We’ll also look at how the best credit repair in Dallas, Texas can help you get back on your feet and assist you in getting approved for the loans you need.
What Is a Credit Report?
If you’ve ever opened an account with a financial institution for a loan such as a car loan, credit card, or mortgage, the financial institution reports the status of that loan to one of America’s three credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Transunion, and Experian.
The credit reportingagencies look at several items such as:
- How much debt you have
- How much your payments are
- If you’ve ever missed a payment
- If you’ve ever had money owed that is now with a collections company due to non-payment
- If you’ve paid a collections company
- If you are maxing out credit cards and making minimum payments
Based on these details, the credit reporting agencies will assign you a credit score somewhere between 300 and 850–the higher the score, the better. Most lenders want to see a score in the mid 600s before approving a loan for a reasonable interest rate.
Some people may wonder if someone with good credit can help someone with bad credit. They can by co-signing on a loan; however, it’s always better if the loan can be obtained by a single person.
How Does My Credit Report Affect Me?
Your credit report and score not only determine if your loan is approved, they also determine how much you can be approved for and what your interest rate will be. For example, having good credit and getting an interest rate just 1% lower on a $300,000, thirty-year mortgage can save you over $60,000 over the life of the loan.
Because of this, people go to great lengths to improve their credit–check out our recent article on whether paying collections help your credit score to learn more.
How Can Credit Repair Help, and What Are the Costs?
Credit repair comes in when there are inaccuracies on your report. This happens constantly all over America because social security numbers get transposed, data gets mixed up, and sometimes human error leads to mistakes.
For example, let’s say that according to your bank’s info on your credit report, you missed your last six payments, but you know for sure you made those payments and can prove it. These items need to be disputed to restore your credit report, and they need to be disputed with not only the credit agencies, but the bank itself. Sometimes, there are numerous items and mounds of paperwork that must be obtained in order to clear these errors.
Credit repair companies take this process out of your hands to make your life easier. They can also provide helpful advice on other ways to improve your credit score.
Now, what is the cost of these services? Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. It’s kind of like asking, “how much will it cost to fix my car?” Well, what’s wrong with your car (credit report)? How long will it take to get the new parts that I need (file dispute paperwork and wait for responses)? However, when you factor in the 1% interest rate saving you $60,000, you can see how a high cost could be reasonable, given the immense savings. Fortunately, it’s only one call to the credit repair agency to hear some basic numbers based on the complexity of your scenario.
Final Thoughts
Credit repair is an affordable and excellent way to repair your inaccurate credit reports while you focus on the things that matter to you most instead of spending hours pulling your hair out filing piles of paperwork. Let someone else wait for hours on hold with banks and credit reporting agencies so that you can reap the benefits–The Phenix Group is ready to help.