JAIN Credit Tipsheet

3. “Ok, I have a bad credit, what should I do next?”

You are not alone. 70 million Americans have bad credit post recession. If you have bad credit, I highly recommend that
you start by pulling your credit reports and your FICO scores. You can go to www.annualcreditreport.com for your reports
and you can go to www.myfico.com for your FICO scores. First you have to know your scores: 620 and below is poor
credit; 680 and below is fair credit. The best score to have is 720+ according to David Martin from CBS. 40% of Americans
are below this. If your score is below 720 then it is well worth finding out how to boost your scores as you can easily
qualify for low interest rates. Next, dispute the inaccurate and erroneous information from your reports. 96.4% of all
reports have mistakes in them according to a recent CNN report. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair
Debt Collections Practices Act, there are a lot of rules to how derogatory items should report. A credit specialist can
assist you in identifying these inaccuracies.

4. “Can I do credit repair myself?”

Yes!  You can absolutely do credit repair yourself. In this credit based society, consumers are finding it in their best
interest to become increasingly educated in the credit game. On average, 1 out of every 4 people who do their own
credit repair, successfully remove 20% of inaccurate derogatory items. Many of this fortunate 25% of disputing
consumers soon find that the bureaus and creditors can make the dispute process exceedingly difficult and rather
frustrating. “Why would they do that?” you ask.  Lets face the facts… dispute investigating is a costly service to
them that they provide to you free of charge.

Equipped with  knowledge of credit laws  (FCRA, FACTA, HIPAA, RESPA, TILA, FDCPA, CROA to name a few), reporting
and scoring guidelines, and creditor behaviors, good credit restoration companies can significantly increase the
deletion percentage of inaccuracies and successfully navigate through bureau and creditor stall tactics. Credit restoration
companies, in truth, are convenience services. They are specialists who can get more done in a shorter period of
time. They can save you time, money, frustration and provide sound advice.  So in conclusion, yes, you can absolute
perform your own credit repair, but you can also represent yourself in a court of law too ;-)

5. “How can I identify good credit repair companies from bad credit repair companies?”

Good credit repair companies are in compliancy with CROA (Credit Repair Organization Act).  They do not make promises
or guarantees that they can absolutely remove all derogatory items on your credit report.  Nor do they make
promises to remove specific items. To do so is illegal.  A good credit repair company will be upfront about expectations
and most will provide consumer education about credit. They are happy to provide recent proof and/ or good references
about their work.

Bad credit repair companies are not compliant with CROA.  They make bold promises and statements. They charge
upfront fees and do not effectively render services. They can probably provide proof of their work too, however
note the dates. 
If the proof shown is from 2 years ago, then you might want to ask for recent cases.

6. What factors make up my credit score?

A good credit score is composed of many things. 35% is payment history. That is how do you pay your bills? On time?
Late? Or not at all? The over 65% is your credit mix. How long have you managed credit? How many accounts do you
have are open and active? How much do you owe? And how are you managing your credit card debt?

This diagram is a pie chart from FICO of how your credit score is composed: