Over the past few years we have legally and successfully disputed and removed thousands of derogatory late payments from the credit reports of our customers.  Bankruptcies, 30 day late payments, collection accounts, late medical payments, school loan defaults… you name it, we have them successfully removed.  On average we operate at approximately a 65% to 75% chance of removal per each derogatory account.   In order to successfully remove derogatory trade lines from credit reports, we have had to spend years researching the credit bureaus and their verification practices.

We have invested thousands of dollars to uncover the hidden truths about the FICO score and how it relates to the three major credit bureaus’ reporting practices.  You may not realize this, but the contributing factors of the FICO score were designed specifically by the credit card companies.  What does that mean to a consumer?  Simply put, “Common sense” and “Fico Score sense” rarely are the same.

A perfect example is this:

Have you ever paid off a large revolving account and then closed the account afterwards?  Common sense would tell you that once you have successfully met your financial obligation, it would “help” your score to then close the account.  “Common sense” would mean that less financial obligation shows responsibility.  The contrary is true.  “FICO score sense” means that if you pay off an account and close it your scores will rapidly depleat.  What does that tell us?  The credit card companies do NOT want you to have closed accounts.  How can they earn money from a consumer if the consumer closes their revolving credit card debt?

Yet another example:

Have you ever noticed that 30% (the second largest piece of the FICO score calculation) is based on the idea that a consumer should ideally carry 3-5 open lines of credit at all times.  “Common Sense” might tell you that if you have no credit obligations you are a better risk than someone who has 3-5 lines of credit open and used. “FICO Score sense” tells us that if you do not have any open credit, you will actually have worse credit than someone who has had a history of missed payments.

Last example… the concept of paying off collection accounts.  Have you ever had an account sent to collections?  Did you know that if you pay off a collection account to a zero balance you could actually lose FICO score points?  If you pay off a collection and do not negotiate to have that derogatory account deleted upon payment, the account will re-activate the recency factor of the account causing your points to drop again!

If you have common sense questions relating to credit, and would like an honest answer, please give our office a call.  We can set up a complimentary consultation with you to discuss how you can quickly and permanently repair your credit challenges.