Sunday, June 24, 2007

Credit Repair and the process

How to start the Credit Repair process


I would like to explain the process for you in very simple terms.

1. Starting the credit repair process is as simple as getting copies of your credit bureau reports and nowadays that can be a very simple process by going online and downloading your credit report from one of the credit bureaus below or requesting your credit report in writing to the bureaus below. It is possible to receive a free copy of your credit history if you rave recently been turned down for credit within approx 30 days or there will be a small cost of about 9 dollars each. (Quick note about the credit repair process is that in order for you to start repairing your credit you need an actual copy of your credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus not a tri-merge report from a mortgage, real estate company or car dealer) and unless you ordered your report online you will receive your credit reports in approx. 7-14 days.

2. Once you receive your credit reports in the mail or online you should open them up to view your credit and start the credit repair process…this is how it is done, first grab a highlighter or pen to check off or highlight negative information or wrong information about yourself. These items should be easy to find since the credit bureaus put the information in sections (i.e. Potentially negative items, Accounts in good standing and requests or inquiries into your credit history.)

3. After highlighting the negative items on your credit profile write down on either a piece of paper, the dispute forms the credit agency have provided to you in your report or online at the credit bureaus website, the reason why you dispute this information. This can be as easy as stating, this item does not belong to me or I have never been late or I have never given my permission to pull my credit to this person, also; my name, address personal information is not correct. A simple one-line response is all that is needed.

4. At this point send back your dispute information to the credit bureaus in the same form as you acquired your report (online or mail), once submitted back to the credit bureau your credit repair process has started.

To keep things as simple as possible this is how the credit repair process will work from this point.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act under the Federal Trade Commission states that once you dispute your credit information the credit bureaus have a reasonable amount of time to respond to your dispute, now; the law considers a reasonable amount of time to be between 30 – 45 days.

What you need to do is keep track of the time you mailed your report or sent your dispute online and sit and wait the 45-day period for your response from the credit bureau.
If you have not received your report in this time frame the law states that the bureau must remove all disputed information in your report and legally they cannot be put back on.
This is the one technique the Credit repair agencies will use in order to remove negative information from your report…Just wait out the 45 days and hope the bureaus will not respond in time.
Now, if the bureaus do answer you back within that 45 day period and they say the information contained in your report is being reported accurately then you must write or input the same dispute again explaining that the information that was previously disputed is still showing inaccurately on your credit profile and you want it removed and would also like a copy of whom they contacted and who verified the information and then wait another 45 days for the response

Example:
The information I disputed is still showing as inaccurate on my credit profile and need you to reinvestigate these items and supply me with the name and address of the person and company you verified this information with.

Thank you,

Now, keep track of the time like we talked about before, but if the credit bureaus do answer you back continue the dispute process by informing the credit bureaus that they are breaking the law by continuing to release erroneous information about you to potential creditors and if the items are not removed immediately you will have no recourse but to start a lawsuit against them and also file complaints with the federal trade commission.
This should get their attention and your items or some of them will most likely be removed and the credit bureaus will send you a new updated credit profile showing the corrections.

There is plenty of links online about credit repair and the process so search around and check out these different ways of repairing your credit. It is not difficult; you just have to wait for the response, that is why credit repair agencies tell you the process can be up to a year to clean your credit.

I hope this information helps you at least start the credit repair process and please let your friends know about this site and maybe they can get their credit repair underway

Thank you for your time,

Sky Benson

EXPERIAN
PO BOX 2002
ALLEN, TX 75013
888-397-3742
www.experian.com

TRANSUNION
PO BOX 1000
CHESTER, PA 19022
800-888-4213
www.transunion.com

EQUIFAX
PO BOX 740241
ATLANTA, GA 30374
800-685-1111
www.equifax.com

Please also check out:
www.creditfilerepair.info and www.financeinformation.info

Buying your first home

Buying Your First Home and the Loan Process


Well it’s time to buy your first home but you just don’t know how to start the process, Let me explain…

There are generally 3 important factors in determining if you can qualify to buy a house

1. Debt to Income Ratio - (this is simply figured out by Dividing how much money you bring home every month by how much money you spend on bills every month.) This total should be no more than 50%.
2. Credit Score – there are 3 categories to determine what type of loan scenario you fit into, 680 and above - Prime or Conforming, 550 to 679 - Sub Prime or Non Conforming & 549 and below - Hard Money.
3. Loan to Value – this is calculated by Dividing the sales price of the home you are buying into the loan amount you are applying for. This number should be preferably 95% or less which means in the loan market, these days, you will need to come up with at least a 5% down payment.

The Real Estate Agent you pick to find you a home will most likely know of a mortgage broker or loan officer that can get you pre-qualified, which simply means that thru the steps above a Mortgage professional can tell you how much of a house you can afford to buy and then give you a certificate to show how much of a loan you can qualify for.

Once you have been pre-qualified on a home you will be able to shop for a home you can afford with your real estate agent and find a house which you would like to live in.
Once you have found your new house it is time to start the negotiations with the seller. This is accomplished by making an offer to the seller for their home by filling out a Purchase and Sale Agreement between yourself and the seller with the terms and amount of money that is acceptable to you for the purchase.
At this point the Seller can either accept your written offer or give a counter offer for your consideration which you can agree on or not.

Let us assume that the seller agreed on your purchase price. At this point the Loan process gets started.

1. Have your Real Estate agent or yourself bring a copy of the purchase and sale agreement to your loan officer who gave you that pre-approval and he/she will start processing your loan.
2. The Loan officer will be asking you for certain documents in order to satisfy the loan conditions for the Lender. You should have these ready (i.e. 2 years tax returns, 2 months paycheck stubs, 2 months bank statements, copy of lease or rent agreement, copy of drivers license and social security card and proof that there is a reserve of at least 1 to 2 months payments deposited into your bank account as well as proof of the down payment you will be supplying for the purchase. (In some cases the seller can gift you your down payment, talk to your Real Estate agent or Loan Officer about creative ways of financing.
3. You will sign a bunch of State mandated disclosures for your protection and then An Appraiser will be sent to the home to verify value and then the loan officer will get the Title report of the home and also start Escrow.

Once you have met all the conditions of the lender your file will get final approval and Escrow will be notified to set up a signing so all sales can be finalized.
At this point Escrow will call you to set up a time for you to sign all your final documents and your loan will now be funded and you should receive the keys to your beautiful new home.

This process of buying your first home and the loan process can take up to 30 - 45 days depending mostly on your ability to provide all the documentation the lender needs to fund your loan, which; if you had all your paperwork ready to give the Loan officer at the time you apply for the loan, this process can take as little as 2 weeks.

I hope I have helped in the understanding of buying your first home and the loan process.

Thank you,

Sky Benson
Sr. Loan Officer
National Lending Corp.
206-664-0209

Please also check out:
www.creditfilerepair.info and www.financeinformation.info