If you are concerned about your credit score, you may be considering using a credit repair company to help you. This may cause you to ask, “Will my credit score be impacted by using a credit repair company?”
Yes, your credit score can be impacted by using a credit repair company. If you use a credit repair company that does not follow the law and does not have your best interests at heart, it is possible that your credit score could be negatively affected.
However, if you work with a reputable credit repair company and make all of your payments on time, then there should be no negative impact on your credit score.
How Credit Repair Companies Help Repair Your Credit Score
Credit repair companies are beneficial if you need help cleaning up your credit. While it’s true that using one can impact your score, it doesn’t mean that they won’t improve your situation.
A reputable credit repair company not only optimizes your credit reports and scores and helps you understand why your credit scores are low in the first place so you won’t make similar mistakes in the future.
A good credit repair company works with you to identify any mistakes or inaccuracies in your reports and works with the creditors to correct these errors. They also check for other possible issues such as identity theft or fraud that could affect your score and help resolve them.
Credit repair companies help:
Remove inaccurate information from your credit report
Dispute errors in the data reported by lenders
Fix errors in public records that have been reported inaccurately for years
What Is Credit Repair?
Credit repair is a service that helps you repair your credit report and improve your overall financial situation. This process usually involves removing negative information from your credit report, such as late payments or collections accounts.
Once you remove negative information from your credit report, your credit score will improve, and it will be much easier for you to find financing for new purchases or even refinance an existing loan. It also gives lenders confidence that they are loaning money to someone who will repay them on time and in full.
How Does Credit Repair Work?
Reliable credit repair solution providers first obtain your report from the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Transunion, Experian) and review it. They check for errors and negative items to determine what can be fixed and let you know if they can help improve your credit score.
Reputable credit repair agencies assess your credit report to determine if they can use dispute resolution or debt settlement to help improve your score.
Dispute Resolution
Dispute resolution involves contacting each of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and asking them to remove inaccurate information from your report. If an identity thief takes on credit using your name, you will be prompted to provide supporting documents to dispute the report.
You may need to provide credit repair companies with documents supporting your dispute. As per law, the bureaus need to investigate your case within 30 days of disputing. They will contact the creditors and share your dispute letter with them together with the supporting documents. If they can’t find the creditor or the creditor fails to validate a credit report, the credit bureaus will be mandated to remove the report.
Debt Settlement
Debt settlement involves negotiating with creditors directly to pay less than what is owed on your accounts. If the creditor agrees to a payment plan, ensure that you pay on time, and you will see your credit score improve. Once the creditor agrees, they can remove the credit account from your credit report.
Taking Charge of Your Credit Score
This is how best to increase your score:
Check your credit report regularly and dispute any negative information. Get a free copy of your annual credit report from one or all three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Check for errors on an ongoing basis by requesting reports from each bureau every few months. If there are mistakes in your report, contact each agency to fix them.
Pay off old debt and reduce the debt-to-income ratio. If you’re carrying high balances on various accounts, try paying them off one at a time, so they don’t drag down other accounts with higher limits or interest rates.
Our Bottom Line
If you have bad scores and no idea what went wrong or how those mistakes occurred, then a credit repair company will be helpful. They work with you to determine what needs fixing and help get everything back on track again for you to qualify for loans or other financial products in the future. However, ensure you only use reputable credit repair companies like The Ascent Network. Any credit repair company that assures you they can remove any negative report from your credit report is a scam and will only impact your credit score negatively.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
Does Credit Repair Really Work?
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Student loans, unpaid credit, car loans, and mortgages can make it hard for you to enjoy some finer things in life. You may not travel as much as you would and starting a family can seem like a burden. To get out of these debts, you may be considering credit repair services or debt consolidation. But what is the difference between credit repair and debt consolidation?
Difference Between Credit Repair and Debt Consolidation
Credit repair and debt consolidation both help you improve your credit score, albeit through different processes. Here are the differences between the two;
Debt Consolidation
If you have several debts, you may forget to pay off some of the loans hurting your credit score. Debt consolidation enables you to have only one debt instead of having several. It involves taking a new loan to pay off multiple smaller loans in one go. You may need to take out a personal loan or use home equity loans to pay off the other debts.
Whether you choose a personal or home equity loan, you will have to compare interest rates from different lenders to see which one has the best deal. And when you receive the loan, you will pay off all your debts and start paying the new loan.
Lower interest rate. With all your debts consolidated, you only have one monthly payment and one set of interest rates instead of several payments and interest rates with different creditors.
One monthly payment. If you find yourself with a lot of high-interest credit cards or other types of debt that charge exorbitant rates, consolidating it into one loan can help reduce your overall interest rate because it’s easier for lenders to give out loans at lower rates than individual ones. This can save you money in the long run if your original loans had high annual percentage rates (APRs).
Improves credit score. When you apply for debt consolidation, there will be a hard inquiry on your credit report, which means your credit score will dip. However, your credit score will start improving as you pay off revolving lines of credits, e.g. credit cards and when you make on-time payments,
Streamlines payments. Consolidating your debt into one eliminates your chances of missing a payment. You will only have one payment to make a month, and you will know when you will finish paying off your loan to start a debt-free lifestyle.
Disadvantages of Debt Consolidation
You may have to pay more interest. If your credit score isn’t high enough, you may qualify for a loan with high interest. The interest rate charged on debt consolidation loans is usually higher than that charged on other kinds of loans, such as home equity loans or second mortgages. This means that you will end up paying more interest charges in the long run.
There will be a hard inquiry. Hard inquiries will have a negative impact on your score.
You may lose your assets. If you decide to take out a personal loan for debt consolidation, it is possible that your creditor may ask for collateral from you. In case you fail to repay the loan or make late payments, your creditor may sell off your assets as payment for the loan. This could mean losing your home or other valuable possession that can be sold off easily at market prices.
It can create more stress than it relieves. It’s easy to get addicted to debt relief programs because they make us feel better temporarily and make us think we have solved our financial problems when in reality we haven’t really done anything about them yet – we’re just putting them off for another day!
May be costly. When you apply for a debt consolidation loan, ensure you know of the added costs before you accept to sign the agreement. Debt consolidation comes with additional costs such as balance transfer fees, annual fees, and annual fees. Thus, the need to understand the terms and conditions when looking for a lender.
Closed accounts may hurt your score. The age of your credit account makes up 15% of your credit score, and closing old accounts will lower the average age of your account.
Credit repair
Credit repair is a service that helps you to improve your credit score and repair credit reports. Credit repair companies will typically help you remove inaccurate information from your credit report, dispute incorrect information with creditors or the credit bureaus, and help you to obtain copies of your credit reports for free.
Advantages of Credit Repair
Help save money. Helps you save money by increasing your chances of getting approved for loans with lower interest rates.
Reduces interest. Credit repair companies help you get out of debt by removing late payments from your report, which reduces the amount of interest that creditors charge on outstanding debts.
Reducing your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. If you have a high DTI ratio, it can make it difficult for you to qualify for new loans or other types of credit. Reducing your debt load can help lower your DTI ratio and make it easier to obtain new loans.
Remove inaccurate or old information. Removes old, unnecessary and inaccurate information from your credit reports that are keeping you from getting approved for loans, credit cards or other services you need
Improving your chances of qualifying for new loans or other types of credit. If you have unpaid debts, creditors may not grant you additional loans until those debts are addressed through a settlement or repayment plan.
Maintaining or improving your credit score. When you pay off debts, the negative information associated with them will no longer appear on your credit reports, and your score will improve.
Disadvantages of credit repair
Credit repair is not free. While there are companies that will offer to help you repair your credit for free, they aren’t likely to be reputable ones. You’ll end up paying a hefty fee after their work is done — and you may still have errors on your report that need to be fixed.
Credit repair takes time. There’s no magic bullet for fixing your credit score and history, so be prepared for this process to take several months (and maybe even years) if you have extensive problems with your credit report. If you’re concerned about being able to pay bills while this is going on, consider opening a savings account specifically for the purpose of paying off debts during the time it takes to complete your repairs.
You might not see results immediately. When you’re working with a reputable company like ? The Ascent network that specializes in credit repair, they’ll typically start working on your behalf as soon as they receive all of the information they need from you and any supporting documentation they require (such as copies of past bills).
What has Credit Repair Done for Me?
Our Bottom Line
When choosing between credit repair and debt consolidation services, ensure you know all the pros and cons associated with each so that you can choose the one that will work for you.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
According to the Education $1.61 trillion in outstanding debt. If you have student debt, you must be asking yourself this crucial question — How will removing student debt from my credit profile impact my credit score?
Can You Remove a Student Loan From Your Credit Report?
You can not remove a student loan from your credit report; however, you can have certain negative information removed. Not having it removed is a good thing because if you make all your payments on time, you will have a positive payment history on your credit report for ten years, which means a good credit score.
However, late student loan repayment remains on your credit account for seven years, damaging your credit report. And you will have a hard time getting financial approvals in the future.
When you review your credit report, check all three reports since their information may differ. Look for late payments and other negative marks that should not be there. If you find any mistakes or outdated information, dispute them with the credit reporting company and ask for them to be removed from your credit report.
How to Remove Late Payment or Student Loan Default from Your Credit Report
Have you tried to file a dispute and failed? If yes, you can try to remove the default status on your student loan, and here are some ways to do this.
Apply for a Student Loan Rehabilitation
A student loan rehabilitation program helps you erase the default status on your student loan. The process takes ten months, and if you make nine on-time monthly payments within 20 days of the due date, your loan will have a good standing.
After the ten months, you will repay on income-driven loan repayment terms. You are also eligible to apply for temporary postponement through loan deferment or forbearance.
Ask For a Goodwill
You can also send a goodwill letter to your lender if you have been making regular on-time payments but defaulted along the way due to a hardship. The goodwill letter is an emotional appeal to your lender, asking them to remove late repayment entries. However, for this to work, your story has to be convincing while explaining what happened, and you must have paid your debts.
Apply for Loan Forgiveness
You can check if you are eligible for student loan forgiveness if you can’t wait for the seven years to elapse, and you have been repaying your loan. Check the Federal Student Aid website to find out if you are eligible for student loan forgiveness.
Fully Pay Your Student Debt
If all others fail and you want to have a good credit score, one sure way is to pay your student debt in full. This helps you qualify for mortgages, car loans, and other loans with good interest rates because your credit score will improve.
Many lenders see student loan debt as a negative factor to consider when making lending decisions. This is particularly true of mortgage lenders, which generally view student loan borrowers as riskier than those without student debt. It’s certainly possible to get a mortgage with student loan debt, but you’re likely to pay more for it than someone without any outstanding loans. Pay your student loan if you want to have a positive credit report!
How Student Loans Impact Your Credit Score
The impact your student loans have on your credit score depends on several factors, including:
Age of your loan. A long history of loan repayment has a positive impact on your credit report. Lenders see you as someone who knows how to manage finances and will consider you when you are looking for financing. However, you have to ensure that you are paying your loans on time.
Whether or not you’re current on the loan. If you’re “in good standing,” meaning you’re making payments on time and staying current with any other requirements, that will have a positive impact on your credit score. If you are consistent in repaying, outstanding student loans have less of an impact on your credit score.
However, if you’re not in good standing, that has negative consequences for your credit score. The good news is it will only stay on your credit report for seven years. However, if you are looking for financing from lenders, you will be seen as a high risk. If the lender still chooses to give you a loan, it will be at a higher interest rate than those with a good repayment history.
How much you owe. The average student loan balance in the U.S. is $37,113 as of 2022. If you don’t owe much and have a good history of making payments on time, your credit score won’t take a significant hit from holding onto that loan.
But if you owe a lot and have a spotty payment history or haven’t made any payments toward what you owe, your credit score will be hurt. If that’s the case, paying off your student debt can help improve your credit score if you pay it off in full and on time.
Our Bottom Line
A sure way to raise your credit score fast and have a good credit score is to make your student loan payments as agreed. If you don’t make payments as promised, your account could go into default, and your balance may be submitted to collections. This means your credit score will most likely take a hit.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) mentions that credit inquiries are only 10% of your FICO score. However, a significant number of inquiries reduce your score by several points. It is important to have and maintain a good credit score to enjoy the benefits that come with it. Learn how to remove credit inquiries from your credit report and what credit inquiries are.
What are Credit Inquiries?
When you apply for a credit card or loan, the lender looks at your credit reports to determine whether to approve you for the account. The result is an inquiry on your credit report, which can temporarily tank your score.
Types of Credit Inquiry (Credit Pull)
There are two types of inquiries:
Hard inquiry
Soft Inquiry
Hard Inquiry (Hard Pull)
Hard inquiries occur when you take out new credit or loans, and these always affect your score. If there are too many inquiries on your report, it sends red flags to lenders as to why you are seeking so much credit. According to FICO, each hard inquiry knocks about five points off your score, although this amount varies depending on several factors, such as good credit history.
Soft Inquiry (Soft Pull)
Soft inquiries occur when someone checks your report without your knowledge, such as an employer conducting a background check. They could also be credit checks that you do on your own, and they don’t affect your score.
The impact of credit inquiries on your score doesn’t last forever. After two years, the effect drops off, while hard inquiries affect your score for only twelve months. However, if you’re struggling to repair your credit, waiting two years to see an improvement in your scores is no fun. Fortunately, there is a way to remove inquiries from your credit reports.
Why Do Lenders Use Hard Inquiries?
Lenders use hard inquiries to check if there is a loan that will impact credit repayment for a loan you are applying for. Credit lenders see you as a risk if you have over six inquiries on your credit report since you are more likely to declare bankruptcy than those with no inquiries.
How to Remove Credit Inquiries From Your Report
Can someone remove credit inquiries from their credit report? If you have several hard inquiries within a short period of time, it could be a sign to lenders that you’re having financial difficulties, and they may deny your application based on this.
Dispute Unauthorized Inquiries
According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), credit bureaus should inform consumers whenever there is a hard inquiry on their credit report. Creditors should inform by noting the inquiry in their credit files. This helps you note any inaccuracies in your credit report.
If you see any hard inquiries on your report that you didn’t authorize, dispute them with the three major bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. They’re required by law to investigate within 30 days of receiving a formal dispute request.
However, you’ll need to provide documentation of the circumstances surrounding the inquiry, such as an identity theft report or other documentation. When you submit your letter, make sure to provide your full name and address, your social security number, and a copy of some form of identification, such as your driver’s license. You should also include copies (not originals) of any supporting documents.
If it is a legitimate error on the creditor’s part, it shouldn’t be too difficult to resolve with proof. If someone has committed fraud using your identity, however, it may be harder to get everything resolved in a timely manner.
You can do nothing about inquiries that appear for legitimate reasons on your credit report since they are updated every 30 days by the creditors themselves.
Keep an Eye on Your Credit Report
You can only dispute a hard inquiry if you keep an eye on your credit score. When you regularly check your credit score, you will note any drop in your score since you can detect a drop in your score that you didn’t authorize.
Ensure you review what is listed and watch out for any suspicious activity, such as a bogus account that has gone unpaid.
The Bottom Line
Removing credit inquiries from your credit report requires you to work with the creditor and reporting agencies. Remember, you can only remove hard inquiries that you did not authorize. If you authorized any hard pull, you have to wait until they fall off naturally in two years.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
If you have collections on your credit report, there’s no doubt you just want them to go away. This is because they may be weighing down your credit score and preventing you from getting loans or qualifying for better interest rates. While we have some tips to help you remove collections from your credit report, you should know that it’s going to take time and effort on your part.
What are Collections?
To understand the need to remove collections from your credit score, it is important to understand how collections come about. What are collections? When a debt isn’t paid, the creditor will turn it over to a collection agency or a debt collector in hopes of recouping the money. That action is then reported to the credit bureaus— Experian, Transunion, and Equifax.
Collection agencies will continue to report your collection account for seven years from the date you first fell behind with the original creditor. However, if it’s been seven years, the collection agency might still sue you to collect. But they can’t report it to the credit bureaus.
If your collection account has already dropped off your report, there’s no way to get it back on. However, if you pay off a collection and then re-default, that account could come back onto your credit reports (even if the original delinquency was outside the seven-year reporting period because the new late payment would create a new delinquency date.
If your collection account has over $2500, it can affect your credit report by at least 20-25 points.
Can Collections Be Removed?
The short answer is, Yes! According to Aaron Huebner, the executive director of Ascent Network, there are two keywords that you need to keep in mind as you try to remove collections from your credit report— Verify and Validate.
The federal government requires credit bureaus to provide correct information on each item on your credit report. They also have to make sure that the debt has not expired. Here is a case:
If the amount a collector is trying to collect from you is below $1000 and isn’t from a financial institution, you may have some success asking for proof of the debt. Why? Because the law requires collectors to provide proof of the debt if you ask for it within 30 days, and since the debt might have gone through so many collection agencies, they may not have the original documents, which will prompt them to remove the collection from your credit report
Remove Collections from Your Credit Report( How to Do It)
Remove Collections from Your Credit Report( How to Do It)
For you to be successful, you have to do these three things:
● Check your credit report
● Check for errors in your credit report
● Choose an action plan
Check Credit Report
You have to check your credit account from AnnualCreditReport.com and review your credit reports to see if the information is correct. The report should show if the collection is paid or not, the remaining balance, the date you defaulted, and the original creditor.
Compare the information in the credit report against your records. You can check your payment records when you log in to the account listed if you don’t have the records. And know the statute of limitations for collecting debts in your state.
Dispute Any Inaccuracies
In case of an error on the part of the debt collector, ask them to validate the debt. You should dispute the collection within 30 days from the date the collector contacted you. If the collector can’t validate, the collection should be removed from your report. However, you must follow up to ensure they remove the collection from your credit report.
You should also dispute the collection if the debt is too old to be reported. The federal law in many states requires that any delinquent account should be removed after seven years. If you can still find a delinquency report showing up after seven years, you should file a dispute with the credit bureau that still shows it to have it removed.
Request for a Goodwill Deletion/ Pay for Delete
Have you been making regular on-time payments? If yes, the first step is to mail the collection agency and ask for a “goodwill deletion.” If you have been making regular on-time payments, mail the collection agency a “goodwill letter” and explains your situation. This goodwill letter should explain to the collection bureau that you are trying to buy a house and see if they can honor your request.
There is no guarantee that they will accept your request and if they do, be sure to follow up to ensure they have removed collection from your credit report.
Pay for delete often works if you’ve had only one collection on your credit history. The collector should comply if you pay in full and make a written request that they remove it from your credit reports.
When negotiating pay for delete, it is best to visit the credit collection agency and have the agreement in writing. You can negotiate to pay 30% of the money owed in exchange for deletion and then continue to pay the debt as per the agreement. Remember, a late payment on the debt will be reported as a new entry in your credit report.
How Can Credit Repair Help?
Professionals have years of experience repairing credits and know the exact procedure to remove the collection from your report. A credit repair agency like The Ascent Network has for many years helped many improve their credit score, remove collections from their credit reports, and are thus best-suited to help you, should you feel the procedure involved is confusing.
The Bottom Line
It is possible to have collections reports removed from your credit report if you are keen enough. You have to ensure that the collection agency validates and verifies the collection report they have on you. Failure to which they will have to remove the collection from your credit report. We hope that the above information will help you improve your credit score, remove collection from your credit score, and ease your mind.
A more positive outlook toward a more financially secure future starts today. Give the Ascent Network a call today at 1-877-871-2400. Ascent Network helps consumers all over the United States and is available locally in Huntington Beach, CA, Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Thousand Palms.
If you are concerned about your credit score, you may be considering using a credit repair company to help you. This may cause you to ask, “Will my credit score be impacted by using a credit repair company?” Yes, your credit score can be impacted by using a credit repair company. If you use a … Continued
Student loans, unpaid credit, car loans, and mortgages can make it hard for you to enjoy some finer things in life. You may not travel as much as you would and starting a family can seem like a burden. To get out of these debts, you may be considering credit repair services or debt consolidation. … Continued
According to the Education $1.61 trillion in outstanding debt. If you have student debt, you must be asking yourself this crucial question — How will removing student debt from my credit profile impact my credit score? Can You Remove a Student Loan From Your Credit Report? You can not remove a student loan from your … Continued
The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) mentions that credit inquiries are only 10% of your FICO score. However, a significant number of inquiries reduce your score by several points. It is important to have and maintain a good credit score to enjoy the benefits that come with it. Learn how to remove credit inquiries from your … Continued
If you have collections on your credit report, there’s no doubt you just want them to go away. This is because they may be weighing down your credit score and preventing you from getting loans or qualifying for better interest rates. While we have some tips to help you remove collections from your credit report, … Continued