We are not a “Credit Repair Company.” 
One-third of them are scams, one-third are incompetent and one-third are way overpriced.  They can’t do anything you can’t do yourself if you had the time and the knowledge. Futhermore, it requires much more than the removal or deletion of past negative credit items from your report to give you a high score and fast, easy credit approvals.   Unfortunately, the Credit Bureaus go to great lengths to “publicize the misconception” that you have no control over the information on your report.  Don’t believe it!  If everyone knew how easy it was, it would cost them many of millions of dollars each year.  They didn’t even want you to know how the “infamous” Beacon/FICO Score is determined. But a recent lawsuit changed all that.  Now you can find out, but for a price, $12.95 @ www.MyFico.Com.

What We Do:
 Even though our Unique and Comprehensive Program offers so much more than merely “credit repair,” our first step is indeed to remove the negative/erroneous information on the credit report.  However, according to Fair Issac Co., the FICO/Beacon Score only attributes 30% to Credit History.  The other 70% of the Score is determined by: 
1. The Account Balances 
2. The Length of Time the Account has been open
3. The Types and “Mix” of Creditors 
4. Taking on New Debt (Inquiries). 

Therefore, your credit score is mostly determined by what you do “today and tomorrow.”  Basically, you control your own “Credit Destiny.”  As the months go by, your “Credit Misdeeds” in the past, count less and less against your credit score.  Nevertheless, we are very effective at winning disputes with the credit bureaus and getting them to remove negative/erroneous information from our member’s credit reports.

The Big Picture
Unique and Comprehensive “Credit Score Improvement/Mortgage Preparatory Program” brings it all together, connecting these 4 vital areas:

1. “Clean-up the Mess” The first thing to do is remove as much negative/erroneous information as possible by contacting the Credit Bureau.  We have a “Credit Report Advisory Board” comprised of Attorneys/Accountants/Credit Counselors and Mortgage Processors, who review the report and identify the negative information to be “targeted for deletion.”  A comprehensive legal strategy for a “dispute letter” campaign is prepared and then sent to the credit bureau.  A response and updated credit report is received back in about 45 days. By using the Law, (Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, FCRA) and “The Dispute Method,” our letters are very effective at getting negative/erroneous information removed.  Accurate negative information can frequently be removed by contacting the “offending creditor” and work out a settlement which includes deleting the negative information.

2. At the same time that the “credit clean-up process” is taking place, we help our members reestablish and build new, clean, and positive credit quickly.  We provide applications for new Visas, Mastercards, Department Store Charge Cards and Gasoline Company Credit Cards, all with favorable rates and terms.   (Our website www.BetterCreditBetterMortgage.com lists and regularly updates the 1. “Best Credit Cards”  2. “Best Car Loan Rates”  3.  “Best Mortgage Rates.” 

The key to success here is to pay off the charges in full as soon as the statement arrives. No minimum payments and no unpaid balances!  After a few months, you have four, new, “R-1” ratings listed on the report (R-1 is the best rating, R-9 is the worst).

3. We have now created a new, positive and “healthy mix” of Revolving Charge Accounts.  This is really all you should need at this time to build-up your score.  When the time is right for you, a new car purchase with a lower interest rate and a better mortgage, will complete and “round-out” your “debt portfolio.”  The higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate (on your mortgage and auto financing) which means that you will save more money and have lower monthly payments. 

Rule #1, always pay your bills on time, or better yet, pay them as soon as they arrive.  Rule #2, always pay more then the minimum required monthly payment.  Guess how long it takes to pay off a $1,000 balance on a credit card at 18% annual interest rate if you only make the minimum monthly payments?  Wrong!  It takes 19 years and you will pay $2,000 in additional interest charges.

Now our Focus turns to addressing the biggest problem of all, Debt!  “A veritable financial cancer.”  You must “Resolve to become Debt Free” that is our “credo” and our “battle-cry.”  You will not be able to save money for your future if you continue to pay interest on credit cards and similar non-tax deductable debts.   Credit Cards should be kept available for Emergencies and only be used for conveniences and other purchases as long as they will be paid in full when the statement arrives.  Beware, credit card financing is a “Trap!”  The only major purchase we should finance is our home.  Mortgages are “tax-sheltered,” the interest is tax deductible and at a much lower rate than “unsecured debt” like credit cards. 

4. Next, we encourage our Members to be Thrifty, Spend Wisely, become Educated Consumers and Save, Save, Save, for Retirement.  Develop a Financial Plan.  Stick to a Budget.  Keep Cash in Money Market Checking Accounts and invest regularly in a basic “Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 Index” No-Load Mutual Fund (which has, over the last 50 years, averaged an annual return of 13.6% and consistently out-performs 75% of all managed funds).  Although, we know this investment recommendation to be “extremely safe and conservative,”Please do your own research before investing and verify these facts with any knowledgeable financial advisor that DOES NOT stand to make a commission from your business.

Everybody knows that Better Credit will get you a Better Mortgage, but did you know that a credit score improvement of only a moderate 100 points will save an average of $300 per month in interest costs and finance charges on your mortgage, car loan and credit card accounts. Now you know!

Now take this $300 per month savings, multiply it by the length of an average 30 year/360 month mortgage, and that comes to about $126,000.  Now, if you invested this same money, the $300 a month savings, for the next 30 years, in our recommended “No-Load, S&P 500 Index, Mutual Fund,” returning an average of 13.6% per year, you would have over $1,500,000 (but unfortunately you would still have to share some of that with “Uncle Sam”). 

So what does it all mean?  Simply that, right now You have an Opportunity to become a Member in what we affectionately call the “The 700+ Score, Debt-Free, Millionaires Club.”  What are you going to do?  Carpe Diem!

Our Website is a “Virtual College Course” on Credit and Personal Finance and is a Valuable Resource always available.  We hope that our Members will continue to Read, Research and Educate themselves about their Money, Financing and Savings, and how their Credit works “for or against them.” 

Smile!  Now, aren’t you glad you know the “Secret to Financial Security” is these 4 Simple Steps?  It’s really very easy isn’t it,
and certainly a lot less difficult then “Enduring the Alternative of not doing it at all?”  Now, go out and “Spread the Word” and share the “Secret” with others.  Good Luck and God Bless.

Maxwell Armstrong, Director of Member Relations