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Category: Credit Report Errors

  • Credit Repair Companies: How Do They Work?

    If you’ve been working on getting out of debt and improving your credit score, you’ve likely come across credit repair companies during your journey. This encounter leads to a lot of questions about what credit repair companies do, if the process works, or if it’s all just a scam.

    Here’s everything you need to know about credit repair companies, so you can determine if this course of action is right for you.

    Credit Repair Companies

    What is a Credit Repair Company?

    A credit repair company is a service that reviews your credit report and works with creditors and reporting agencies to improve your credit score. This task is accomplished by flagging negative items, such as collections payments, and reaching out to the creditors to validate the information. If the information isn’t validated within the legislated time period, the credit repair service files a dispute to have the item removed.

    As you learn about how credit repair companies work, you might discover that they aren’t offering anything that you couldn’t do yourself— and you’d be right. You can follow the same steps of the process and even gain access to affordable software programs that can help create letters and track your progress.

    The benefit of working with an experienced credit repair service is the knowledge they offer, as well as the time spent going back and forth with creditors.

    What do Credit Repair Companies do?

    It’s important to understand what a credit repair company can do and can’t do before proceeding. A credit repair service can look at your report and challenge negative items. They know who to contact and can efficiently follow the right channels to have inaccurate information removed from your report. A credit repair service can even file paperwork to get creditors to stop calling you at certain times or places.

    What does a Credit Repair Company not do?

    A credit repair company isn’t a guaranteed solution for fixing your credit score. While they can dispute items, they can’t remove anything that’s rightfully there. For example, if you missed a car payment and it went to collections two months ago, it’s rightfully on your credit report. However, if you did the same thing ten years ago, past the statute of limitations, they can have that wrongful item removed.

    These services can’t make any guarantees or give you a clean slate. If they promise these solutions to you, run in the other direction. It’s also important to note that credit repair agencies aren’t legally allowed to take your money before they’ve offered a service. If they want to be paid upfront, that’s a red flag.Credit Repair Companies

    What to Look for in a Credit Repair Company

    Reputation is everything when looking for a credit repair company. While the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) has helped mitigate the scammers, there’s still a lot of fraudulent service providers out there. 

    Look for a credit repair company with proven results that promotes transparency. They should have a discussion with you before agreeing to help and provide realistic expectations about what they can and cannot accomplish.

    Is a Credit Repair Company Right for Me?

    Credit repair companies can help those who feel overwhelmed by the process of reviewing and improving their credit score. However, it’s important to note that you can do the work on your own. 

    Using a credit repair service will cost you money with no guarantees, making it risky if you’re already in a precarious financial situation. Using this service also fails to help improve your financial literacy and create a healthy money mindset that sets you up for success in the future.

    If you require any help understanding your credit score, dealing with debt or want tips for repairing your credit, please call DebtCare Canada today for a free consultation. We can be reached at 1-888-890-0888 or by email at info@debtcare.ca.

  • The Complete Guide to Credit Repair for Real Estate Investors

    The importance of a good credit score should never be overlooked or taken lightly. This is more trying for real estate investors. A high credit score means better offers, deals, and money-saving options, which would provide a real estate investor many options to finance properties and manage the mortgage lending process.

    In this blog, we will talk about the impact of credit reports on real estate investors, as well as what to do if you have bad credit, how to maximize credit repair, and how to utilize credit repair service. 

    Why credit score matters

    One of the first few things a lender looks at is a person’s credit report. This is vital to them as the report determines the risks of their investment. A credit report is essentially a statistical method to identify a person’s chances and ability to pay back the money that they borrow.

    The average credit score for a normal real estate loan is 752. Anything about 760 is already considered top tier, which ensures they get the best rates and most choices from lending companies. It’s also inevitable that they get prioritized during the lending process. 

    However, credit scores that fall below 620 are considered subprime accounts, making it more challenging to find a loan provider that could – or would – provide individuals with a good deal for their loan. This is where credit repair comes in.

    Reasons why you need credit repair

    A credit score doesn’t only matter when it comes to real estate or property investment. Here are some valuable information and other reasons that will inspire you to have or maintain a good credit score:

    Better Interest Rates

    Low credit scores often result in higher interest rates, which would mean property loans would have higher interest charges. Having good credit would give you the chance to enjoy competitive interest rates, as well as save on the interest you need to pay.

    Avoid Debt Collector Harassment

    One of the most stressful parts about being in debt is the harassment from debt collectors that come with it. This is inevitable as these agents will do everything they can to get you to clear your debts, such as balances on credit cards. There’s a good chance that if you don’t clear out the issue, your account will be passed on from one collector to another, multiple agents will have your information, and you’d go through the entire collection process all over again.

    Less (or No) Reliance on Co-Signers

    When you apply for a loan but have bad credit, creditors would often require you to provide a co-signer, such as a family member or friend, before you can proceed with your application. But keep in mind, by doing so, you’re putting financial—and perhaps even legal—pressure on them.

    Fund Your Startup Business

    A lot of entrepreneurs looking to start their new business often rely on small business loans to get their venture off the ground. Like with any other loan type, having bad credit can hinder you from getting the funds you require for your startup.

    Rent or Lease an Apartment

    For people who are not yet ready to buy real estate, renting an apartment is the better—and more common—option. However, more landlords are now becoming more particular with who they take on as tenants. Because of this, they’re now performing credit checks to determine the odds of possible late payment from tenants.

    Buy a New House

    Now to the big one—home ownership. This is the dream for most people. Unfortunately, not everyone gets the chance to achieve this due to bad credit. Most banks will reject applicants with disappointing credit, and in the case that they will give these borrowers a chance, they might find the high-interest rate difficult to deal with. However, for those who are looking to sell their homes to buy a new one, getting the help of Trusted House Buyers is a must to ensure better prices and hassle-free processes.

    Credit repair tips for real estate investors

    A good credit report is one of the most important things a real estate investor can ever have. This information can amplify an investor’s chances of getting excellent deals when seeking a loan, such as an attractive mortgage and refinancing fee.

    However, not every optimistic future homeowner has a that can easily be approved for loans. There’s a big chunk of real estate investors who currently need help with credit repair. To help resolve this, we’ve listed down a few essential credit repair tips that every real estate investor should look into:

    Get a Copy of Your Credit Report

    Before anything else, you must first get a copy of your credit report from at least three credit bureaus. The biggest credit reporting bureaus in the United States are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Doing so will allow you to assess your score, compare conflicting information, and see how bad the damage is. By seeing and understanding your score, as well as your credit history, you’ll get a good grasp of where to begin to improve your credit.

    The reason why we recommend that you get a credit report from three different credit reporting companies is that banks usually use more than one credit bureau to review personal credit reports and make lending decisions. Unfortunately, not all credit bureaus have the same updated information. Hence, errors such as work history, date of birth, and paid but not removed debts could harm you.

    Dispute Wrong Information

    It’s important to note that everything on your credit report may not entirely be accurate. Compare your report to your financial accounts, documents, and receipts, and go through everything thoroughly. If there are inconsistencies or wrongful late charges, you must address them right away. Don’t be afraid to dispute anything that you think might be an error. Credit bureaus are required to investigate claims and get back to you within 45 days of your notice as part of their dispute process. 

    Avoid Late Payments

    One late payment can have a huge impact on your score, so you must avoid them at all costs. However, if you’ve recently had delays with bills, you can contact the biller and ask that they remove it. Not all companies would agree to this, but you can try offering a regular payment setup in exchange for their consideration on the matter. Strive to avoid this issue altogether by doing your best to pay your bills on time from the get-go.

    Settle or Pay Down Existing Debts

    As we’ve established, your credit history and existing debt make up your score. Paying off credit card loans and other financial backlogs would greatly help your credit repair process. If you can’t pay these off in one go, you can at least ensure that they’re minimized as much as possible to give you a good chance before you apply for financing in real estate.

    Benefits of using a credit repair company

    Credit repair is not a walk in the park. It’s time-consuming and quite stressful, especially if you’re no credit expert. However, the benefits are all worth it. That’s where credit repair companies come in. These credit repair companies are experts in the field of the credit report, credit repair process, and credit repair organizations act.

    Here are the top reasons why using credit repair services are recommended:

    Expert Advice

    A credit repair company can give you expert credit consultation from the very beginning, as well as guide you through the entire credit repair process. Their objective is to get you out of the financial tangle you may be in. They would look into your credit reports, your accounts, and finances to effectively identify the root of your financial problems. Doing so would allow the credit repair company to provide you with tailored solutions, resulting in more productive consultation.

    Professional Approach

    Credit repair companies have no emotional attachments to you or your situation. However cold that sounds, it would allow them to efficiently guide you on how to make payments. It’s also part of their duty to draft policies and strategies to aid you in managing your expenses to ensure you can fix your credit.

    Connection with Creditors

    Credit repair experts often have better relationships with lending companies. This allows them the flexibility to negotiate on a client’s behalf and makes the entire process easier for real estate investors.

    Comprehensive Knowledge of Laws

    In-depth knowledge and understanding of policies and laws allow credit repair companies to help clients get the best chances. A professional credit repair company is well-versed and compliant with laws, such as:

    • The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
    • The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA).
    • The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA).
    • Other consumer financial protection statutes that follow policies of the Federal Trade Commission.

    For those who have good credit, ensuring that it’s maintained at a good standing is important. But for those whose credit reports are at a disadvantage, then focusing on credit repair is a must to ensure you can have the best chances when investing in real estate. Using every strategy to repair your credit is essential that includes trusting a legitimate credit repair company with extensive experience.

    DebtCare Canada has a brand new program that places a representative in your corner – someone with the ability to deal with TransUnion and Equifax and have old items removed from your credit report. When it comes to repairing bad credit, call us for help: 1-888-890-0888.

  • Credit Report Spring Cleaning

    debt2Spring is here, and that means it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty and clean things up. Tackle those oft-neglected areas of your life – the closet under the stairs, the garage, the pantry, the bank account. Wait, the bank account? Yes, make a credit report spring cleaning part of the plan this year – your bank account will thank you!

    How do we spring clean the credit report? Start by requesting it, either through

    Equifax, at http://www.consumer.equifax.ca/home/en_ca, or TransUnion, at https://www.transunion.ca/ca/personal/credit-report.page?channel=paid&cid=ppc:bing:brandtransunionexact. Doing so will give you a much better idea of what lenders see when they pull your report, and it will also help you identify areas that may need a bit of work.

    If your score is not as high as you thought it would be, the next step is to identify what could be impacting your credit. Some examples of issues include too many inquiries, late payments, credit balances that are too close to, or over, the limit, or collection items. One or all of these may work to bring down your credit score. If your overall debt is high, this too may negatively impact the bottom line.

    Some people assume that late or missed payments are what most reflect borrowing behaviour and therefore are the items that make up your credit report and score. However, you can have a history which includes never making a late payment but actually have bad credit because you built up too much debt or maxed out cards or applied for a lot of credit.

    Right away, try to avoid making any more applications for credit, and then work on a plan to start paying off some of your debt. This is the best way to bring that credit report and score back up.

    What about errors? Sometimes credit reporting agencies make mistakes – but those mistakes, if not corrected, can seriously impair your credit and ability to obtain financing. These mistakes need to be corrected as soon as possible.

    One of the most common myths that still catches people off guard is that after time, things just disappear. And sure, after a period of time, most will just fade into the background, but we have seen people with things on their credit from 8, 10 even 12 years ago that are still reporting.

    If you have credit problems, we have the solution.

    DebtCare can help you get your credit report back on track. Call us today at 1 (888) 890-0888.

     

  • Credit Reports 101 – The Credit Score Range and You!

    debt1Your credit score is important. We all know this. Most of us also know why – it indicates the level of risk you present to lenders when applying for various credit products, including mortgages, car loans, personal lines of credit, credit cards, even insurance. What many people are not as sure about when it comes to credit reports is the credit score range and what the items on your report mean.

    Simply speaking, a credit score range is the range of numbers that makes up credit. The credit score range is from 300-900 – 300 representing the worst credit and 900 the best.

    Lenders say Beacon score, Equifax tells consumers FICO score – both of these mean credit score. Within your credit report there are ratings that make up your credit score.

    Here are some of the basics:

    • Each credit product will have a letter:
      • I = Installment credit like a loan
      • R = Revolving credit like a credit card
      • O = credit like cell phones
    • When you have a 1 rating, e.g. R1, this means that your account is up to date and paid as agreed
    • If your rating is 2-5 you are 30-150 days in arrears
    • If your rating is 7 you are in credit counselling
    • If your rating is 8 you have had a vehicle repossession
    • If your rating is a 9 you have gone 6 months in arrears and are considered a bad debt write-off

    These ratings will contribute, along with other things such as credit amounts and balances, to your credit score. They help lenders determine your credit behaviours and what your behaviour will likely look like if they extend credit to you.

    Now where does your credit score fall in the credit score range:

    • Under 500 – really bad credit
    • Under 550 – bad credit
    • Under 600 – not good credit
    • 620 and up – you may be approved for a CMHC insured mortgage
    • 680+ the bank will likely give you unsecured credit

    680 is what you should set as an initial goal. Anything above this usually indicates that you have positive credit history and good credit behaviour, and thus present less risk. Lower risk usually means a higher chance of obtaining credit and often a lower rate of interest.

    Ok, so you’ve determined that your number is in the 500 – lower 600 range. How can you get that score up? Rebuilding credit takes time, but it is possible.
    Here are some tips.

    • Get rid of some of your debt. Credit balances at or just below maximum are going to bring that score down, so work on paying off those debts.
    • Make sure that you are making at least the minimum payment, on time, every month, for every product. Keep in mind that just paying the minimum balance, while it will help rebuild credit history, will not really help you pay off debt as these minimums are usually little more than monthly interest.
    • Stop applying for new credit. Any time a lender pulls your credit report, a request for a new credit card will show on your report. Too many and you look like a credit seeker, someone who is living beyond their financial means.

    Credit reports and the credit score range can be confusing, but once you’ve figured out where you sit on the scale, you can work on rebuilding credit if it isn’t up to par.

    DebtCare can help. Call us today at 1-888-890-0888.

     

     

  • How to Deal with Credit Report Errors

    Thousands of Canadians have credit report errors on their credit reports – the scary part is many of them don’t even know it.Credit Report Errors

    Credit report errors most commonly occur when your creditors don’t accurately report information to your credit report. The reason credit report errors are so common is because the data is reported electronically by your creditor to your credit report.

    You may be getting declined for credit or quoted higher interest rates on credit because of credit report errors and new lenders you apply to for credit are not allowed to tell you what’s on your credit, so it won’t be pointed out to you.

    The most common types of credit report errors are payments and settlements that have not been reported. The only way to avoid credit report errors is to know what’s being reported to your credit report. The first step you have to take if you want to avoid credit report errors is to request your credit report from both Equifax and TransUnion.

    Credit report errors can be extremely difficult to get resolved because Equifax will require evidence from you to support that there is an error and if you don’t have it or they won’t accept what you provide you then have to rely on your creditor to report the correct information. Creditors can take months to do so, if they do so at all.

    The only way to get credit report errors corrected quickly is to know your rights and to dedicate the time needed to accomplish the task.

    1. The Ministry of Consumer Services is the ministry responsible for the Consumer Reporting Act which is the legislation that consumer reporting agencies like Equifax and TransUnion, as well as your creditors, must follow when reporting your personal information.

    2. Any communication concerning corrections that are needed should be sent in writing and should be sent by registered mail.

    3. You must know the timelines in which you should expect credit report errors to be updated, make sure that you request your credit report to ensure that they have been made and if they have not follow up again in writing.

    Failing to ensure that there are no errors reporting to your credit report can have serious consequences. Not just because you may not be able to obtain the credit you need but also because you will most certainly pay higher interest rates on credit products if lenders view the credit report errors as derogatory which could cost you thousands of dollars or more.

    If you are thinking right now that you don’t have the time, energy or know-how to take on your credit report errors on your own – you are not alone. Many who advertise ‘fix your credit’ programs are actually companies looking to see you deal with credit problems through a bankruptcy or credit counselling. We take the position that credit errors are credit errors – not bad credit – even bad credit can be addressed using various financial strategies that do not involve bankruptcy. Following the Consumer Reporting Act and leveraging our in-house legal counsel, we fight Equifax, fight your creditors and get your credit fixed.

    If you need to fix credit report errors on your credit report, contact DebtCare Canada today by calling 888-890-0888.