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Thanks for stopping by with a question. What you do depends on the errors and who’s reporting the errors. Is the “original creditor” reporting the errors? Is a debt collector reporting the errors?

How old are the accounts?

What type of accounts are they?

People have it all wrong about the role of the dispute letter. They find one of those really “lawyerly” dispute letter on some freebie credit repair website and they change a few things around and fire it off, sitting back waiting for deletions.

The result: they usually get a “verified as accurate” response letter from the bureaus and/or they get Summoned to court…they’re being sued. I wish I could be more helpful, but I don’t have any details about your specific situation.

For me to start blabbering suggestions would be ridiculous and potentially dangerous (to you). This is exactly what most credit (dis)repair companies do. They shoot off dispute letters (and you should see the type of letters most of them send out–do a search on my blog for Lexington Law Firm for a sampling of just how ridiculous they are…in secret as well.

Cheers,
Mike

I WANT TO KNOW WHATDO YOU DO IN PLACE OF USING DISPUTE LETTERS TO REMOVE ERRORS ETC.

You’re right on the ‘logic” part about credit. However, keep in mind, your credit file is your “scorecard.” I will stand up to anyone who claims you SHOULD avoid credit or rebuilding a credit file.

You want proof? Let me give you just one example that fewer people are able to avoid. A lady names Patrice emailed me a couple weeks ago, saying she thought I was crazy when she first hear me talk about employers pulling an emploee’s or prospective employee’s credit. In her email, she had never heard of any employer ever doing that until….

Yep, until her husband lost his job and began interviewing. On one particular position her husband really wanted, he went through a “couple of rounds of interviews” and everything was going well. According to Patrice’s email and right in line with what I’ve said many times, right before HR offered him a position, they pulled his credit.

He knew they were going to pull his credit, because he had to give permission. However, he chose NOT to add an explanation. There was no place for him to do it, so he didn’t do it. He chose not to request to add an explanation for the “bad” credit (a 13 bankruptcy 18 months ago).

HR did not even return his calls and inquiries. The simply hired a different candidate! Of course, Patrice said her husband (and she) were devastated. She hadn’t thought anything like this was possible, especially for a position not involved with money or security clearance or upper-level management.

You see, Sherry, I hear this all the time from people determined to recover from financial setbacks. The get a bankruptcy discharged and begin to sleep better at night, vowing NEVER to use or apply for credit ever again.

And that is so BAD!

In fact, you must do the opposite. You must rebuild your credit, understanding that with a BK you are now in a “class” of people all being “scored” according to a BK. You might be surprised to see your scores actually move up in time by doing nothing.

But then, suddenly, your scores drop through the floor and you’re shocked. Why?

What now has happened is that (in time) you now have moved into a different class and your scores are competing against people who also have had a BK but who actually got to work rebuilding their credit.

Understand, Sherry, no credit file is as bad as a scorched earth credit file. You MUST rebuild your credit file to avoid job rejection/promotion, inflated insurance costs (yep, that’s right, low credit scores hammer people on health, renter’s, homeowner’s, life & auto insurance premiums).

…and higher cell phone plans.

…and higher security deposits for water, electric, cable TV & telephone plans.

I could go on but I had said I’d only list one instead of a bunch. Bottom line: you cannot run from a bad credit file, regardless of how well you might be sleeping now.

Regarding “jacked up interest rates” which again is illogical and stupid, you must be proactive and go past customer service to confront this stupidity. Typically, all I have to do when I step in to help people in this situation is to state the alternative. These creditors come to their senses pretty quickly.

Of course, you’re wondering why it takes contacting them at all. Shouldn’t they know better? Yes, they should know better.

If your bankruptcy resulted from an unforeseen financial tragedy, that’s not irresponsibility. If your BK resulted from irresponsible decisions, then you must be responsible (and that’s also something I teach and on which I counsel people with a step-by-step program).

No, it’s not a painful process, since most people I work with following a BK caused by irresponsibility come to terms with their poor decisions. They’re ready for a change…they welcome a change.

I don’t know your situation, Sherry, so I’m careful to show you both sides.

You need to earn their TRUST if you ever want to feel comfortable in a job interview, buy a car or home, or get a (decent) credit card or pay (normal) security deposits, or get a (normal) cell phone plan or…..

Are you clear now? Either you re-establish your credit or you WILL suffer. I can say this with 100% certainty. I’ve been working with people in a similar situation for many, many years now.

Best of luck to you, Sherry. Thanks for asking a great question.

Mike

Why then, in order to get these things, do they require you to establish “new” credit? I would think they would be thrilled that you have no other obligations except living expenses and that you are frugal enough to engage in cash transactions; that you pay as you go. After all, running up credit and getting involved in this whole credit card debacle, is what gets people in trouble in the first place. When they lose a job (or a spouse), they can’t pay the bills, the creditors jack up their interest rate, late fees accrue at ridiculous increments and when your finance charges push you over your limit, you’re charged an over-limit fee when you didn’t even use your actual card.

Why is it necessary to become re-involved with credit?