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Copyright Copyright © 2007 by Chris Brisson & PowerLaunch Consulting LLC. All rights Reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The information in this e-book is intended for educational purposes only. For more information please email: [email protected] Limits of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information regarding the subject matters covered. However, it is published with the understanding that the publishers and authors are not engaged in rendering legal, financial, accounting, or other professional services. Laws and practice often vary from state to state and if legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a professional should be sought. The publisher and author specifically disclaim any liability that is incurred from the use or application of the contents of this book. The authors and publisher of this book and the accompanying materials have used their best efforts in preparing this program. The authors and publisher make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the content of this program. They disclaim any?? publisher shall in NO event be held liable for any loss or other damages, including but not limited to special incidental, consequential, or other damages. As always, the advice of a competent legal, tax, accounting or other professional should be sought. The authors and publisher do not warrant the performance, effectiveness or applicability of any sites listed in this book. All links are for informational purposes only and are not warranted for content, accuracy or any other implied or explicit purpose. This manual/text contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

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Table Of Contents Your Credit Score is Everything! ......................................................................... 5 How To Obtain and Understand Your Credit Report.......................................13 What's In a Credit Report? ................................................................................. 22 How To Assess Your Debt ................................................................................. 33 How To Legally Dispute Negative Marks on Your Credit Report ................. 45 How to Negotiate With Collection Agencies and Creditors and WIN! .......... 59 7 Proven Techniques to Build Positive Credit ................................................. 63 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 80

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Introduction Hello and welcome the Hyper Credit Repair. I want to congratulate you on taking the steps to change your financial future by cleaning your credit. This step-by-step credit repair manuscript is what I believe to be, the most innovative and concise guide that takes you by the hand to help you boost your credit score, delete negative items, and help you build positive credit. This is not a general and generic "how-to" clean your credit repair book that covers the basics, but a step-by-step guide on how I raised my credit score from a 520 to a 655 in only one month. This guide will let you see into my precise process, exact letters, phone calls, and screen shots throughout my credit repair process. In the following chapters I will give you everything I used to build and raise my credit score by 180 points - how I went from very poor credit to great credit in one month! This step-by-step system is the exact system I used to clean my credit. So if I can say one thing that can sum this all up – follow my plan! It will work for you. Best Wishes,

Chris Brisson

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Chapter 1 Your Credit Score is Everything!

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f you haven't realized it yet, having good credit is the key to living the life you really want. Let's face it: Anytime you want to buy a car, get new clothes (Banana Republic Card), get a credit card, have a lower interest

rate for anything, or simply get approved for a secured credit card like me -- you

HAVE to have good credit.

Let me share a story with you... When I was in college, I applied for a student credit card (I'm sure most of us got trapped into this when we were young) and I was able to get an initial $500 credit limit. Over the next few months, I formed a friendly relationship with a young, cute banker since I had a student checking account, business account, credit card, and a savings account. Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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I told her that I wanted to raise my credit limit to $1,000 - I needed the money to buy inventory for my new business that I had started that summer. It was surprisingly easy. In about 10 minutes, I now had access to another $500. Yippee! Well, after many fun and exciting nights at Florida State, my credit card was not only being used to buy inventory, but to pay for school, food, and my partying in college. Oops! About three months later, after my $1,000 limit was set, I needed more cash– I maxed out my credit limit. Sure, I could have just been happy with my $1,000 limit, but with my partying, college tuition, and my business needing the influx of dough, this small limit wouldn't cut it. So I went back to the banker and 30 minutes later my new credit card limit was set to $5,000. I thought this would last me a lifetime. Boy, was I wrong… Thinking like the college student that I was, I figured this was "free" money! I didn't have to work too hard because I had credit on my credit card. So three years later, after FSU, my credit limit was at $7,500 and MAXED OUT! I missed payments some months here, some months there, so when it came time to check my credit report I had 30, 60, and 90 day late negative marks on my report. This crushed my credit score, along with the other credit mistakes I made over the years. They say a picture is worth a thousands words. Well, there's your thousand words AND thousands of dollars in debt. (Where is the picture? Will there be one added here?) As you can imagine, looking at this pile of debt and a credit score that was less than the height of a (circus midget) (might be offensive), I was frustrated and depressed. I had to do something. Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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I actually had bought inventory which maxed out my card and I slowly paid it back, which was a big mistake. Not only was my card maxed out, but I was only making the minimum payments. This is a deathtrap for most Americans in debt. (Why??) Over the next couple of years, I was missing payments, paying late, and only making minimum payments. My new credit limit was set at $8,000 and it was MAXED out. I would like to blame my credit problems on the system, but it was my own damn fault. I needed to understand credit and what not to do to stay on track with the creditability of me -- my credit score. In under one month I was able to change my life and boost my credit score from a low-life "don't trust this guy" to "Here sir, here's a new car -- and house!" It's not that I'm a terrible person and don't pay my bills--I do-- it's the fact that I dug myself into a hole that I couldn't easily get out of without the proper information. Let's face it; we have all acquired some unwanted debt over the years. We're not bad people. It seems somewhat normal to have debt; I'm here to help you change that. So let's get into what you need to know about your credit score. This is the information that I never knew until I did some research, read some books, talked to some people, and simply got educated!

Credit Repair Myths Yup, there are some myths. Some may shock or even anger you, but it is a message that must be told. For example, you probably think you can't do it

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yourself and you NEED a professional agency to do it for you. That couldn't be further from the truth. I did it and so can you! Let's dive into some of the most common myths people have about credit repair.

Myth 1: I Can't Do It Myself As with many things, we need help once in a while, but credit repair is certainly something that you can do quite easily on your own with a little elbow grease and time. When I first looked at my credit report back in January 2007, I saw some late pays, a judgment, and some other "not so good" marks on my credit report. I screamed, "I've got to get a credit agency to help me with this! There's no way I can do this myself!" Yeah, so I thought. How did I do it myself? I got educated… that's it. And now, you are going to get the best education on how to repair, rebuild, and maintain your credit score. After some time of taking a more in-depth looking into my credit report, I noticed some huge mistakes by either the creditor or credit bureau. These were not my mistakes, but the mistakes of "The Man." I found mistakes on multiple accounts, ranging from multiple late pays, wrong accounts, to closed accounts, when in fact they were open. Turns out, it’s estimated that anywhere from 75% to as many as 90% of credit reports contain errors.

Myth 2: You Can't Fix Bad Credit Wrong. Just because you have bad credit doesn't mean that you can't repair it. It may take longer to fix, but it is repairable. There are many fast ways to restore

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your credit, build positive lines of credit, and get yourself back on the right track to good credit. If you think a 520 is bad–it is. I was turned down by every credit card I applied for. I even got denied at Bannana Republic in front of 20 people at Christmas time. Yeah, no fun… If I can do it, then so can you. It's a matter of becoming educated and everything in this course (book?) will show you how to get your credit back.

Myth 3: You Only Have One Credit Score In reality, you have three credit scores, one from each of the major credit reporting agencies: Transunion, Experian, and Equifax. All three will give different scores, so when applying for credit one company may use Equifax, while another may use Experian. Equifax may show a score of 550 while Experian may show a score of 590. It's always good to know your score from all three bureaus. They can vary by as much as 50 points.

Myth 4: Checking Your Credit Will Lower Your Score There are two types of inquiries (more details later in the book) that will appear on your credit report: hard and soft inquiries. Hard inquiries are from companies you wish to get credit from. These will affect your credit score. Soft inquiries are usually when you check your credit report online or from Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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companies obtaining your information for promotional purposes. Soft inquiries don't affect your score.

Myth 5: Shopping Around For a Loan Will Lower Your Score This is a very common myth, and one which Brett Bruce and I talk about in the interview you received when you purchased this book. If you are searching for a mortgage, home equity loan, or car loan and you apply from multiple vendors this will only appear on your credit report once. This only applies if the same kind of inquires are made within 14 days of each other. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply for credit cards!

Myth 6: The Only Way To Improve My Score is to Remove All Negative Items This is true, but ONLY one piece of the credit repair puzzle. Although, getting negative items removed from your score will raise it, building "positive credit" is what will build your score further. Have you ever been turned down for having no credit? In other words, you don't have any "positive credit" built up with credit card companies. Later in the book I go into how to build positive credit. It's part of the credit rebuilding process.

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What You Need To Know About Your Credit Listen: if you're reading this information you obviously need to clean your credit report because you want to buy a car, house, get a credit card, or simply get your life back. Well, I'm here to tell you that there is a way out and you can do it quite quickly, as I did. It took me only one month to boost my score over 180 points! Talk about a life changing moment! I went from a depressed, "Oh man, I got denied again and I can't even get a gas card" person, to an elated, jumping for joy six year old boy trapped inside a 25 year old body. It was awesome! It was like taking a 500 lb Gorilla off my back that simply seemed stuck there. I'm going to share with you the things you need to know about your credit score so you can take immediate and simple actions to boost your score 10, 30, 50 points in a matter of days and most often in a couple of minutes. So let's get into it...

The Law Is On Your Side Weird, right? Actually, our government has created some laws to benefit you with your credit score. For example, you can have those annoying and persistent bill collectors STOP calling you with one simple letter. If they don't oblige, there are legal actions that you can take to possibly have the debt removed and the negative mark deleted. I get into this in a later chapter, but the point I want to make is there are laws that protect you.

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Listen: I did use a "credit repair agency" but they ended up just taking my money and left me to fulfill their promises with my own hard work. I paid $68 a month and the only phone call I got during this process was to put a link on my website about their credit services to get a $5 referral fee! I can't believe I actually thought they would help me, but again the misconception most people have is that it's too difficult to do it yourself. Yes, they only sent one measly letter. So the fact of the matter is -- you can do it yourself and it's not that difficult.

Everyone's Credit Can Be Repaired You read that right. Nobody's credit is too bad to clean. If you've been through some rough times and destroyed your credit, I say this with confidence -- it can be fixed. Actually, lenders like to see that your financial pitfalls are behind you. Typically, within two years or so, you will be able to get a loan or credit card by simply implementing the strategies in this book, and in most cases often sooner. If you follow my simple plan you will boost your credit score guaranteed!

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Chapter 2 How To Obtain and Understand Your Credit Report

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n this section I'm going to show you how to obtain your credit report for free and for the paid version, which will give you your credit score. Your credit score is what you need. I recommend that you invest $29 in the 3-

in-1 report from Transunion. This is the company I use to monitor my credit on a monthly basis and the same company that I have used to clean my credit report. Follow my lead and I'll help you get your credit back. This investment will enable you to view all of your reports from the three major credit reporting agencies: Transunion, Experian, Equifax. You can also, get your free credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com (See step 2), but this 3-in-1 will cost you $29. The free credit report will NOT give you your credit score, which is most important. The monthly monitoring service is $14.95 per month and I recommend it 100%. It keeps me in tune with my ever-changing credit report. If something changes, I know instantly and can take the steps to fix it.

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How To Get Your 3 Credit Scores and Reports From Transunion The first way to get your credit report is through www.Transunion.com . I've put together some screen shots that will show you how to get your report for $29.95 and which screens are most important to you.

Step 1: Go to www.Transunion.com

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Step 2: Complete the Form and Submit

Step 3: Back Office Page After Order

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Step 4: Click on 'Credit Reports' To View All Three

Click on 'Credit Scores' To View All Three

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Click on 'Trending' To See Your Report Trends

Now once you have paid for your credit reports you can view the report, score, and analysis in their back office. The next way to get your credit report is FREE, but the downfall is that it does not give you a credit score. Again, having the credit score is very important. It's the only way to assess how good or poor your score is and how well you are increasing your score over the next couple of weeks.

How To Get Your FREE Credit Report Have you seen that commercials for FreeCreditReport.com? If you have ever turned your TV on, then you most likely have. Although www.freecreditreport.com does give you a free credit report, it's not the best way to get one. There are two ways that I recommend to get your free credit report:

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Slow Method Within the last 12 months, if you've applied for a loan, credit card, or any other credit checking process you are eligible to receive your credit report for free from the three major credit reporting agencies: 1. Transunion - www.Transunion.com 2. Equifax - www.Equifax.com 3. Experian - www.Experian.com Simply visit their website and go through their online request or you can call them to request your free credit report. The bureaus will typically mail a credit report to your address. This process takes about 7-10 business days.

Instant Online Download Another simple way to get your credit report is to visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com . On this site, you can request your credit report for free from all three bureaus: Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. I've put together some screen shots to show you how to get your free credit report through AnnualCreditReport.com

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Step 1: Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com

Step 2: Complete the Form and Submit

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Step 3: Check All 3 Boxes and Click 'Submit'

Step 4: Go Through the Steps For Each Bureau

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Step 5: Complete and Print Out All 3 Bureau Reports

The bureaus will give you instant access to your credit report from all three, right from your computer. Go to your credit file and print them out.

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Chapter 3 What's In a Credit Report?

T

he inside of your credit report may scare you, but I can assure you that it's not difficult to understand. There are basically five parts to your credit report:

1. Personal Information 2. Inquiries 3. Accounts reporting monthly 4. Accounts reporting in default 5. Public Records

Personal Information The personal information section is usually at the front of your credit report. This will contain your name, address, social security number, past addresses, and employment history. What's important here is that you need to keep this information current and make sure that it is correct.

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Summary When you use Transunion's TrueCredit they will give you a summary of your account. Here's a screen shot of a friend of mine's summary.

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Inquiries Inquiries are the easiest negative marks to delete from your credit report. An inquiry is a request from a creditor to see your credit report. Usually, an inquiry is from a credit card company which you applied to or it’s from a bank when you applied for a mortgage or loan. There are two types of inquiries that will appear on your report. One is from creditors that seek to see your score after you have applied for credit from them.

Harmful Inquiries Having too many inquiries on your credit report can harm your score. Inquiries make up 20% of your credit score and will appear on your credit report for a period of two years. Be sure not to rack up too many inquiries in a short period of time, since creditors will see this and view it as a lack of stable financial ability. If a creditor wishes that you sign a form allowing them to view your credit report, don't do it unless you are 100% sure that you want to get the loan. Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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For example, when I raised my credit card from $1,000 to $5,000, I made sure that they did not run my credit report. After demanding that they not to run my report, they complied, and I was still able to have my credit limit raised just by asking and a little pushing. So if worse comes to worse, have them run it, but before they do ask to have them give you an estimate based on your credit score. Say, "My credit is a 650. What type of loan will my interest rate be at that score?" They will usually give you a ballpark range.

Harmless Inquiries The other type of inquiry is one that does not harm your credit score. These are from companies that request your address information for promotional purposes. They look like this:

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Public Records Public records do appear on your credit report. These include federal, state, and local filings. Such public records are: •

Bankruptcies

•

Tax Liens

•

Mechanics Liens

•

Criminal Arrest and Convictions

•

Lawsuits (including divorce)

•

Judgments

•

Foreclosures

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Monthly Reported Accounts When you view your report you will notice that the majority of your report will include the things listed above. These make up your current and past credit cards, gym membership (if they ran your credit), cell phone, gasoline credit card, hospital bills, mortgage, car loans, credit unions, finance companies, department stores (Macy's, Banana Republic, Gap), and other monthly installment credits. Within this section you will find some information regarding the account. These will contain: •

Name of Creditor

•

Type of Account

•

Account Number

•

Account Open Date

•

Payment History: 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 days late.

•

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•

Original amount of loan

•

High Limit Reached

•

Current Balance

Since these accounts make up 50% of your credit score, this area will require the most attention. If you have any late payments, inaccurate accounts, unknown accounts, inaccurate balance amounts, whether your account is open or closed, or any other inaccuracy, simply highlight these and get ready to attack them.

I'll share an example with you. When I was going through my credit report, I noticed many inaccuracies on my open and closed accounts. One account said it was open, when in fact, it has been closed for two years. Another said I was late 30 days for two months and 120 days on another month on an account on which I was late only once. There were countless other accounts were just simply not correct.

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On the late payment account, I first called up the creditor and asked them to mail me a record of my payment history. After about seven days, I received the payment history on my account. Turns out, I had made payments each and every month since I was on a recurring billing cycle, except for one month in which I was late. It should have shown only one month (30 days) late. I called the creditor again and talked to the agent about the inaccuracies I had discovered on my report. Since what I had was proof that I had made my payments on time it was a simple fix, but I would still be left with one late 30 day negative mark. I was able to negotiate with the creditor to remove the negative mark on my report. I told the agent that I have been denied credit cards because of this inaccuracy on my file, due to their sloppy record keeping, and that it had cost me time and money to fix this problem. The agent understood and quickly deleted my negative marks for this account. In a nutshell, I went from having two 30 day late and one 120 day late records to having zero, all within one week. This alone boosted my score up 75 points! Even if your report isn't stellar, you can use this method to have the agents remove the negative status on your account.

Default Reporting Accounts This is an account that is usually past due and has been passed to a collection agency. These include past due cell phone or home phone bills, loans, a mortgage, or other credit accounts. Since most of these will end up with a

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collection agency, you can and should negotiate a lesser price or lump sum payment--more on this in a later chapter. (What is the following a list of?) •

Name of Creditor

•

Type of Account

•

Account Number

•

Account Open Date

•

Delinquency Status: 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 days late. May show as charged off.

•

Your credit limit on your loan

•

Original amount of loan

•

High Limit Reached

•

Current Balance

Some of these types of creditors are past hospitals bills, utility companies (may be cell phone companies), lawyers and professionals, landlords and/or property management companies, and insurance companies. These negative marks make up 50% of your credit report and have the greatest impact on your score. When your report shows 120, 150 days late, or charged off, this can dramatically lower your credit score. Since this debt usually falls into the hands of collection agencies, you have some room to negotiate. Please see the negotiation section of this book for more information on how to successfully have your negative marks removed all while paying 50% off the balance.

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Inquiries can remain on your credit report for two years. Again, these are somewhat easy to remove. Bankruptcies can remain on your report from the date of last activity for no more than ten years. There was a very important statement in that last sentence. Did you get it? It says the date of last activity. For example, if you are already seven years into your bankruptcy and you decide to fight it or make payments, it will update from that day forward and start the 10 year mark all over again. So if you have only a couple more years left, it may be worth it to leave it alone until the ten years are over. Paid Tax Liens may be reported for no more than seven years. Lawsuits and judgments may be reported from the initial date of entry for no more than seven years. Collection accounts, charge-offs, and other marks may be reported from the date of last activity for no more than seven years. If the collection agency sells the debt to another company, then the reporting may start over again. Overdue child support may be reported for no more than seven years.

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How long will it take to clean my credit? If you follow the plan that I have laid out for you in this book, it should take about two years until you won't be turned down by a major credit card or loan. It took me only one month to catapult my credit score. Most cases will vary depending on the amount of debt, negative items, and the time you invest into cleaning your credit. Again, I went from a 520 to a 655 in less than 30 days!

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Chapter 4 How To Assess Your Debt

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ssessing your debt is the first step to raising your credit score and cleaning your plate of past actions. In order to know what you need to fix and repair, you NEED to see it in front of your face. So if you have

not paid and printed your three credit reports from www.Transunion.com, please do it now. If you have emergencies like a coming eviction, an IRS seizure, or a foreclosure on your house - you must act on these first! These debts are your first priorities. In many cases, these have the most devastating effect on your score, so we should attack these first.

Don't Be Afraid – Face Your Problems and Fears If you are anything like me, you would view your report, cringe and cry, and then put your report in a folder never to be seen again. That was what I used to do, but there came a point this past year where I realized enough is enough. I had to face my fears of calling my creditors, paying off my debts, and spending the time to clean my credit report. When it was all said and done - it was not that hard. Don't get me wrong, it was uncomfortable, but well worth the minor pain that I went through to now be able get a credit card, buy a new car, and get a loan on a house.

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So you, the person reading this book, I'm talking to you... get over it and face your fears. It's easier than you think. The funny thing is that my bill collectors were actually nice to me. :) Weird! I thought they were supposed to be rude jerks! Some are, but if you treat them like you want to be treated, they will do the same. Don't be a softy – stand your ground when you need to and be nice at other times. Later in the book I dive into some statements that you DON'T want to tell the creditors. Very important!

How To Deal With Your Debts You have a couple of options on how to deal with your debt. Read through here to find your best solution.

Sit Back And Do Nothing It may sound crazy, but in many cases this is your best move. For example, most negative marks will stay on your credit report for seven years. If you're six years into having this negative mark, you probably don't want to act on it, since in one year it will be removed. "They can't take anything you don't own." If you have very little income and property and you don't expect your situation to change in the near future, you may be known as a "judgment proof." In other words, if you've been sued, the state and federal laws prohibit creditors to collect things such as clothing, food, most Social Security, personal effects, disability benefits, unemployment, or public assistance. So if you don't have much, a creditor will usually write it off as a business loss if the debt is not too much.

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If you find it easier to get the money to pay for your debt, this method has worked for me and many others, as well. I don't recommend going through your credit cards or acquiring more debt to pay for your debt, because that's not the solution. The solution would be to negotiate a deal. Pay around 50% of the debt and have your negative mark removed. Hmmm... sounds like something I did. I had to borrow a decent amount of money from my parents to pay for an outstanding debt that was with me for a while. I was able to negotiate a lesser lump sum payment and have my negative marks removed. Since I did not speak to my creditors for a while on this matter, they assumed it was not going to be paid. This actually worked in my benefit when I went to negotiate a deal to pay less AND have my negative marks deleted. This may not work in all cases, but most creditors will work with you. It may not be during the first call that you will negotiate a lump sum payoff, but it will happen--just stay persistent. In the later chapters, I go further into detail on how you can negotiate a deal for your benefit.

Sell Some Assets Another way to raise money to pay off your debt is to sell a major asset such as a house, car, boat, or other expensive item. I was watching that TV show, MONEY MATTERS, not too long ago. It was about a family who had two brand new cars, a brand new house, a freshly installed exotic pool, and a wife who was spending money aimlessly--about $4,000 a month on clothes alone. They came to find out that their so-called "American Dream" was a $200,000 debt! Talk about being scared and overwhelmed! Man, my heart sank when I heard that. They had all the toys and doo-dad's, but kept digging themselves a very

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deep hole that they could not get out of. The host of the show gave them a list of things to sell to acquire some cash. They were to sell their brand new truck, possibly sell their house, go through her closet and sell her purses, shoes, and other useless items. They first tried to sell their truck, but unfortunately they were offered less than what they owed. They were "upside down." In this case, they had to keep the truck. They talked about selling their house, but the wife refused. When it was all said and done, they had sold her purses and shoes and only raised a few hundred dollars, but her spending habits were not under control. Listen folks: if you have an outstanding amount of debt over your head, weighing you down -- make a change! Sell your home, car, boat, all the extra junk that doesn't let you get ahead and will help you settle your financial problems. I had the opportunity to buy or lease a brand new car. I choose not to. Having that burden of a monthly payment was something I couldn't afford and I didn’t want the ever-lurking $350 or $400 bill each and every month. I ended up finding a great deal on a truck, paid it in full, and never looked back. I suggest buying a car or truck, not leasing, but that's just me. When I have lots of money I may look at a lease, but until then I buy my cars. Now, I'm not saying I'm paying $15,000 or even $10,000. I bought my nice truck for only $3,500. I bargained a trade and got a great, reliable truck. Whew, sorry about the tangent, but it's important that I stress to you that having the new car, new boat, and all the extra junk isn't really worth the headache. Sure, you have a Porsche, but you live with your parents! Get my point?

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This leads into our next method...

Cut Your Expenses Yes, this is the most important aspect of getting your credit back on track. Its simple math -- if you spend more than you bring in each month, then you will be in debt. Ok... we need to take some serious steps to control your spending and cut your expenses. I was amazed at how much I actually saved at the end of the month when I started to cut my expenses. I cut out many stupid expenses such as going out with friends and grabbing drinks. I live in South Florida and I gotta tell you, "grabbing a drink" isn't cheap anymore, especially when you have a girlfriend who wants one too. I'm talking at least $8-$12 per drink. That gets pretty expensive when you get two or three drinks. This was one stupid expense that I cut back on. Do you know how much money I saved? I was able to save almost $300 within my first month. Now my girlfriend knows better. She pays now... just kidding! We recognized where my spending was going and cut it back. It was that easynot only in this area of "moneysuck" spending, but others as well. Here are some examples of how you can cut back on your expenses: Shop at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, or Costco. Whew, shopping at Costco instead of an expensive grocery store has saved me hundreds each month. Buy in bulk and save (No, I'm not getting paid to tell you to shop at these stores). Cut back on your eating out. Wow! Again, South Florida is not cheap. Stop buying your morning coffee at Starbucks. That adds up to $4 a day, times 30 days = $120 just in coffee. Do ya' think you could use that money somewhere

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else? Maybe a vacation? Have your mom make your lunch. No seriously, make your lunch at home and bring it to work. You will eat healthier and save a ton of money instead of wasting it. Conserve on your living expenses, gas, electricity, water. We shut off the AC and all the lights before we leave for the day. My roommates know better than to leave their fan cranking away or the ac blowin' at no one. Huge savings! Eliminate the extra subscription services. Tivo anyone? Get rid of it! HBO, Cinemax, Disney Channel, Playboy Channel? GET RID OF IT NOW! Listen: you've got some debt to take care of. Plus, South Park is better on regular cable on Comedy Central. Do you still have a regular phone line? Bah... get with the program! If you currently have a home phone and are being charged with long distance calls, you ARE being raped by the phone company. There are so many free and inexpensive phone services now that it's a no-brainer NOT to switch and save money.

Ways To Cut Back Your Spending Use Your Cell Phone If you're paying too much for your cell phone, look for another carrier that’s cheaper. Here's my story on cell phones...

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In college I had Verizon cell phone service and because of my business I was making calls all across the country. I had free long distance, but I only had 1,000 minutes. I was paying $150 a month and I ALWAYS went over. In two months I ended up racking up a bill of $1,092 dollars! I quickly canceled my service, then switched to Sprint! Another bad move...

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Same thing with Sprint... not enough minutes and I ended up canceling that service also and had a debt of $247.67 to pay. I ended up negotiating a 50% discount and was able to have the negative mark removed from my report.

There is a service here in Florida called MetroPCS. I pay roughly $58 a month and have FREE long distance and UNLIMITED minutes. My suggestion for you if your cell phone bill is expensive, is to look for a local carrier in your area.

Voice Over IP Question: Do you have a computer? Do you have DSL or cable internet? If you answered yes to both of these questions then you win - I will pay your debt off! Just kidding... actually if you have a fast Ethernet internet connection there are many phone services that are run through your internet cable that allow you to make phone calls.

Vonage I have a service called Vonage for my business phone. It runs through my internet connection and costs me $24.95 per month for Unlimited calls within Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. To call other countries it costs between $0.02 - $0.07 per minute–pretty cheap. It's cheap, extremely cost effective, and totally worth the switch... Oh yeah, and they can transfer your existing phone number. I was able to get my book subscriber a discount of one month free: www.Vonage.com

Skype Another solution which I think is awesome is Skype. It's owned by eBay and it allows free calls to and from Skype users. So, if you have relatives in another country and if you both have Skype, you can chat for free. All it takes is a cable or DSL internet connection and a microphone. Skype also allows people to buy a "Skype-In" number which is a telephone number with your area code that will ring to your computer. My buddy bought a year’s worth of outside calling (not Skype phone numbers or user) for $14.95 for the year. A great service that can save you thousands! Again, I was able to get a special discount for my members. Here's a 20% off coupon: www.Skype.com

Cut Back on Shopping Buy clothes, furniture, and other items needed, not wanted at "hand-medown" stores such as Goodwill, thrift stores, and other similar shops. I'm a big fan of vintage t-shirts so every once in a while I'll stop at a Goodwill store to peek around and low and behold, I'll find a killer t-shirt. Not to mention, I bought some office furniture at Goodwill and basically stole the items.

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For my office I bought a black leather couch for $50 - it was practically brand new. Sure, we could have gone to a Rooms-To-Go and bought a couch for $350, but come on now, we're talking about saving some dollars–some needed cash to pay off bills and get back on track. I also bought two desks that matched (which is hard to find) for only $120. I saved around $550 shopping at Goodwill for my office. Need furniture? Go to Goodwill buy a desk or whatever you need and get creative--paint it, polish it, and clean it up. Just because it resembles your grandma's desk or chair doesn't mean it has to look exactly like it. Go online and get some creative items for your new items. Watch HGTV and get some ideas from their decorative shows. Creativity = Saving Money

Vacation and Getaways Did I mention that I got a roundtrip ticket to Costa Rica for $158.42? Yes, it's true--look here:

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Yes, there are deals out there. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and very inexpensive to travel to. Spirit Airlines has some great deals to the Caribbean and Central America Countries. A friend of mine just bought a roundtrip ticket to Lima, Peru to see Machu Picchu for $152.45 – round trip! Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? It's not. Spirit Airlines always has deals. I suggest you sign up on their email notification list here: Spirit Airlines Email List The deals to look for are usually on Fridays. They called it the Fibonacci Fridays, or something like that.

FREE Budgeting Software Okay, since you've now assessed your debt and found ways to cut back on your spending, you need to start budgeting your money. Now, this may seem hokey, but if you are having financial troubles, you NEED to budget yourself and your spending. A couple of days ago, I heard about a great website called www.Expensr.com It was started by two young web developers who were in financial trouble themselves. Expensr is a FREE online website the will help you track your expenses, setup budgets, give analysis reports, and will allow you to compare yourself with other members on the website. You can see a comparison of your spending and saving with other "25 year old" people also spending on education, entertainment, saving, food, etc.

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I've created a great video that will guide you through the website. You can see it here: (You need to introduce the “Mint” site also, otherwise readers will be wondering why it’s thrown in.)

http://www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com/videos/expensr.html

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Chapter 5 How To Legally Dispute Negative Marks on Your Credit Report

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ot your attention yet? Good. Because in this section I'm going to show you how to legally dispute the negative reports on your file and win! First of all, you do have the legal right to dispute information on

your report based on the Fair Credit Reporting Act. There are many ways to dispute the items on your report. You can dispute them over the internet, on the phone, or through the mail. I found the most effective method for getting items deleted to be sending a certified letter, along with documentation, to the bureaus that are reporting the negative information. Once you dispute an item, the agencies must get in touch with you within 30 days and 45 days if you send additional information within the 30 day investigation. It's a simple process. You dispute an item and they will try to verify the items through their huge network of reporting agencies. If they cannot verify the items being investigated then they have to delete the item. What most credit repair agencies "try" to do is bombard the bureaus in hopes that they cannot keep up with the amount of letters and end up deleting the item.

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The Ranking of Bureaus In my experience, when dealing with the three major credit bureaus, I found that they all have their own systems for verifying, deleting, and editing your report. After talking to all three on the phone, through email, through snail mail, and through my own experience I came up with these results for each:

Equifax: Verification Speed: FAST (within 25 days or less) Deletion Speed: FAST (usually within 20 days) Most Effective Form: Sending Letters (I had seven inquiries deleted with one letter) Fastest Deletions: Inquiries

Transunion: Verification Speed: SLOW (30-45 Days) Deletion Speed: SLOW (they verify the heck out of your credit) Most Effective Form: Online Disputes and Snail Mail (don't forget to send documentation with your letters to speed up the process) Fastest Deletions: Inquiries

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Experian: Verification Speed: FAST (within 30 days or less) Deletion Speed: FAST (usually within 20 days) Most Effective Form: Sending Letters and Online Disputes Fastest Deletions: Inquiries

Although I do mention the most effective way for deleting a record for each bureau, the most powerful way to have your inquiry or negative mark deleted from your report is to provide documentation along with a letter stating the problem.

How Do I Send a Dispute Through The Mail? Simple. There are two ways to do this. 1. You can use the form that the bureau supplied you within your credit report. This is a good form to use since they have a fast system to recognize these pages and can process your request for an investigation faster. You will receive this with your credit report in the mail. It's usually the last page within your report.

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2. Use my template. I have supplied you with a template that you can use to send to the bureaus. I recommend that you use your computer to create this form. These templates were included when you purchased the book. Send this letter to the three bureaus and wait for the response. Remember that they have 30 days to respond to the investigation. If you don't hear from them within 30 or 45 days, send a follow up letter and also send a letter the Federal Trade Commission. IMPORTANT: Don't forget to keep a copy for your records! Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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Disputing Incorrect Balances If you find a balance on your credit report that is incorrect, you can dispute this. For example, I helped a friend of mine clean his credit report and on one of his accounts it showed a balance of $3,532, but a high balance of $2,634. Did you get that? It shows that he had a balance that is higher than his high balance. In other words, this isn't right so it is a great dispute to bring up with the bureau.

Disputing Delinquencies If the account is charged-off, there should be no delinquencies after the closed date. With these types of accounts you need documentation to back up your claims – this is very important. You'll want to look for undated late-pays. Meaning, if there is no date stamped on the late-pay then how do they know it is late? Simply write a letter to the bureau reporting the late-pay and ask them to provide you with a list of the dates of all late-pays for the account numbers. It should read something like this:

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Disputing Incorrect Balance You may find that one or more of your accounts has an incorrect balance. This happens quite often and can harm your score. This is a simple statement asking the bureau to change the status of the account to the correct status.

Disputing Public Records The interesting thing about public records is that the courthouse does not furnish records, but somehow they appear on your credit report. So now that you know this, you can use this against the credit bureaus to have your public records deleted.

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First, send them a letter disputing the information in your public records. If it gets deleted, then it gets deleted and you're good, but if it gets verified within the 30 day window, send another letter stating the following:

Follow-Up Letter After Call With Agent After I speak with a collection agency or account rep and they say they will remove the negative item off of my credit report, I will send a letter informing them again about the deletion. Here is the simple statement:

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Another Example - Follow-up Letter After Call With Agent

How I Had Seven Inquiries Deleted With One Simple Letter Over the last couple of years, I received hundreds and thousands of credit card offers. Some I tried to take advantage of, while others ended up in my B-pile (for those of you who know Gary Halbert). The B-pile is junk mail. One card I applied for was an American Express Blue Card--blue for business. I needed some capital to take my business to the next level (not a good idea to finance with credit cards), so I decided to apply for this card. Low and behold – I was denied. I had bad credit and not enough good credit to give American Express the assurance that I would pay it back. I would have, but I'm glad they didn't approve me.

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This past January, I noticed the inquiry for this card, another card, and some other miscellaneous inquiries that I have never seen before, totaling a hefty chunk: a chunk that was driving my score way down. In one of the books I read that they had a standard letter to send to the credit bureaus to inform them of an inaccurate inquiry on my report. I took this letter, gave it my own twist and --- it worked! Here's the letter:

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It's pretty crazy to think about, but this letter did get the majority of my inquiries deleted across all three bureaus.

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Follow These Steps To Delete Your Inquiries 1. Create a letter like the one above and put your inquiries in the boxes. Don't be afraid if you do remember making these inquiries, it doesn’t hurt to try. And in the end, it will benefit you greatly. 2. Before sending this letter, don't forget to include: this letter, a copy of your social security number and driver's license. (Just the fact that you sent this information increases your chances of having these inquiries deleted) 3. Send this same letter to the three credit reporting agencies. Here are their addresses: Transunion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 Equifax P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 Experian P.O. Box 9556 Allen, TX 75013 4. Send the letters by certified mail. Use USPS, certified mail. It's about $1.50 per letter from the post office. In most cases, if you DO NOT do this they will simply throw your letter away and say they never

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received it. Also, this comes in handy when you send your follow up letters. Never ask for a signature, it slows down the process and will most likely result in them NOT accepting your letter. 5. Simply drop it in the mail and wait for the response. In most cases, you will receive a letter from the bureaus, informing you that they have started an investigation for these inquiries.

What do I do if I could not get an inquiry deleted? There are a couple of ways to do this. 1. Call the agency responsible for the inquiry and state that you did not authorize their company to run your credit. Be very nice to these people, since they deal with people complaining all day – crack a joke, but be nice. They hold the key to having this removed. Most are very nice and can issue a deletion of the inquiry with you on the phone. The bureaus, especially Transunion, may ask for documentation from the agency requesting that this be deleted. You MUST request that they send you a receipt or letter stating that this has been deleted from your report. Ask the agent to send you a letterhead with their logo, stating to remove the inquiry from your credit report. Here's what I did… I had an inquiry and Transunion wanted a letter from the company requesting the deletion. I called and asked to speak to the person in

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charge of deleting inquiries from credit reports. They sent me to the right department and I spoke with the gentleman. I was very nice and explained my situation. I mentioned that I had some suspicious activity on my report and that I had never requested this inquiry. The agent was very nice and ended up sending me a letter and a letter to the three bureaus, asking to remove the deletion. I also sent him and the three bureaus a letter. Here's the letter:

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2. Write them a letter. In my case, prior to contacting the inquiry agencies, I had a "fraud alert" placed on my credit file. This gave me leverage power to mention to the agencies that there has been some suspicious activity on my report and it was not me who requested for credit. Only do this if it is absolutely true. This is your trump card, if you may. Have them do the same thing as above and you're off to the races!

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Chapter 6 How to Negotiate With Collection Agencies and Creditors and WIN!

T

he first thing to realize in the negotiating process is that YOU are the one in power. You are the one in control because they want YOUR money. If it has been many years that they have been trying to collect

on an account and it is hurting your credit, the best thing to do to remove this is to negotiate a deal. In this section, I'm going to discuss the various ways to negotiate with creditors and collection agencies to have your negative items deleted and your debts owed dropped by at least 50%.

How To Stop The Annoying Phone Calls Yes, it's true. You can stop all the harassing phone calls from the creditors and have it set as a mail only response. Simply write them a letter stating to cease all communication with you. By law they must stop contacting you, except for the following reasons: •

The collections efforts have ended

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•

They are going to sue you

Note: You can download the letter in the resources section that was provided to you when you purchased the book.

How To Negotiate Your Debt First off, you have to realize that collection agents are NOT your friend. Their whole goal is to get your money. They will say everything that is in their power to get you to pay. For example, when I was negotiating my debt over a period of two weeks, I spoke with an agent who said I should wait and pay it off in full because if I negotiate a discount, then I would have to pay tax on the discounted amount, which is true. Don't ask me because I don't know exactly. So instead of me deleting my negative marks and eliminating my debt, she kept trying to get me to wait and pay it all off. She said, "I'm looking out for you." Well, I didn't buy it. It would have taken me a REALLY long time to pay it off. I ended up paying 50% of the total debt to eliminate and delete it totally.

The Process Start the process by contacting your account collections department. If your debt is $1000, offer them $200 to settle the debt. If they want to split the difference, don't do it. Stick to your guns since that is all of the money that you have to pay this debt off. Once they see that you are willing to pay, again, don't budge. Tell them that in order for you to pay this off you will need to have this item deleted as well. In Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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some cases, they will ask you to pay more. It may be worth the extra money to have it deleted.

What Not To Say Don't mention:

"I am borrowing the money from my family." "A friend of mine is going to help me out." Any time that the collection agent knows this, they will hold out and not strike a deal with you. You need to make it apparent that you have no money and may be claiming bankruptcy. This is the situation that you want to portray to the collection agent.

You Struck An Agreement If and when you strike an agreement, first, before any money has exchanged hands, you need to have the collection agency send you a letter stating the deal. 1. The items will be deleted 2. The settlement amount will be $xx.xx Do not send any money until you receive this letter. If you pay before, demand that you get a letter of the agreement you made prior to paying. If they say that the deal is only good for the moment, tell them that you are willing to make the payment but you need it in writing. Don't take any shortcuts Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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here.

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Chapter 7 Seven Proven Techniques to Build Positive Credit to Explode Your Credit Score!

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K, you're doing just great! If you've gotten this far in the book you've learned about the many ways to repair your credit and restore it back to a sustainable level. Building good, positive credit is the secret to

maintaining good credit.

Build Credit in Your Own Name This is very important. You must build your own credit in your own name. If you place a loan in your spouse's name, that person will build the credit, not you. On the other hand, you can leverage your spouse's credit to build your own. For example, let's say that you are applying for a credit card. Ask the creditor to consider your spouse’s credit. If you have a joint account with your spouse, this is something to mention to the creditor to help build your creditability and get the loan.

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The Five C's Of Great Credit When applying for a loan from a bank, most lenders will rate you based on these five c's of credit:

Character Let's face it. If you dress like you just came from a football game, people view you differently than if you dress to impress. When applying for a loan LOOK YOUR BEST. Your appearance will tell a lot about your character and you as a person. If someone came to you with cruddy clothes, paint on their shoes, and greasy hair, your first impression would be to push away. Character is your financial reputation in the marketplace. Character is the C of credit that makes a world of difference because it's not just your credit score--in fact, credit score is a very small part of the C of credit. Character is your reputation in the financial community, in the business community and for most of us, our reputation is reflected in our credit score and our credit report because that’s just an easy way to compile it. But there are other things that we can do to increase our character and that’s why I love this C. - it means you can increase your net worth, but ultimately it's just a number and the next person that comes in the door who has a number better than you is going to look better for a loan.

Capacity Capacity is your ability to repay the loan. If your income is only $25,000 a year and you want to buy a $350,000 house, the bank will look at this and pass. You simply don't have the capacity to handle the loan. Creditors will also examine current and past credit card relationships, credit balances, bank loans, and your payment history. Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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Collateral If you have ever been to a bank to get a loan, they usually ask you if you have any collateral. This is land, a home, a car, mutual funds, or other tangible assets that they could acquire if you default on the loan. If you own a home, this is great collateral since there is built up equity.

Conditions Now, Conditions are the only C of credit that really doesn’t have anything to do with you. Conditions are about the Global Economy, the National Economy, the Local Economy, and the conditions of a particular bank and whether they even have money to lend at any given time. Even a particular banker maybe wary because the last loan they made went into default in the very first month and they are a little shy. A little loan shy that happens because ultimately lending decisions are made by people.

Capital Capital is the sum of all assets. Creditors want to see that you have sufficient capital and income coming in to support the loan. They will look at your personal resources, business resources, property resources, and other resources to determine your "capital worthiness."

Positive Credit Builder #1 Get a Credit Card I'm sure there are many people that are reading this saying, "Oh no. No more credit cards." Well, if you have some already then great, but if you don't you

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need to try and get one. If you have more than five credit cards, in my opinion that is too much. Obviously, you want to be somewhat financially stable when you start applying for credit cards. This is most likely how you got into this mess to begin with. The easiest places to apply for a credit card are department stores and gasoline companies. These are easiest because they usually give small lines of credit--usually around $100 or so. If you cannot get a credit card from these sources, a second resource would be applying at a department store such as Office Depot or Best Buy. These again, are somewhat easy places to get credit, especially if you are going to make a purchase. When filling out an application, make yourself look good. Here's an example: I recently applied for an Apple credit card for the new computer I was going to buy. I need to build my credit up, so I decided to get a line of credit from them. It was an easy application that asked the basic questions. Where do you work? Do you own or rent? How much do you make per year?

I emphasized myself a little bit so I could get the credit. And it worked! The credit card is a 90 days same as cash credit card and I will pay 80% off within that time. However, to help build my credit. I will leave some debt on this card at a 22% interest rate to help establish my credit.

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Bite The Bullet To Build Your Credit You probably read that and said, "Ouch 22%!" Yes, that's right. I did this because I need to establish credit in my own name to build my own credit score. So yes, I will be paying 22% on some of the money, but in the end, to pay an extra $20-$50 extra is well worth it to establish credit.

Get a Regular Credit Card Yes. Having a regular credit card can boost your score hundreds of points. It may not boost it right away, but I can assure you that if you use your card and pay on time, then you will slowly see your credit score go up. Again, we're trying to build positive marks on our credit report. But you must pay on time. DO NOT MISS A PAYMENT.

Application Tips •

Been Pre-approved? Take advantage of it! If you cannot get a credit card and you have been pre-approved for a gas card, department store or other, this will help build positive credit for you.

•

Emphasize Your Credit Application. You want to look good here. Obviously don't lie, but don't make yourself look like a goob.

•

Apply with a company you've done business with before. If you had a credit card with a company before, contact them about opening another account. For example, I used my bank to open a savings, checking, business account, and cd's. Then when it came time to open a Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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credit card, I had already done a substantial amount of business with them so it was a no-brainer. Also, create a relationship with your banker. •

Apply when your credit score is best. No seriously, you should apply when your credit is good and decent enough that you know you won't get turned down. If your credit sucks, you're only going to drive down your score by applying for another card.

•

Find the best deal. You can go to www.bankcard.com to find some great rates from credit card companies. You can find many cards that fit your needs. Choose wisely.

What To Write On An Application I’m going to show you how to complete a credit card application to ensure you're approved, as long as your credit score is decent. Obviously, I can't guarantee it, but here's what I did… Here we go…

General Information For your general information, you want to fill out the address that you have stayed at the longest. If you are constantly moving around, the credit card agencies see this as a sign of instability. For the years of residency, I would suggest putting at least two year’s residency. The longer it is, the more stable of a customer you are.

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Monthly rent: Put your monthly rent or mortgage payment. The higher it is, the higher your income should be to sustain the income to debt ratio. Residence Status: Rent or own? If you own your home or residence there is collateral that the bank or credit card company could collect on if you default on the loan.

Employment and Finances Occupation: If you are self-employed, the credit card companies do NOT like to see this. I would recommend saying that you are an executive or professional. When you are self-employed, they view this as another sign of instability, since nine out of ten businesses fail within the first year. Employer: Space to put your employer's information. If you are self-employed you can put your company's name here. Household Income: The interesting thing about household income is that it includes your "household." This includes your wife, children, grandparents, or

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others living in the residence. So if your wife makes $50,000 a year and you make $35,000 per year, your household income is $85,000. Length of Employment: Obviously, they want to see that you have been working for this company for some time now. The longer, the better – the shorter, the worse. Checking or Savings Account: Remember I mentioned this earlier in the book, but this is important. You should have opened both accounts prior to filling out a credit card application.

What To Avoid When Applying For a Credit Card Avoid high interest rates. I mentioned that I got a 22% credit card from Apple. I did this for 4 reasons: Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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1. It was 90 days, zero % interest 2. My credit score was good enough (650 at the time) 3. I knew I could pay most of it off in that time 4. I needed to build my credit. Stay away from cards with high rates, transaction fees, and other charges that you will have to pay per year or per quarter.

Understand the Interest Calculations Some credit card companies will charge you the interest of the original amount, not the amount after the introductory rate. For example, you charged $1,000 on the card and at the time the interest rate kicks in you have $200 to pay off. The creditor will charge you the % on the $1,000.

Avoid High Annual or Monthly Interest Rates Simply put, you want a credit card that does not charge you an annual fee. There are plenty to choose from so find one that doesn't have this fee attached. Find a card with low interest rates and low fees. Fees include late pays, etc.

What Perks Are They Offering? When choosing a credit card, the perks are always a bonus. Some cards offer free miles (not so free), magazine subscriptions, free restaurant vouchers, and much more. Get the best card with the best perks! Again, be aware of what I mentioned before.

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Positive Credit Builder #2 Secured Credit Card Just as the word sounds, a "secured" credit card is just that. It's secured by the funds you deposit into this account. Unlike an "unsecured" credit card, in which the creditor lends you the money, a "secured" credit card is where you deposit funds onto that card and therefore, you can use it to buy items and also to reestablish your credit. Secured credit cards can be quite expensive. Since the majority of applicants for secured cards are people with credit problems, the companies tend to take advantage of these people. The interest rate on a credit card is typically around 22% and often higher along with annual fees, and initially high first payments. Although you are building credit through this method, the bureaus don't give secured credit cards much weight. A great thing about getting a secured credit card is that over a period of time, the lender will allow you to convert your card from secured to unsecured if you pay your bills on time and show good payment history. Most secured credit cards can be obtained through your local bank and smaller banks.

How To Get a Secured Credit Card First go to google.com and search "secured credit card." Many listings for secured cards will come up. You can find many different rates online since they all are competing. You can always contact your banker or your bank branch to open a secured card. I would go in person to open this account. Don't forget to dress to kill. First impressions are everything. Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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Positive Credit Builder #3 Close Unused Accounts Here's the simple fix. Close your old credit cards that you do not use. In most cases, these are the cause of your credit sorrows. Here are the types of accounts you should consider closing: Close accounts you don't use. If you are not using an account, even if there is a balance on the card, consider closing it down or transferring your balance to another card. Close High Rate Cards. I would suggest that you close the cards with the highest interest rates first or try and transfer the balance. Close delinquent accounts. You should close these accounts before the creditor does. On your credit file it should appear "closed by consumer request."

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Positive Credit Builder #4 Open Deposit Bank Accounts When applying for a credit card I was asked the questions:

"Do you have a checking account?" "Do you have a savings account?" I never knew it was important until I read this in my application. The good news is that having deposit accounts can greatly increase your credit score. If you do not have a bank checking or savings account, they are quite simple to setup. On the other hand, if you cannot open an account due to Chex Systems, you still can open another type of account. If you don't have a savings account, go open one now. It's easy and many banks don't charge you anything to have this account. I know Washington Mutual has specials for their checking and savings accounts that cost zero, nada, zilch. So Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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you can open a saving's accounts for free and this will help boost your credit score as well.

Positive Credit Builder #5 Secret Weapon – Passbook Loan This is a special technique that many real estate people do to establish good credit fast. I did this quite effectively many years back. This method alone will help you build great long-lasting credit and relationships with banks. What you need to do first is have about $3,000 that you can put into savings accounts or cd's with a three banks.

Step 1:

Find Three Small Banks

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You're going to find three small banks that will allow you to open a savings account with $1,000.00. The banks that will typically do this are small local banks, so look in your yellow pages.

Step 2:

Ask The Following Introduce yourself and ask to speak to a bank representative about opening a savings account. Mention to the banker that you wish to establish credit with their bank and would like to open up a savings account with $500 or $1,000. Ask the banker if it will be possible to take out a loan secured by the funds in this savings account. If it's not, then contact another bank. You are looking for a bank that will allow you to deposit the money in the savings account, and loan on it later down the road.

Step 3:

Open Three Savings Accounts with Three Banks Open savings accounts with three different banks. If you can only deposit $500, then do that. You want to deposit the minimal amount to get credit established. Now go out and repeat this process with two other banks. After six months or so, go back to the bank and take out a loan for the amount you have deposited in your savings account. This will give you three new banks where you can take out a loan. Deposit that money back into the savings account, and pay it off every month. Your goal here is to establish good credit. When it's all said and done, you will have three places that gave you a loan and with whom you have established

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relationships. You can go back to them at a later time if you ever need a larger loan or other form of business.

Positive Credit Builder #6 Ask For A Credit Increase This is the easiest way to increase your credit score. Ask for a credit increase. The bureaus look at something called your debt to credit ration. This means that if you have $1,000 credit limit and you have spent $500, you now have a 50% debt to credit ratio. If you have spent $1,000, then you have a 0% ratio. You want to stay within the 20% - 50% range to have a healthy credit score. Well, to raise your score and extend your ratio to the 50% or 30% range, ask for a credit increase. What happens is, your credit limit increases while your debt stays the same. Copyright © 2007 www.37DaysToCleanCredit.com

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Make sense…? Give it a try and see your score move up.

Positive Credit Builder #7 Piggybacking – Become an Authorized User This is a very simple and extremely effective way to boost your credit score. This is when a friend, family member, or associate adds you to their credit card to help build your credit. For example, if your friend has great credit and has never been late on their credit card, they would be a great candidate to ask if you can be added to their card as an "authorized user." If you can find someone to add you to one of their "good" accounts, you can piggybank off of their good credit to help boost yours. It's important to have the card holder request to the credit card company to have you added as an authorized user and have a card issued in your name. You will receive a card in the mail, but cut this up as soon as possible. The goal of this is to help boost your credit, NOT use their money. Another important thing to remember is if your friend or relative does have a negative mark on this account, you will also receive a negative mark, so they need to have a perfectly clean account.

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Positive Credit Builder #8 Co-Signers and Guarantors If you cannot get a loan or credit card in your name, most creditors will ask you if you can get a co-signer. A co-signer is a person who will assume the responsibility of your loan in case you default. The guarantor promises the creditor that they will pay the loan if the debtor does not pay.

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Before getting someone to sign on the dotted line as a co-signer or guarantor, they need to understand the rules of the game. They will be held responsible if you default and their credit score will diminish if any problems arise. In some cases, your credit score will not increase or the information will not appear on your report. Simply ask the creditor if it will appear on yours. You want it to appear so you can start building credit in your name.

Now Go Fix Your Credit! You now have all of the tools that you need to fix your credit in a very short time. Remember that your credit score is everything! Without a good score, credit report, assess your debt, dispute negative marks on your report, negotiate with credit agencies, and build positive credit. All the tools and techniques have been laid out for you in this book – all you have to do now is make a plan, implement the steps and get started. Good luck!

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