Credit Repair Programs

Let's face it. Living with bad credit can be painful. You can't get a decent a decent apartment to rent, leave alone a mortgage. You can't buy a nice automobile. Even some the best employers are now using credit reports as one of their hiring criteria. And while there are many credit repair programs out there, they are not created equal.

Perhaps the biggest mistake most people make when seeking out credit repair information is follow dubious information they get off the internet. Well, most of the free information out there is lifted off the Internet, resulting in rehashed and often wrong information getting repeated over and over. It just won't work.

Characteristics of a Good Credit Repair Program

A good credit repair information product should contain all the following components:

1. Show you how to clean up your credit report and offer tips on removing negative credit information from your credit file.
2. Show you ways to how to start building credit quickly, including where and how to easily open up new credit-building accounts.
3. Show you how to raise your credit score fast.

Top Rated Do It Yourself Credit Repair Information Programs

The following are the top rated credit repair programs that have been most successful based on the above criteria and user feedback:

1. The Credit Secrets Bible

If there is one book that banks, credit card companies, credit agencies and bill collectors do not want you to read, this is it.

The credit Secrets Bible is out first choice in credit repair programs since it contains all the components of a good program, plus more. Not only that but, it has been around for years, receiving good feedback all the time, and has stood the test of time.

The manual shows you ways of negotiating with your creditors and bill collectors so as to have negative information revealed. It also shows you ways of factually disputing negative information on your credit file

The Credit Secrets Bible is not just a credit repair book; it is a full treatise about credit that reveals credit and personal finance information even many of the "experts" do not know. I was amazed at the information it contains, and I have read numerous credit books and manuals on the subject.

Program Strengths:

• Shows you ways of factually (and effectively) disputing negative information including public records and getting it removed from your credit report, with examples. This is where most credit repair books and courses fail.
• This program goes farther and gives tips how to open up new accounts to start re-building your credit fast: exactly where to get easy credit-building loans and credit cards.
• Reveals ways to raise your FICO credit score almost immediately and exactly what to do.
• How to deal with collectors, including how to stop them dead on their tracks (and maintain sanity). Includes a sample "KO" letter to stop collectors on their tracks.
• How to re-build credit after bankruptcy (and why it is not the bankruptcy itself that is the problem).
• About identity theft and protecting yourself (beyond shredding documents).
• Dozens of negotiation and dispute sample letters to fit various circumstances.

Program Weaknesses:

• Costs slightly more than most credit restoration products (but also contains much more useful information).
• Sample letters are a little scanty, but this is intentional (and the book tells you why).

Arguably, The Credit Secrets Bible has been the most popular credit repair program on the internet for many years for good reason; it works. This book is deeply and extensively researched and offers outstanding information on credit building and restoration, with examples (something largely lacking in most credit repair kits).

Visit the site | Read the full review

2. 37 Days to Clean Credit

Can you really clean your credit report in 37 days? Well, it is not easy, but it can be done. The author of this book claims to have done it and offers proof. He actually shows screenshot after screenshot of bad accounts that were taken off his credit file.

The quickest way to clean your credit is through negotiation with your creditors or bill collectors. This manual says so, which is a good thing because it is a fact. It also shows you ways of negotiating for removal of the negative items.

Program Strengths:

• Costs less than the above program (but is also much smaller in comparison with less information).
• Tells you what to expect from which of the main credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; plus which bureau is quicker or slower to verify disputed information.
• Good information on how to negotiate with collection agencies.
• Very good (and detailed) credit repair sample letters, including negotiation and dispute letters. You even get a bonus copy-and-paste credit repair letter vault (word of advice: don't just copy and paste the letters though but use them to create your own to avoid your letters getting flagged).

Program Weaknesses:

• Advises disputing negative information with credit bureaus online. This is a mistake for various reasons, one of which is that it leaves no paper trail that you can fall back on if you need to (and at times you will need this).
• Advises getting credit score from TransUnion credit bureau. TransUnion does not offer FICO score (the score most creditors use) directly to consumers.

37 Days to Clean Credit may not be as detailed as The Credit Secrets Bible (above) but it does contain useful information. The book is mostly recommended to those who want to take the negotiation route as opposed to the dispute route (the latter is a lot tougher).

Visit the site | Full review coming soon

Related Readings

About Credit Score Algorithms and How to Improve Credit Rating

Find Out Credit Score Now – Where and How to Do This

What Are the Pros and Cons to Debt Consolidation?

External Links

Credit Repair: How to Help Yourself