Get Organized and Stay On Top Of Timeframes
Once you begin the process of sending out dispute letters to bureaus, you should start getting organized at your end. In about 35 days, you should expect to receive response letters from credit eporting agencies like Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. These agencies are going to reply via regular mail in most cases. Once you start receiving the letters, you should file all these letters in their respective folders. Make one folder for each bureau.
Next, you should scan all the letters that you have received and keep a record of all the letters that you are exchanging. It’s best to make a folder on your desktop so you can access these when needed. More importantly, set alerts and reminders so you know when to follow up with the agencies. Keep a margin of five days for the agencies to receive the letter in the mail.
These agencies typically receive up to ten thousand letters every day. First, they sort these letters, then scan them and start the investigation, which takes approximately 30 days. Hence it takes a total of 35 days for them to respond with some action. If you have subscribed to a credit monitoring service, you may go and get an updated report of everything that’s going on. It will help you stay updated on items, which have been deleted and the ones that are still in dispute.
Remember, it will take several months, probably up to four or five months for you to settle this issue with the agencies completely. But it is important as it affects your credit.
While You Wait, Build Your Credit
While you are waiting for the investigation process to complete, build your credit in the process. The best source of improving your credit is through Credit Cards, as 30% of your credit score comes from the utilization of open available credit.
For example, you have a $300 credit limit on your credit card and your balance is $100. This means roughly 33% of available credit has been utilized. It shows the higher the balance, the higher your utilization score will be. So, the more available credit you show, the more credit points you will receive. If, however, you have no open credit line, then this component of your score is locked.
If your credit is really bad and you fear that you might be rejected, then I recommend you to apply for a secured credit card, which is secured by your deposit instead of the bank taking risks on it. The money you deposit goes into a non-escrow bearing, which is a aving account, and it acts as a deposit. If you close the account you get the money back. So, the bank will give you a credit card borrowed gainst this account. In other words, you are borrowing against your own money. However, it may still get declined, so I recommend Open Sky Visa. They do not run a credit check and will most likely issue you a secured credit card. The link to Open Sky Visa will
be given at the end of the article. Hence opening a credit account will add to your credibility and your credit score.
Length Of Credit History
Secondly, the longer length of your history and its strength will also add another 15% to your score. Additionally, a good payment record with lenders will positively build your credit profile.
Diversify Types Of Credit You Can Manage
Another suggestion is to diversify the credit that you have taken. FICO and Vantage will reward consumers who can diversify their credit portfolio, which adds another 10% to your score.
For example, there is a customer who has opened a furniture account and has financed home furniture with it. Now he has to pay back the loan in installments over a certain time. If the consumer can pay back these installments regularly, then it reflects on the individual’s ability to manage all kinds of credit accounts.
Among secured credit cards, another recommendation is a company called My Jewelers. This company will give you up to a $5,000 line of credit. However, it is not a credit card you can use anywhere. You can only use it on their website to buy jewelry. This company at least reports to two bureaus, so if you have a good payment history, you will get positive credit and vice versa.
I would recommend spending the minimal amount like $100 or $200, so you still have available credit in your account as it will show you have good utilization, and in this way, you can gradually build good credit.
Useful Links:
1. OpenSky Secured Card – www.OpenskySecuredCard.com
2. Jewelry Credit Builder- http://jewelrycreditbuilder.com/
3. Metro 2 Format – https://www.cdiaonline.org/resources/furnishers-of-data-
overview/metro2-information