Credit Card Big List

It’s amazing how much of a difference a little bit of credit
repair can make. Here is a true story about a life changing
credit transformation. Do you have credit issues? Please don’t
ignore your credit. A little bit of credit repair can go a long
way.

John and Susan declared bankruptcy in January of 2004 and were
discharged four months later in April. They were under the
impression that there was nothing that could be done to repair
their credit following the bankruptcy. They both felt as if they
were holding their breath and waiting for the years to pass. In
January of 2008 they decided to apply for an FHA mortgage.

They were not really surprised when they were turned down. The
mortgage broker told them that their credit scores were in the
400s, but that he thought they should explore the possibility of
credit repair. John contacted a reputable credit repair company
for a consultation and was surprised to hear that there are many
things that can be done after a bankruptcy to clean up one’s
credit report.

John signed up for the credit repair program and provided their
account representative with a copy of the bankruptcy discharge
and the schedule of items included. The credit repair
professional gave them some advice about rebuilding their credit
and provided several links to secured credit card issuers.

He informed them that these new cards, as small as they are,
have tremendous power to rebuild their credit scores as long as
they are managed properly. He advised them that the FICO credit
scoring model, in use by the majority of lenders, recognizes
five levels of card usage - specifically 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100
percent. He suggested that they open two new cards each and
maintain the balances below 20 percent of the credit limit.

The credit repair company went to work on the post-bankruptcy
clean up while John and Susan opened their new secured credit
cards making sure to keep the balances in the range that the
credit repair professional had suggested. About 45 days later
they received updated credit reports in the mail from each of
the three credit bureaus. They were surprised to see the number
of items that had been corrected.

They contacted the credit repair company to review the results
and after going over all of the details were thrilled to hear
that the post bankruptcy clean up was completed. No longer were
there past due amounts showing on the accounts that had been
included in the bankruptcy, nor were any accounts listed in a
collection status. In fact, their credit report looked so clean
that they could hardly recognize it.

The credit repair representative explained to them that unlike
other derogatory information that ought to be disputed in a
paced manner to avoid being rejected by the credit bureaus,
bankruptcy issues should be addressed all at once. So, much to
John and Susan’s surprise, they found that that had already
successfully completed their credit repair program.

The credit repair representative spent some time coaching them
about debt management and the ongoing handling of the new credit
cards. John and Susan could hardly believe their ears when the
credit repair representative suggested that they consider
reapplying for the mortgage in another five months, just enough
time for the new secured credit cards to produce a positive
impact on their credit scores.

And, so it was that in the first week of July 2008, only six
months after contact the credit repair company that John and
Susan returned to the mortgage broker and asked to reapply for
an FHA mortgage. The mortgage broker was surprised to see them
and even suggested that it was a bit soon for their credit
scores to have improved much from the 400s that they had been in
January. But when he ran the credit he was amazed at what he saw.

John and Susan’s credit scores were in the mid 600s, a full 200
points above where they had been only 6 months prior. The
mortgage broker was thrilled to complete the application. The
next day the mortgage broker called Susan at work and told her
the great news; she and John had been approved for their
mortgage and qualified for the lowest available FHA interest
rate.

Last week John and Susan moved into their new home. It’s a
beautiful three bedroom, two bath ranch on half an acre just
outside of Atlanta, Georgia. John has already purchased a new
grill and a lawn mower. A couple of days ago Susan surprised
John by bringing home a new member of the family, a two year old
Golden Retriever from the local pound. Yesterday they got on two
phone lines in their new home and called their credit repair
representative to thank him for his guidance and to share all of
their life changing news.

Author: Jim Kemish