Trump Credit Card

If you need advice to repair your bad credit you have found a good place to start. It really isn’t as difficult as you might think, but it will require a little patience and a little time to find this bad credit repair advice on the internet. There is so much free advice on the internet and it is difficult to tell if the bad credit repair advice you are reading is correct.

Here is what to look for. You need to get your credit report. Don’t be fooled into buying everything else that the credit report companies offer you. You don’t need all that. You should think about Identity Theft protection though. I digress. Just get your credit report. That is all you need to start. Then, look it over and figure out what you need to dispute. Bad credit repair advice from an actual credit repair company might actually tell you to dispute anything negative on your report. You can do that if you are not sure that everything you are going to dispute is reporting 100% accurately. You don’t want to dispute anything reporting 100% accurately, but it would be difficult to prove that you knew it was 100% accurate. Once you have decided what to dispute, you need to write your dispute letters. This is a pain because it is time consuming and tedious. There is one website that can take a lot of the pain out of it because they allow you to use a free online application that is credit repair software. The site is creditblossom.com and it is completely free.

When you write your letters, you need to include the name of the account and the account number of the account that you wish to dispute in the dispute letter. You don’t want to dispute everything you are going to dispute with the credit reporting agency in one letter. You need to dispute 1 to 3 items per letter. That is all.

After you have written the dispute letters, you need to make sure you send them out correctly to the correct address. You can find these addresses in many places on the web and on the agencies’ websites. When you send the letters, make sure you include a couple forms of ID with the letters because the credit reporting agency wants to know for sure that it is you sending out the letters. If you don’t send them the proper ID, you will greatly slow down the process and you will have to follow up to the credit reporting agencies with your correct ID anyhow. So, make sure you send it correctly the first time. If you look on creditblossom.com’s site or blog, they have a good video that explains how to put together the ID you need to send with the letters.

The first-time homebuyers tax credit has been credited with stabilizing the anemic housing market during the latter part of 2009 and first quarter of 2010. Alas, the credit has been claimed by many who have no right to do so according to the IRS. Given this, the agency has announced it will be auditing many of the claims. It has also just issued a new form that people claiming the credit must file.

The new form in question is known as Form 5405. It was created pursuant to the legislation that extended and expanded the first round of the tax credit, legislation known as the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. The new form fights the fraud problem by requiring homeowner’s to attach and file documentation regarding the purchase of the home they are claiming the credit for. Because of this, the taxpayers are barred from “e-filing” their tax returns. Also, the processing of any tax refunds they might expect will take longer, usually four to eight weeks.

So, what is involved in this Form 5405? The form flushes out the specific information of the purchase. The information must then be backed up with one of two types of attached documents substantiating the information claimed. The two types of documentation are:

A copy of the closing or settlement statement showing all the names and signatures of the parties to the agreement, sales price, the address of the property address, and date of purchase.

Newly Built – There is often not a settlement statement available for new home purchases. As a result, the IRS will accept a copy of the certification of occupancy. It must show the taxpayer’s name, address of the property and the date of certification.

The new version of the tax credit has been expanded to allow current homeowners to make a claim if they buy a new primary home and sell their old one. To make the claim, the taxpayer must show documented proof that they lived in the former primary home five out of the previous eight years or longer. Without said documentation, the claim will be denied. The appropriate documentation can include property tax or homeowner insurance records as well as copies of Form 1098 – mortgage interest statements.

The expanded first-time homebuyers tax credit is a real boon to those looking to buy. When taking advantage of it, just make sure you have the necessary documentation lined up in case the IRS decides to verify your claim.

Judgments may have a worse effect on your credit score than collections. Since judgments may be reported much longer than collections, depending on which state you reside in, they may wreak havoc on your credit score for many years. Judgments appear in the “public records” section of your credit report, which is different than the section that contains collections. Also, in much the same way as a collection, once a judgment is reported on your credit report, it will still show as “paid” even after you pay it off. Many states also allow judgments to accrue interest, so don’t assume that the amount shown on your credit report is the actual total amount due. It’s never a good idea to ignore judgments for this very reason. Some states allow for double digit interest and additional fees to accrue, so the balance of a judgment could easily double or triple in a few years time. Don’t let judgments go a very long time without addressing them.

Judgments are typically the result of creditors pursuing legal action against consumers who failed to pay various debts. Some credit card companies may pursue legal action once an account goes to collection, but usually only if the amount is worth them hiring an attorney and filing a lawsuit. Once a lawsuit is filed, the debtor must be legally served and a court date is set once this occurs. And if the debtor can’t be located, the creditor may file papers to circumvent the serving process. In either case, the creditor will most likely be awarded a default judgment if they do not show up to court.

Many judgments can be settled for less than the full amount by either negotiating with the creditor for a release of judgment or seeking the help of an attorney that specializes in credit litigation. Many attorneys may offer to work with a creditor who has obtained a judgment for a small fee of a few hundred dollars or even less. Once a settlement is reached, make sure to get a release of judgment to prove that it’s been paid or settled and send this to the credit bureaus so your credit rating can improve.

Since credit scores are determined by an algorithm, it’s impossible to know exactly what effect a judgment will have on the score. But one thing is for sure: a judgment does not help your credit rating. If you suspect a creditor may have been awarded a judgment against you, obtain a free credit report today and make arrangements to either pay or settle the judgment as soon as possible.