a loan with me, I can provide a copy for you.  You can also contact each of the 3 credit reporting bureaus.  Once you have a copy of your report, you should review it for accuracy.  Any credit that does not belong to you should be addressed immediately and any derogatory credit that does belong to you should also be addressed.  The problem will not go away, in fact, if you do nothing, it will get worse.  I have included the contact information for all three credit reporting bureaus at the end of this letter.

CREDIT GUIDELINES

  1. Previous Mortgage or RENT  - The firm rule is no late payments in the last 12 months are allowed.
  2. Judgments , Liens or Garnishments - Must be paid in full prior to closing with a letter of explanation.
  3. Bankruptcy - Four years between the discharge & application date.  Must have re-established good credit , have a very good reason & proof that such events that led to bankruptcy  are not likely to recur again.  FHA loans require a 2-year wait.
  4. Foreclosure  - FNMA  will not accept applicants if the foreclosure  proceedings were within 3 years of the application date. 
  5. A Credit  Report is valid for 90 days.

CREDIT  Scoring

There are “3” credit  reporting agencies (Experian , Equifax  and TransUnion).  Each offers its own variation of the score.  They all tell the same story but are reported with different names.  The Bank will use the middle score.  The scoring system is based on credit data obtained from millions of credit users.   It determines patterns and predicts how an applicant will perform on the repayment of a loan.

1.      Credit  Scores range from 350 to 875.  If the applicant has scored below 620, the system has determined that the odds of a future delinquency is 10 to 1 (in other words…a good chance), however, if the score is above 800, the odds are 1000 to 1 that the applicant would perform poorly on a loan.

2.   A score of 620 or less could be an “automatic” FNMA /FHLMC  denial.

3.   Scores are based on “5” factors.

           35% = Late payments, collections, charge offs, judgments, bankruptcies.

           30% = Outstanding debt (max out the credit  cards).

           15% = Length of credit  (how long accounts have been open). 

           10% = Type of Credit   (revolving {credit  cards} vs. finance companies)

               * Finance companies (Beneficial, Avco) will impact more negatively than  department store credit  

                  cards.  Finance companies lend to people who need money fast  The interest is very high because

                  this type of customer is more of a risk.   

            **  If revolving credit  is negative,  scoring will be harder on revolving than finance companies. 

           10% = Inquiries or NEW credit

 

4.  How to use your credit.

a.    Scores reflect credit  payment patterns over time with most emphasis being placed on recent

       information.

            b.    To improve scores , borrowers should pay bills on time. 

c.        Delinquent and Collections will have a major negative impact on the score. 

            d.    Pay down the balance of accounts, but do not necessarily close the accounts. 

 A good rule of thumb would be to pay down the debt to 30% of the maximum credit limit and

 then make the minimum monthly payments.  Example:  $1000 limit, pay it down to $300 and  

 make the minimum payment per the monthly bill.

             e.    Paying off revolving debt before installment (car loan, student loan) will have a more

                    significant impact toward raising the score. 

             f.     Moving balances from one card to another to save interest will negatively impact the score.

             g.    Borrowers should run their credit  at least once per year.

h.        Buying a home?  A credit  report should be run at least 90 days before starting the process.

             i.    Any derogatory credit  should be addressed to the 3 credit reporting agencies (Experian , Trans

                   Union  and Equifax ). 

             j.    In the case of a Bankruptcy, accounts may still appear on the credit  as charge-off and collections,

                   sending copies of the BK discharge papers and a letter to the credit  reporting agencies could

                   increase the credit  score into the acceptable range.

Charge-Off or Collection Accounts”:  A charge-off or collection account on a credit report means that account has been charged off and probably with a collection agency.  This means you have to contact the collection agency to settle the account.   Also, you may want to make a compromise offer, meaning, instead of paying off the entire balance you should offer less.  The creditor (or collection agency) may accept your offer and save you “hundreds” or even thousands of dollars.  Once this is done, notify the creditor (not the credit reporting bureau).  Give your name, address and social security number.  Ask the creditor to verify that this account has been satisfied and to forward you a letter stating such.

Accounts that do not belong to you.  Notify the creditor.  Give your name, address and social security number.  Explain to the creditor that this is not your debt and to match up your information with what is listed on the derogatory account.  If it is determined that the account is NOT yours, you must ask the creditor to send you a letter stating such.  If it’s determined that the account does belong to you…The easy answer is pay these accounts off and get a letter of satisfaction.

Lastly, notify ALL 3 credit bureaus.  Send a certified letter with an explanation of why you are writing them.  Include a COPY (not original) of the letters your received.  Ask the Credit Bureau to REMOVE the derogatory item(s) from your report. If the account does belong to you and you have satisfied it, ask them to update their records to reflect a paid/satisfied account.  The credit bureau’s have 30 days to check into the matter and issue a result.

For your convenience, I have included the contact information for all three bureaus below.

         Equifax:             P.O. Box 740241 , Atlanta , GA 30374-0241     (800) 685-1111   www.equifax.com

         Experian:           P.O. Box 2002  Allen, Texas   75013    (888) 397-3742   www.experian.com

         Trans Union :     P.O. Box 1000 , Chester , PA 19022                  (800) 888-4213   www.transunion.com

 

Please contact me as soon as you have completed the above.  I look forward to helping you purchase a home.

I have assisted over 4000 customers in the past 25 years experience and hold a personal Banker’s license.

Dan Palumbo, Licensed Mortgage Banker

Office:             (732) 797-0117

Cell:                (732) 674-0066

Email:             dpalumbo@alliedhomenet.com

Web:               www.approveyourself.com