Check out some do’s and don’ts of credit repair:
- Don’t tip the credit bureaus off. Make credit bureau disputes consumer authentic.
- Don’t use form letters found in credit repair books or online. The bureaus know these letters.
- Avoid legalistic language with credit bureaus
- Never supply too much information. You may inadvertently verify negative information.
- Don’t let clients close accounts for no reason. Closing accounts can hurt a credit score.
- Don’t dispute positive information—it may result in the entire account being removed.
- Don’t deal with CRA’s, creditors, or collectors on the phone. Written communication always! Remember you are behind the scenes.
- Don’t sign dispute letters sent to a collection agency. Signatures have a pesky way of jumping from one document to another.
- Don’t send a blanket cease and decease (C&D) letter to a collection agency. C&D letters prevent collection agencies from communicating with your client. They might have no choice but to sue them. Leave the collection the option to write.
- Don’t assume that paying a collection will raise a credit score.
- Don’t send bankruptcy papers or any part thereof to the credit bureaus.
- Don’t advise clients to add 100 word statements to credit files.
- Don’t tell anyone that you can guarantee deletion or removal of negative information.
- Don’t send bank statements to a collection agency just to prove that your client has made the payment.
- Always send your correspondence to collection agencies and creditors through certified mail with return receipt requested CMRR. There will be legal proof of what you have notified them.
- Don’t dispute online. Online disputes limit the reasons for a dispute, and don’t permit a documentable paper trail.
- Be patient and persistent
- Keep copies of everything your clients send you. Make sure you create a paper trial.
