The term “statute of limitation” where it concerns your credit reports, simply refers to the maximum amount of time that a derogatory/negative item can continue to be reported. When the statute of limitation passes for any derogatory/negative item on your credit report, that item should disappear. It is incredible how many of these time limit violations may appear on your credit report. Some of these violations are intentional as in the case of many collection accounts that we see, and others are simply due to failure of the highly complex credit reporting system. This is where an effective credit repair company such as Vitesse Financial can step in to dispute these items and have them corrected on your credit report.

Unfortunately, there are some companies that scam people looking for legitimate credit repair services. To avoid being a victim of this, be careful of the following:
1. Companies that require payment of services before they have been done.
2. Companies who do not inform you of your legal rights.
3. Companies who recommend that you create a new credit file by applying for an Employer Identification Number. This is illegal.
4. Companies who guarantee that ALL negative items will be removed. No company can legally guarantee this.
5. Unsolicited emails from credit repair companies. Do not respond to these. Many are fraudulent.
6. Companies who claim they will pay your creditors from money you pay them, that is placed in an escrow account.
7. Companies who try to get you to join their program without providing you with a contract.
8. Companies who claim they can repair your credit within a few days.
9. Companies who have a 900 phone number. Reputable credit repair companies will have a toll-free number.

If you find yourself in a foreclosure situation, you can expect a significant drop in your FICO score, experts guess between 100-200 points. At that point, there is no fast credit repair. Patience and diligence is the key. While a foreclosure is not usually as harmful to your credit score as a bankruptcy, it will probably take over 6 months to see some signs of credit repair after foreclosure. Your score won’t reach optimal numbers (over 800,) until the seven year mark, when the foreclosure drops of your credit file.
According to recent lending guidelines, “Because of the credit crunch, Fannie Mae has stated new requirements before you can be approved again for a home loan:
• Foreclosure: 5 years from completion date; additionally between 5 and 7 years you can only purchase a personal residence, and must have a minimum of 10% down and 680 credit score. Also you can only do limited cash-out; no regular cash-outs are permitted. After 7 years you’re back at square one.
• Deed in lieu: 4 years from completion date; also 10% down payment required between years 4 and 7.
• Short sale: 2 years from completion date.
• Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 2 years from discharge date or 4 years from dismissal date
• All other bankruptcies: 4 years from either the discharge or dismissal date.”

Yes. The concept here is related to “credit utilization.” The term credit utilization refers to your debt-to-credit ratio combined with your available credit. More importantly, it is responsible for over 30% of your credit score. Today, financial experts do not recommend closing credit cards because it will increase your credit utilization, which negatively impacts your FICO score. Your target utilization should be under 10%, and the lower the better especially if your goal is credit repair. For those with damaged credit, this is very helpful

According to the Federal Trade Commission on their website, www.ftc.gov, by law you are entitled to ask for an investigation of any inaccurate or incomplete information reflected in your personal credit report file and it’s free. Some people choose to hire organizations, often referred to as professional credit repair companies, to investigate on their behalf, but you are also allowed to dispute any discrepancies on your own.
On their website, www.ftc.gov, the Federal Trade Commission cites the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA):
• You’re entitled to a free report if a company takes “adverse action” against you, like denying your application for credit, insurance, or employment. You have to ask for your report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. The notice will give you the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company. You’re also entitled to one free report a year if you’re unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days; if you’re on welfare; or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, including identity theft.
• Each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — is required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months, if you ask for it. The three companies have a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address for consumers to order the free annual credit reports the government entitles them to. To order, click on annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

The first notice you will receive when you a new collection account is opened against you is a Collection Letter from the company who recently acquired your unpaid debt. Collection letters must include, or be directly followed by, a written notice including your right to dispute the debt within 30 days of the date of the letter. Please note that collectors do not like to validate debt or process credit repair demands because from a collector’s perspective they just want to send out collection letters and collect money. They would much prefer not to deal with debtors over the details. If you do not dispute the debt within the 30 day period allowed by the first collection letter, the collector will probably ignore your request.

If you do not recognize the debt you have the right to request the name and phone number of the original creditor. Collection letters are supposed to include the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owned, however in many instances the debt has been sold and resold so many times that the original creditors name may not be indicated. If you do recognize the debt, then you should research the statute of limitation before contacting the collection company to make payment arrangements.

Debt validation can be a very powerful credit repair tool, but it must be approached properly to get the best result. When done right debt validation can have great results including proof that the collection company has the legal right to collect and an explanation of the amount due. There are also many cases when the collection company, when unable to provide the documentation required, will quietly disappear and bother you no more.

VA loans, or more appropriately termed “VA Insured Loans” are loans where the Veteran’s Administration insures the lender against any losses the lender may incur due to default. VA loans are only available to veterans possessing a Certificate of Eligibility, or generally speaking, almost all active duty and honorably discharged service members are eligible. Here are a few other options for eligibility of a VA loan. You may be eligible if any one of the following are true:
• Served 181 days during peacetime (Active Duty)
• Served 90 days during war time (Active Duty)
• Served 6 years in the Reserves or National Guard
• You are the spouse of a service member who was killed in the line of duty.
If you qualify for a VA loan, you may still need some credit repair help to actually get the loan. VA loans may not look specifically at your credit score, but they do look at your history for the past 12 months to make sure you haven’t had any late payments or other delinquencies during that time. If you find that you qualify for a VA loan, but are having issues with late payments, call Vitesse Financial for assistance. We will work to repair your credit so that you can buy that home you’ve always dreamed of.

Rebuilding credit can seem daunting, but avoiding a few common mistakes can make all the difference in the world.
First, do not fail to dispute negative events on your credit report. This should be your first plan of attack for bad credit repair because up to 20% of negative items disputed will fall of your credit report when disputed. Not to mention that some negatives are errors to begin with, and these errors are worth going after as they negatively impact your credit score.
Second, do not forget to document! As you are fixing credit, you’ll want to note dates, proposed actions, points of discussion and the person you spoke to. When you mail disputes document the date sent and send certified mail with a return receipt. In addition, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit bureaus have thirty days to respond regarding the results of their investigation. If they fail to do so, the events under investigation must be removed. For more information on credit repair, take a look at www.VitesseFinancial.com

The spiraling downfall of our country’s economic backbone has played a bigger role on day to day life than most people realize. Because large corporations are cutting back every angle possible, they have turned to being more conservative to stay afloat. Having high balances on credit cards has always played a negative impact on one’s credit score, but it is even more detrimental these days. Once you surpass the 10% available limit on a credit card you will see your credit score go down (i.e. your limit is $1000, once you go over $100). The higher that balance gets, the lower your score will go. Credit card companies are lowering people’s limit- which causes them to have a higher balance to available limit ratio than they initially had. This can increase your interest rate causing you to fork out even more money to these companies just in fees. Not only are credit card companies lowering people’s limits, they are often closing their customer’s credit cards which also affects one’s credit score. It truly is best to avoid credit card expenditures as much as possible. The long term affects of putting something on plastic isn’t worth it! During times like these, could you benefit from credit repair?