how to fix credit fast

The Truth about How to Fix Credit Fast!

by Wendy Black Polisi on December 15, 2009

There are many credit repair companies out there that say they can repair your credit extremely quickly, however more often than not these are scams. Realistically, there is only so much you can do to legitimately repair your credit and while there are ways of doing these things faster, it will take time. Those companies that claim they can repair your credit instantly or within a few months are basing this claim on one of two strategies. The first of these is creating a new identity and the second of these involves abusing the dispute process and neither of these are good ideas.

With respect to creating a new identity, the most common way of doing this is telling clients to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS and then use this as an alternative to the Social Security Number which is tied to the person with bad credit. Technically this method can work for a while, but EINs are distinctive, so chances are very good that eventually you will be caught. For the record, this is patently illegal and if you do this, it is you – not the credit repair company – that will be held responsible and may be facing prison time. In an information based economy, identity fraud is taken very seriously because it undermines the entire system, so when you get caught you can expect little mercy from the police or the courts.

The second method used to work quite well before information technology was fully implemented into the record keeping process of most creditors, but mostly does not work today. A person has a right to dispute any item on their credit report and once the dispute is recognized, the credit reporting agency has thirty day to investigate the matter and determine whether or not the debt is valid. If the original creditor cannot prove the validity of the debt or fails to do so within the prescribed thirty days, the item is removed from the credit report. The credit repair companies would take advantage of this by disputing everything, valid or otherwise, and usually over and over again frequently resulting in many items being removed from the credit report.

However, this tactic became too popular and the industry can now handle the matter fairly easily. First, the credit reporting agency does not have to accept all the disputes at the same time, instead it can ask for more information, extending the time deadline. Secondly, most of the creditors or collection agencies have all the validation information in digital form today, meaning that validating a debt just involves printing off some documents, so it is very quick and easy. Further, even if an item is removed, it may only be temporary. Most major creditors now automatically resubmit negative credit information every month or quarter, meaning that the only way to get the item fully removed is by dealing with the creditor.

Basically, valid negative entries remain on your credit report for the full seven years unless you file for bankruptcy, so be wary of promises claiming they can teach you how to fix your credit fast. Credit report repair takes time!  The good news is that with time and some work you CAN fix bad credit!

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Is it Possible to Fix Credit Fast?

by Wendy Black Polisi on December 14, 2009

NEW YORK - MAY 20: In this photo illustration...
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Whether or not is possible to fix credit fast depends in large part on what the negative entries on your credit report represent. If many of the negative items being reported are errors, debts that have been discharged through bankruptcy, or have been reported for seven years; then it is easy to fix bad credit fast. If, on the other hand, the debts are valid, are still outstanding, or recent, then chances are there is little you – or any credit repair company – can do to fix your credit fast.

The most popular strategy taught for learning how to fix credit fast is to abuse the consumer dispute options granted by law. The credit reporting agencies are obligated to investigate any entry that a consumer disputes within thirty days of accepting the dispute and removing those items that are either invalid (errors) or those that can not be validated within thirty days. This resulted in the development of the “dispute blitz” strategy, whereby the debtor simply disputes every negative item on their credit report and then continues to do over and over again. Back in the days when most of the records were on paper, this technique worked very well to fix credit score fast and became quite popular. Consequently, both major creditors and the credit reporting agencies developed methods for dealing with this. These methods largely work so the “dispute blitz” rarely works today. (That is why we teach you other ways to fix credit score issues inside Credit Repair College.)

The first method is to simply refuse to accept disputes until more information is provided. This effectively breaks the “blitz” element of the strategy because all the disputes do not have to be accepted at the same time, thereby staggering the process. Second, today most creditors and collection agencies have all of their data – including the validating documents – in a digital format, meaning that retrieval of the documents is very quick and efficient, so valid debts can be quickly shown to be so.

Even if some debts are not validated within the thirty day period, their removal may only be temporary. Many large creditors and collection agencies now routinely resubmit all their outstanding debts to the credit bureaus at set intervals (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.), so even if an item was removed due to untimely validation, it is likely to reappear on your credit report a bit later. Further, if the validation was delayed, once the validation is presented, then the investigation is closed and the dispute fails.  (Obviously you need other strategies to fix credit report issues!)

While removing actual errors or things that should not be reported is fairly easy, removing valid debts is very difficult. Just because a valid item has been removed does not mean that it will stay removed and though you can dispute it again, it is likely that it will become an endless cycle of disputes and resubmissions until the debt is actually resolved and of course this process of disputes and resubmissions completely negates any chance of a quick solution to the problem.

Disputing can help you fix your credit score fast, but only in certain circumstances.  Stay tuned for legitimate strategies you will want to know if you are interested in learning  how to fix credit fast.

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