Now all of the incorrect addresses have been deleted from your 3 credit reports in response to the letter written during the last post. Remember, to keep copies of every single piece of correspondence sent to the credit bureaus and send everything utilizing CMRRR (Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested). Persistance and a variety of approaches for each account gives the greatest chance of achieving the desired outcome. This is the third post in a Credit Repair Series for those readers who want to tackle the credit repair journey themself. For those who do not wish to tackle it themself, I am available for hire for credit repair. All of this information is readily available and credit repair is nothing more than simply asserting consumer rights given to the consumer through the FCRA, FDCPA, FCBA, and HIPPA laws. The Truth-in-Lending act is a byproduct of the FCBA.
GoodWill Letter – Accounts with a 1
The next letter to write is a ‘Goodwill letter’ in response to each of the accounts where you have written a “1″ beside it. A goodwill letter is basically a letter written to the original creditor asking them to show you goodwill and erase the single 30-day late. Do not use form letters, simply use common sense. Do not whine, state only facts.
FCBA or GoodWill – Accounts with a 2
The accounts where you wrote a number 2, can be challenged with either a FCBA (Fair Credit Billing Act) letter or a Goodwill letter. Do not use form letters, and do not whine or threaten – simply state facts and paint a clear picture. Assert your rights without making a butt of yourself. These two letters are directed at the original creditor and does not include collection agencies.
FCBA or Nutcase – Accounts with a 3
For the accounts that are labeled with a number 3 there is again a choice. You can send a FCBA letter or a Nutcase letter. A Nutcase letter is simply organized request for information regarding the account. When sending a nutcase letter; make sure and get it notarized. This simply gives it a more formal; I’ve been to a lawyer look.
Collection or Charge off – Accounts with a 4
If the account is a charge off by the original creditor send them a OC Validation letter; if it was placed there by a collection agency then send them a Validation letter. The letter is simply a request to produce information proving that they are the correct party to whom the money is owed and you are the correct person who actually owes the money. What if I send you a letter and said you owed me $1000? Would you pay? If you had never heard of me, would you give me the money? Some people probably would, but the most of us would wonder what the heck is going on and would require some sort of proof that the money is actually owed to me. This is the basic principle behind Validation.
Before tackling any accounts which are placed on your credit report by a collection agency try to remember when the last payment was made and find out the statute of limitations for credit cards in your state. This can even be trickier if you opened the card in one state and then moved to a second state and quit paying while a resident of the second state. Research, Research, Research.
Medical – Accounts with a 5
Accounts which are medical in nature require HIPPA. This is a multi-step process which requires lots of patience and research skills. We will cover the HIPPA procedure in more detail in another post.
Remember, credit repair isn’t a Sprint. Its a marathon. Its a process that requires research and pre-planning. There is not a one size fits all approach to credit repair, this is a general overview of how you could proceed. No one approach will work 100% of the time. Remember: I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice, it is my observations and opinions based on real world experience.
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