By: Seewing YeeCertified FICO Professional

(510) 552-0726Email:

seewingyee@integratedfinancialsolutions.com

www.integratedfinancialsolutions.com

A little background  Have been doing in credit repair since 1991 Was trained and mentored by Former

Security Chief of Experian (Formerly TRW) Have analyzed more than 60,000 credit

reports Have personally seen deletions of tens of

thousands of negative entries from client’s credit reports

Have helped more than 20,000 consumers in the past 2 decades in restoring their credit

Current Economic Conditions

2 Million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2010

One million foreclosures in 2010 alone, more to come in 2011 and beyond

More than 5 million people have mortgage lates in 2010

Tens of Millions more Americans have various types of delinquencies as a result of this current economic downturn

80% of Americans have some kind of derogatory information on their credit reports

The “bible” of Credit Repair

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

 611. Procedure in case of disputed accuracy

[15 U.S.C. § 1681i]

(a) Reinvestigations of Disputed Information(1) Reinvestigation Required(A) In general. Subject to subsection (f), if

the completeness or accuracy of anyitem of information contained in a

consumer's file at a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency

directly, or indirectly through a reseller, of such dispute, the agency shall,

free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether

the disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the

disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with

paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on

which the agency receives the notice of the dispute from the consumer.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)(A) In general. If, after any reinvestigation under

paragraph (1) of any information disputed by a consumer, an item of the information is found to

Be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall–

(i) promptly delete that item of information from the file of the consumer,

or modify that item of information, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation; and

(ii) promptly notify the furnisher of that information that the information

has been modified or deleted from the file of the consumer.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)(3) Determination That Dispute Is Frivolous

or Irrelevant(A) In general. Notwithstanding paragraph

(1), a consumer reporting agencymay terminate a reinvestigation of

information disputed by a consumerunder that paragraph if the agency

reasonably determines that the disputeby the consumer is frivolous or irrelevant,

including by reason of a failureby a consumer to provide sufficient

information to investigate the disputed information.

Fair Credit Billing Act

The Fair Credit Billing Act provides for the prompt correction of errors on open-end credit accounts (department store credit accounts, for example) and protects consumers' credit ratings while they are settling disputes.

Fair Credit Billing ActUnder this law, if a consumer is disputing a

charge, creditors cannot report the consumer's account as delinquent. This applies to open-end credit instruments, such as credit cards, revolving charge accounts, and overdraft checking. Consumers who question an item are responsible for notifying the creditor in writing within 60 days of receiving the bill. The creditor must acknowledge the notice within 30 days and may not do anything to damage the consumer's credit rating while the item is in dispute.

 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act promotes the fair treatment of consumers by prohibiting debt collectors from using unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.

Fair Debt Collection Practices ActDebt collectors are permitted to contact

people other than the debtor only to locate the debtor or make a reasonable effort to communicate with the debtor about the debt.

After making contact, debt collectors are required to send written notice informing the debtor of the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor, and the fact that the debt will be considered valid unless disputed within 30 days.

Fair Debt Collection Practices ActDebt collectors are prohibited from

harassing, oppressing, or being abusive in collecting a debt. This includes using threats or obscene language, publicizing the debt, making annoying or anonymous telephone calls, and misrepresenting the identity of the collector, the status of the debt, and the consequences if it is not paid.

If debt collectors violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, consumers can sue for actual and punitive damages.

Statute of Limitations  Very important concept!The creditor has a limited number of years to sue

you after you fail to pay your debt including real estate deficiency judgments

The time allowed varies state to state:

California - 4 yearsArizona – 6 yearsNevada - 6 yearsFlorida - 5 years

Statute of LimitationsIf you are sued before the statute of

limitations expires and the judgment rules against you, the time limit to collect against you is:

 CA – 10 yearsAZ – 5 yearsFL – 20 yearsNV - 6 years

Liens on your property After JudgmentCA – 10 yearsAZ - 5 yearsFL – 20 yearsNV - 6 years

Q. Who are the credit bureaus and are they Governmental agencies?

A. They are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union and they are for-profit multi-million dollar corporations

They make their money selling your credit information to:

Financial institutions such as banks, lenders, credit card companies, etc

Collection agenciesPublic records   These companies depends on the credit

bureaus in order to make decisions on their customers

What is FICO?

Created by Fair Isaacs and Co. based out of San Rafael, CA

They are a private company who have created a sophisticated computer scoring model to determine credit risks on American consumers

What is FICO?FICO Score range from 350-850

720-850 A Paper680-720 B Paper620-680 C Paper580-620 D Paper350-580 F Paper

As a consumer, your credit worthiness is based on the above scores

What is FICO?Creditors do not care about why you have

a certain credit score. You can beg and plead all you want. You can provide all the reasons what happened to your life. At the end of the day, it is what it is. You are nothing but a 3-digit number

What are the Consequences of Bad Credit?

Your bad credit will be on your credit report for 7-10+ years!

Difficulty buying a Home, investment property, car, job, open a business, credit card, etc

May cost you tens of thousands of dollars or more

Without good credit your financial future will be in jeopardy!

Types of Disputes

Types of Disputes Bureau Disputes Creditor Disputes Negotiation Legal

Types of derogatory information:

From most severe to least severe:

BankruptcyForeclosuresShort Sales (Late payments)Charge-offsCollectionsJudgmentsTax LiensRepossessionsDefaulted Student LoansLate payments

Bankruptcy

Typically Chapter 7 or 13Chapter 7 is total discharged – all

unsecured debts wiped outChapter 13 – 5 year repayment planOn your credit reports it will showCourthouse record BK date filed and BK

date discharged

BankruptcyThen each individual creditor will show:

“Account included in Bankruptcy” -0- balance on their trade line. Therefore the more trade lines the more severe is your FICO scores.

However, many original creditors on the credit reports still continue to show, incorrectly, unpaid charge-off with balance due

Foreclosure

Credit reports will show:“Foreclosure Process Started”, date….etc

Short Sale

Credit reports will show:30,60,90 days lates

Unpaid Charge-offsBalance Due

Reported by original creditors such as major banks and credit card companies

Time line goes like this:About 6 months after initial non-

payment, creditor charge it off on their books. Debt still enforceable however

Debt purchased by outside collection agency showing higher balance due to interest, penalty, fees, etc

Every 6 months thereafter, it may be purchased by yet another collection agency

Then one year later attorney representing collection agency pursue lawsuit, especially if the debt is in the several thousand range

You don’t show up in court, default judgment against you – another derog on the credit report

Even after judgment, collectability of the debt is another challenge.  

Bottom line: Total of 4 derogs arising from one event!

The above scenario is an example of a worst case scenario

What if with the passage of time, you decided to pay off this debt? What happens to the credit reports?

Does it mean the derogs will be deleted once you paid them? 

Answer: No

Updated credit reports will show:

Original creditor: Paid Charge off, date…

Paid Collection -0- balance, date…

Judgment Satisfied

Although your debts have been satisfied, the paid trade line still are deemed derogs!

Follow up action plan? Dispute to credit bureaus and cause removal of derogs

 Question: How soon can a derog account

be disputed and deleted?

Answer: It depends.

With respect to a foreclosure, you must wait at least 24 months from the date of trustee sale.

Why? After 24 months of credit bureau reporting, the so-called “9-track” monthly reporting recurring tapes drops off.

Question: So, after the 24 months have lapsed and I start to dispute the foreclosure trade line, when can I expect the item to be deleted?

Answer: Depends. Sometimes, after 30 days dispute investigation, the credit bureau are unable to verify the dispute IAW Sec 611 FCRA, the disputed item in question must be deleted.

But often they are verified after 30 days. Then what? You give up? No

You wait for a few months and dispute it again. And again………….

Caution: removal of a derog on a particular creditor derog from one credit bureau report does not necessarily mean the other credit bureaus will follow suit. Each dispute is a separate, independent event. The ultimate goal is to remove a particular creditor account from all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union).

Question: If I have a recent late, whether it was a mortgage late or a credit card late, how long do I have to wait before I can dispute them?

Answer: 24 months (nine-track tape reporting ends)

Question: What types of derogs whereby I do not have to wait to dispute?

Answer: Bankruptcy (after the date of discharge)Outside collection agenciesJudgmentsTax LiensCharge-offs

Question: Let’s say I have an original creditor charge off or a collection agency account for $300.00. How easy can I dispute them several times and get it removed?

Answer: Relatively easy. Since the amount of the debt is relatively small, most creditors will not spend the time and efforts necessary to verify your dispute within 30 days.

Question: What if the charge off or collections is $1,000.00 or more?

Answer: There is a small chance the derog can be deleted after several dispute investigations. But more likely, based on the high balance still due, not only the dispute may come back verified after 30 days, but it will probably trigger a aggressive response from the original creditor or the collection agency to come after you!

Question: So if this is the case, what should I do?

Answer: Do your best to negotiate for lump-sum discount settlement to pay off the debt.

Question: Once I paid off the debt, they will delete the account?

Answer: No. The credit bureaus will just merely update the derog to show paid charge-off or paid collection, still a derog account.

Question: So what then?

Answer: Once it show paid charge-off or collection, go through the bureau and dispute the paid derog account and the chances are the derog can be deleted after several disputes because the creditor already received their money and will not bother to investigate the account in dispute.

Question: Can a defaulted student loan be removed?

Answer: No. Once you have paid them it will be updated to -0- balance paid account but still a derog. Then you can pursue several dispute investigations to affect the ultimate removal of the paid defaulted accounts.

The foundation behind successful credit cleaning is based on the premise that a derog account is so old that the creditor and the credit bureaus does not have the ability to verify the dispute in question.

Question: How long does it take to clean my credit?

Answer: It depends.

How many derogs do you have?What are the balance due?Your ability to paid off some accounts through

savings and negotiationIt can take as quick as 30 days or as long as 2

years to substantially improve your credit scores.Bottom line: There are no guarantees. We have

no control whether credit bureaus can or cannot verify the disputed information.

Q: When can someone start the process of pursuing removing Foreclosures, mortgage lates, etc. from credit reports?

A: Usually at least 18 months from the date of delinquency.

Q: How Long it will Take to Repair My Credit?

A: Depends on..

How many negative entriesTypes of negative entries, examples, Foreclosures, lates, Collections, Charge-offs, Tax Liens, repossessions, Judgments,

Typically, it may take 6-18+ months

Q: Can anything be done to expedite the credit repair process?

A: Not really. Perhaps negotiation or legal dispute methods

 Question: How long is the time period a foreclosure before a consumer can be eligible to obtain credit to purchase a home?

Answer: According to the current Fannie Mae conventions lending guidelines for homeowners, five (5) years from the date the foreclosure sale was completed. Exception is three (3) years if the borrower has “extenuating circumstances” that led to the foreclosure. Examples are divorce, medical conditions, and job loss

The minimum down payment is 10% and minimum credit score is 680 for homeowners. The purchase of investment property is not permitted.

Question: What is the time period after a Short Sale before a consumer can be eligible to obtain credit to purchase a property?

 Answer: Two (2) years from the completion date. No exceptions are permitted to the 2-year period due to extenuating circumstances.

Do you know what this formula stand for?35/30/15/10/10Your ability to solve this formula can make

or break your credit and financial future!35% - Payment history30% - Outstanding debt15% - Length of credit history10% - Credit mix10% - Search for new credit100%FICO Score range is 300-850 

Payment History

What is your track record?

Approximately 35% of your score is based on this category

 Have paid past credit accounts on time?

Any public record or collection items?

How many accounts with derogatory information?

Outstanding Debt How much is too much?

Approximately 30% of your score is based on this category

What is balance owed on all accounts?

How many accounts have balances?

What % of installment loan account is owed?

What % of revolving credit line is used?

Length of Credit History

How established is your credit?

Approximately 15% of your score is based on this category

How long have credit accounts been opened?

How long since accounts have been used?

Credit Mix

Is it “healthy” mix?

Approximately 10% of your score is based on this category

 Score considers mix of Open, Installment and

Revolving credit accounts to include: Retail Credit Cards, Finance company, and mortgage loans

What types of credit accounts? How many of each?

Search for New Credit

Are you taking on more debt?

Approximately 10% of your score is based on this category

  How many new accounts opened?

How long since new account opened?

How many recent requests for credit?

How long since most recent credit report inquiry?

Interpreting your FICO score

Reason codes: 032 612 834 946  Credit score are reduced by reason codes

Reason codes explain why score is not higher

Reason codes help determine how to improve score

 

Example from a typical Credit Report Reason Code

24 - no recent revolving balances

08 – Too many inquiries last 12 months

38 - Serious delinquency and derogatory public record or collection filed

18 - Number of accounts with delinquency

34 – Amount owed on delinquent accounts

At the end of the day you have 3 options:

Do nothing – Wait until the statute of limitations runs out – 7-10 years+

Do something about it: Do it yourself! Do you have the time, knowledge, etc to do it on your own?

Hire a credit repair pro – Us! IFS

By: Seewing YeeThe Nation’s Foremost Credit Expert(510) 552-0726

Email:seewingyee@integratedfinancialsolutions.comwww.integratedfinancialsolutions.com