YES YOU CAN EDIT YOUR CREDIT

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Contents

What Your Credit Report Says About You...................................1ORDERING YOUR CREDIT REPORTS!!!!!!!......................................11What Your Credit Score Says About You....................................17Credit Repair - No one else can do it for you!...........................25Safe Places to Receive Help..............................................29Now that I've received my reports, where do I start?.....................35What Consumer Rights Do I Have?..........................................45Dealing with Debt Collectors.............................................53Protecting Your Identity.................................................59DANGER!!!! Scams to Avoid................................................71Notes....................................................................91

Chapter One

A credit report tells the story of the kind of relationship that you have with others whom you do business with. For example, most of us have a library card. When you go to the library to check out a book, there is a history of what types of books you have checked out, when you checked them out, when they were scheduled to be returned and when you actually returned them. Also included are what late fees you have paid and which ones are outstanding. Your library card gives a history of the type of relationship that you have with the library.

A credit report works virtually the same way. It is designed to give lenders a look into whether or not you pay your bills on time, how much debt you are in, what types of credit you have (i.e. revolving, installment, etc.) as well as other areas.

Credit reports are widely used today to determine everything from if you will be hired for a job, if insurance will be extended to you or if you will receive financing for that wonderful house on the hill or be able to get financing for the car of your dreams. Yes you read it correctly. There are some potential employers that will pull your credit report to see how you are paying your bills to determine whether or not you will be offered the job or receive a promotion on your existing one. While I believe in some instances that this is warranted depending on the type of job that you are applying for, my personal opinion is that in other cases what does it have to do with anything? Your credit report cannot tell the story that you were laid off, suffered an illness, went through a divorce or experienced some other "life change" that has now left your credit less than perfect. You want to get the job so that you can begin to rebuild your life and pay people what you owe them, but you can't because your credit report reflects too many "bruises". In a lot of cases it really is a catch 22. Nevertheless, this is the society that we live in and I want to offer my years of experience to help you get back on your feet ... one step at a time.

The information contained in your credit report is vital but it is up to you as the consumer to manage it and oversee it. Believe me, you must be the one to take an active role in managing your credit report. This book is not to promote any products offered by the industry but I am writing it to serve as a guide for you to begin to get your credit life on track and try to walk you through the overwhelming amount of information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the branch of our government that writes the laws and governs all of the aspects of credit reporting. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the law designed to promote that the information contained in your report is accurate, that the information in your report is fair all while ensuring that your privacy is protected. As a consumer, the FCRA provides you with rights as well! Most of us are oblivious to the fact that there are rights that protect us. In my experience, when I would have discussions with people about a credit report, I can actually count on one hand the amount of them that were even aware that there were things in place to protect them. Most people have been misguided and they believe that they must just accept whatever the credit report says about them.

Before, I venture further into what rights you have as a consumer; I don't want to take for granted that you know what a credit report is and what it might contain about you. If this is too elementary for you, I don't apologize but I do applaud you for knowing at least the basics. However, you would be very surprised at the number of people who have no idea what a credit report is, so this is for their education. I have already given you the "library card" analogy. Your credit report is designed to paint a picture of the type of relationship you have with your lending institutions...... In short, it is designed to show whether or not you pay your bills and if you pay them timely.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (again, this is the act designed to promote accuracy, fairness and privacy of what's contained in your report) defines a consumer credit report as:

Any written, oral or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for:

Credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes

Employment purposes

Any other purposed authorized to have a qualified, allowable reason to need the information in your credit report

I will certainly address what the law says is an allowable reason to need your information shortly in this same chapter.

Okay. Now that you know what a credit report is, I think it is equally as important to know what a credit report IS NOT and what it cannot have in it.

A credit report may not contain any information that would be indications or ethnicity, gender, religious preferences

A credit report may not containin formation disclosing or inferring to a consumers medical condition. For example, The Alzheimer's Clinic cannot be listed on your report. All types of assumptions could be made by someone reviewing the information contained in your report thereby violating your rights as a consumer. However, their may be a collection account appearing on your report collecting for The Alzheimer's Clinic. In this scenario, if anyone else views your file, although they will see the collection agency, they should not be able to see The Alzheimer's Clinic.

A credit report may not contain information about any arrests or trouble that you may have had with the law

Your report will be the information that a credit reporting agency has in their file about you. The credit reporting agencies take the information that is given to them about you from your lenders which are also the agency's customers (I.e. Sears, GMAC, Capital One, etc.), assemble it and then it is given to you. Generally, here is the type of information that you should expect to see in your credit report.

Personal Information

Your personal information is critical to ensure accuracy of your...