Credit Gurus

It depends why it dropped suddenly. Disputing things removes them from your profile for a little while; do it a week before you're going to get your credit pulled. But be aware they'll come back in 2-3 weeks.

The best thing is ... in the future, don't be late. You need to adjust your thinking or something. You can't take your excuses to the bank. If you're convinced that there's nothing you could have done, then you've simply got too much overhead. Increase your income or decrease your debt. A 30-day late is really 60-days or so after your bill arrives. Make some arrangements. It's not like you can't predict when the payment is due.

That said, I think it totally sucks how consumers can get pummeled so hard for short-term problems while businesses are almost rewarded for it. It's like a thunderstorm comes through and you're left paying the price for years. The storm is long gone, and you're still stuck as if it was last week.

The moral of that is ... set up a business and get it set up with some lines of credit. But if you can't manage your personal obligations in a timely manner, you're not going to be any more effective managing the same things for a business.

(Sorry, I've got a friend who spends more on late fees than he does on gas for his car every month, and constantly complains that he can't seem to get ahead. He really hates it when i point out how much he pays in late fees and reconnect charges for his cell phone and stuff like that. I haven't had a late fee or reconnect fee for maybe 10-15 years. It all depends on how you relate to things. Now he's trying to improve his credit score, and he's starting to see how this has been damaging him for so long. He's not happy, and tends to fall back into the "Oh, well, there's nothing I can do about it now, so why bother trying" pity pot. There are things you can count on this guy for 150%, but paying bills on time is not one of them. He doesn't see how that's a function of his thinking and committment to himself.)

 

First, we will need more specific details to give effective advice. As previoulsy asked, what happened that caused your credit score to drop?

But, first steps (the basics):

1) If you have not done so, pull all three credit reports. Review in detail.

2) Remove any old addresses (more than two years). You can do this in writing or on-line.

3) "Opt out", this will prevent further inquiries (which pull down credit score). THis can be done over the phone, or on line. You may do this in writing as well.

4) Dispute your negative tradelines (from your credit reports), wait for results.

5) Review your credit reports for potential "Pay For Deletes", any accounts that perhaps the creditor will remove the negative information in exchange for payment. Sample letters are listed in the forum homepage.

6) Try a "goodwill" campaign: talk to your creditors and explore who may remove negative information out of customer goodwill.

7) Prepare a timing worksheet: know when you are going to apply for a mortgage refinancing, and time another round of disputes for a week or two before that application time.

8) Prepare a financial statement of where you are now, (cash flow and net worth), and set up a budget. Review your income and expenses, and look for ways to reduce expenses and/or increase income. Identify what got you into this situation, and come up with corrective actions that you can take and maintain.

9) Do your homework on mortgage loans, know what rate you want to target, and what the requirements for that rate are. This will gve you a specific goal to hit.

Good Luck..