I have decided to share with you some do it yourself credit repair secrets.

The first thing you want to do is learn as much as you can about the credit scoring system/model by going here: http://www.5stepcreditrepair.com/credit-score-education/

Once you understand what affects your score and how, you’ll be better prepared to take action.

Start your do it yourself credit repair by going to: http://www.optoutprescreen.com and opt out of having your information sold by the 3 credit bureaus to stop creditors from pre-screening your credit for the “pre-approved” credit offers you receive in your mail.

In addition to reducing the amount of junk mail you receive, this will also keep your information from being sold as a “trigger lead”. What is a trigger lead? Let’s say you just applied for a new mortgage and had your credit report pulled for a pre-approval. The credit bureaus will SELL your information to competing mortgage lenders or brokers and now you’re fielding calls from people you didn’t apply for a loan with!

If you do not have open and active accounts on your credit, you’ll want to add some. You can start with any of the following options.

1) Secured credit cards.
2) A secured bank loan.
3) Authorized user accounts – this can be done by having your parents or others add you to their existing credit cards as an authorized user.

Here are some other tips.

1) If you have any open collections try and negotiate a pay for delete agreement. This doesn’t always work but getting just 1 collection deleted form your credit can raise your scores by 20+ points so it’s worth the effort.

The key with a pay for delete is to leverage the collection agency with what they want and that is your money. When you contact any collection agency it’s important that you follow a few simple “rules”.

A) Never acknowledge or make any statement that the debt is your responsibility. Instead let them know that your only concern is your credit and you simply want to get the account resolved and deleted permanently from your credit.

B) It’s important to go in to any negotiation with a clear goal in mind, the determination to reach that goal and an understanding of your adversary (that really is what I think collection agents are!). You need to remain calm, collected and rational. Do not let your emotions get the best of you and sabotage your efforts. Stay on point; remember you have a goal so stay focused on that. You need to know that these agents are trained to use psychological tactics and your emotions against you for one single purpose and that’s to separate you from your money. They will use your fear, shame and guilt against you so be prepared to treat this like any business decision and remove as much emotion from your negotiations as possible.

C) Be persistent. Chances are you’re not going to get the answer or resolution you want on your first attempt. You will need to be prepared to take your offer up the ladder to management.

D) Be prepared to pay the account off in full when you make contact and do not make any payments until you have a signed agreement that the collection agency will permanently delete the account from your credit. I have a free form letter that you can edit for your particular accounts so email me for a copy.

E) If the collection agency absolutely refuses to cooperate, you have one other option. Contact the original creditor and try to negotiate a pay for delete with them, just remember that all of the same rules apply.

2) If you have a late payment on an account, call the creditor and ask for a one time courtesy delete. Again, this doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try.

3) Pay attention to your current credit card balances. To maximize your credit scoring potential you want to keep your credit card balances around 30% or less of the limit. This applies to each credit card.

For example: If you have an American Express card with a limit of $5,000.00 you want to keep your balance around $1,500.00 or less. If your balance is over the 30% threshold, you can pay down the balance and this will increase your scores.

4) Last but no least – Make sure you pay your accounts on time. Any slip up while repairing your credit will wipe out all of the work you’re doing to improve your scores!

I hope you’ve found this information useful. If so, please leave a comment.

Thanks and good luck!

Feel free to contact me by filling out the form below if you have any questions or if you need more information.

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