5 Credit Repair Surprises!

Here are 5 common mistakes consumers make regarding their credit scores:

My good credit will out way my bad credit eventually

Actually, good credit counts for very little on your credit report! They make money by reporting bad credit, not good credit. You have to deal with your bad credit to improve your score.

Negative Items have to stay on my report for 7-10 years

The law says that negatives should stay on no longer than 7 years, bankruptcies for 10 years. The law does Not say they Have to stay on that long. You can often have negatives removed as part of a negotiation.

Filing a Letter of Explanation helps

Such a letter does little to no good as computers don't read them! They simply report the number they see as your credit score.

Closing old accounts will raise my score

Closing old accounts should be avoided, even if they are inactive or contain negatives! The length of time your accounts have been open are a powerful factor in your credit rating. The older the better. An old negative, beyond 2 or 3 years, has very little impact on your rating.

Paying an old judgment or Charge-Off will raise score

It will probably Decrease your score! If you do not know what you are doing and make a payment on an old account, the date of the new payment becomes the "date of last activity" and now you have either a partial payment on a debt or if you paid it off in full, it will take 7 years from now, not the original date of the debt before it comes off your report!

Always be careful when trying to clean up your own credit. You just might make it worse!