Repair Credit Fast – Rebecca Beats Debt Collector!

Repair credit fast demands strategy, not a bunch of worthless dispute letters fired off by a credit disrepair company or uninformed mortgage person.

Recently, Rebecca from New Mexico contacted me about a collection account rejecting her attempts to buy a home. Rebecca admitted the account was hers but only after a few phone calls and faxes.

To Rebecca’s consternation, this bad credit account was more than 12 year old. Rebecca never questioned whether she had to pay.

Instead, Rebecca questioned the 35.26 the debt collector demanded she pay.

Turns out, zombie debt collectors had purchased this charged off debt for pennies and waited for Rebecca to complete a credit application.

Just as the debt collector expected, Rebecca’s mortgage application triggered a call to action. The zombie debt collector had re-aged this ancient debt, reporting the debt as if it were current. That is, the debt appeared to be within the most recent 24 months and within the state’s statute of limitations.

The debt collector knew three conditions to be true:

1. Rebecca eventually would apply for credit and would be told to satisfy the collection before new credit consideration. In this case, Rebecca wanted to buy a home.
2. Some uninformed mortgage person would tell Rebecca to pay off the collection before attempting to qualify for a mortgage.
3. The debt collector knew (most) mortgage people and even fewer consumers (including Rebecca) know anything about their rights including but not limited to Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) or Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Most mortgage people unintentionally HELP debt collectors break the law and collect money to which they’re not entitled.

Of course, debt collectors (in this regard) practice strategic debt collections – they break the law, playing very favorable odds.

On the flip side, Rebecca knew nothing about her rights. She knew ZERO about strategic credit repair.

Foolishly but expected, she was prepared to pay off this questionable collection, simply to go forward with grabbing the keys to her new home. Yep, debt collectors expect this behavior as well.

It was not the age of the debt that troubled Rebecca, whose memory took this alleged debt back more than 12 years during college.

Rebecca recalled defaulting on a credit card during college…a card with something like a 0.00 credit limit. Problem was, her credit reports reported she owed 35.26 and a creditor she didn’t recognize.

In this case, firing off a template dispute letter might have created a worse situation for Rebecca. This debt collector, who had dunned Rebecca and had begun calling her, now was on to Rebecca, instigated with a mortgage application allowing the mortgage person to pull her credit.

1. Firing off template dispute letters can and usually do have a damning effect on people naively sending them or when credit disrepair companies fire off rounds of dispute letters on your behalf.
2. Rebecca needed to prove the debt was outdated…without a doubt.
3. Rebecca needed to confirm debt collector (Furnisher) had illegally re-aged the alleged debt.
4. Rebecca needed to force debt collector to delete alleged account with all bureaus and provide written (& signed) verification for future reference in the (likely) event this debt collector sells the debt to yet another debt collector for the process to start over again.

Bad credit repair turned easy for Rebecca, whose proof encouraged the debt collector to delete the account with an apology and written verification.

Rebecca admitted she would’ve paid off the account if the amount owed had not been 35.26. Of course, debt collectors bank on this behavior.

Here’s something Rebecca (and probably you too) didn’t know: paying off a debt collector does NOT improve your credit. As illogical as it is, this is what happens with Fair Isaac & Company’s absurd credit scoring algorithm.

Please pay attention to these key points:

1. Do not simply fire off worthless dispute letters you download off some website.
2. Do not pay a credit disrepair company to fire off rounds of worthless dispute letters.
3. REAL credit repair demands strategy, not a bunch of worthless dispute letters. You must examine each bad credit account, determining whether the “furnisher” owns legal right to pursue collections.
4. Do not expect your mortgage person to know anything about credit repair – some might pretend they know credit repair, just as Rebecca’s mortgage person advised her to throw away 35.26. Worse, Rebecca’s scores would’ve dropped. If your scores (after the ill-advised payoff) cannot sustain the score drop, your mortgage application will be rejected…all because of the blind leading the blind.

Repair credit fast requires you take a deep breath and a step back. Even if money is not the object, paying off alleged debt will not improve your credit…though you won’t hear that from a credit disrepair company or uninformed mortgage person. For more “strategic” credit repair secrets, go now to www.fixmyuglycredit.com.

Fast Credit Repair