It is possible to have negative items deleted form your credit report. The first step in the process is to first of all get a copy of your credit reports. It is advised when doing any credit repair project to get a copy of your credit reports form all three credit reporting agencies. These are:
Experian Equifax Transunion

These can be accessed with ease from annulcreditreport.com and are free once every twelve month period. Otherwise they are available from the agencies themselves or through myFICO. You will need these reports to access the negative information that is going to be bringing your overall credit scores down.

Once you know what is having a negative impact on your credit reports you can then take the action step of the process to get the negative items removed from the report altogether.

The simplest way to do this is to write what is called a dispute letter. A dispute letter is simply telling the credit reporting agency that you do not agree with the information they are reporting within your credit report.

Once this letter is received by the credit bureau they have 30 days in which to verify the information with the company that put the information on to your report. If the information cannot be verified then the negative item will be deleted from your report.

Case studies have reported that you can expect to see a 2 point increase to your credit score for each deletion of a negative item. This may not seem like much but should someone have 10 – 20 of these negative items being shown in their report, this could easily add up to a 20 – 40 point increase on their credit scores. It is a process of taking bite size chunks of the report and dealing with them individually. It where all the small steps of the dispute letters combine in multiple deletions getting results that add up.

This does not mean that whenever you dispute an item on your credit report that it will result in the entry being deleted as some of the information may well be accurate. If it is accurate then don’t try and launch a dispute on the hope that it might get deleted. The only information you should be disputing is the entries of which you do not agree with. So if you have made a late payment and you are aware of this, then the best approach would be to contact the company that put that report there and ask that they remove the entry as it was a one time error in your part and it is not giving an accurate representation of yourself. Some companies may go ahead and honor that request, others might not. It is worth a try though rather than disputing it with the credit reporting agency who is going to be able to verify the information to be accurate anyway.

A dispute letter doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A simple letter could be along the lines of “I don’t think this entry belongs to me, please verify the information and amend accordingly, thanks in advance.” The only purpose is to point the bureau to the information you want them to look into. Always provide your contact details and date the letters, keeping copies of each for your own records and send these through registered mail.

This holiday season brings with it the urge to up our shopping quotas, and as such, we get assaulted with offers to open credit cards. Some of the deals we get are pretty darned tempting, too. I mean, hey – when they tell you that you can open a charge card today and save up to 20% on your purchase – what’s not to like? Such offers really kick in when you’re talking about big-ticket items like televisions, appliances, etc.

But for people in the market for a new home — or looking to refinance — taking advantage of in-store savings could be a long-term money loser. Especially where credit scores are concerned.

Here’s How Credit Offers May Impact Your Credit Score

Every time you apply for a credit card, your credit score drops. According to myFICO.com, “new credit” accounts for 85 out of 850 possible credit scoring points, and is defined as follows:

* Number of recently opened accounts

* Number of recent credit inquiries

* Time since credit inquiry(s)

* Proportion of accounts that are recently opened to all open accounts

And here’s an interesting fact: Holiday shoppers with only a few open credit cards will most likely see a bigger hit on their credit score than shoppers with many cards.

In any event, your credit score is worth protecting – especially if a big ticket credit purchase – such as a house – is in your future. Here’s how this might pan out…

A borrower applying for a conventional mortgage with 20% equity – with a credit score (FICO Score) of 720-739 will be offered rates 0.125% higher than a borrower who applies and has a FICO score of 740. Yes, those few points do matter. Here it how it breaks down:

For 700-719, the rate increases by 0.375% For 680-699, the rate increases by 0.750% For 660-679, the rate increases by 1.250%

As you can see, though you may be saving on that in-store credit card offer now, you might pay big time in the future if a home purchase or other large purchase – say, a new car, is in your future.

Should I Steer Clear of All In-Store Credit Card Offers?

Absolutely not. Sometimes they help out and make good sense. Go ahead and consider taking advantage of in-store savings during the holiday shopping season, just be aware of how your credit score may be impacted.

If you’re not applying for a mortgage or making some other large credit purchase any time in the next six months, taking advantage of such credit card offers wont’ have a big negative impact on you. However, if you know you’ll need your FICO soon, consider what saving 15 percent on a $343 purchase today may actually be worth in the long-term when a bigger price tag might be in question.

In recent weeks, the three national credit bureaus made the announcement that they are joining forces to create a new credit score called VantageScore. As of right now, every credit bureau, that is Transunion, Equifax and Experian, have their own credit scoring system, using different formulas.

This is why when you request your credit score from any of them, the scores sometimes are not equal. You might get a score of 720 from Transunion, while you might get a 702 score from Experian, and a 695 score from Equifax.

According to Experian, “It’s the most sophisticated, highly predictive scoring model that’s available in the marketplace”.

According to representatives from Transunion, Equifax and Experian, the new VantageScore will have a scale from a low of 501 to a high of 990. If your credit score in Equifax is 728, it will also be 728 in Experian and Transunion since it is based on the same information.

Fair Isaac Corporation has been selling their FICO score for more than three years now via MYFICO.COM website. FICO scores are calculated different because credit bureaus and lenders use different formulas. Also the data might be different, such as when you have a car loan and the creditor does not report information to all the three credit bureaus.

The VantageScore will be based on a grading scale from A to F similar to a what is used in elementary school:

901-990 A
801-900 B
701-800 C
601-700 D
501-600 F

If the score is based on the same information, all three credit scores will be the same from each Bureau and disparities between the scores will virtually disappear.

According to the VantageScore website, the new credit score will be:

Consistent – Identical scoring algorithm and leveled credit characteristics across all three national credit- reporting companies offer greater consistency
Accurate – Deep knowledge of the data ensures the most accurate scoring algorithm attainable
Innovative – Patent-pending applications of statistical modeling techniques enable enhanced predictiveness and ensure that consumers will receive more appropriate credit terms
Easy to understand and apply – Returns a score range

The VantageScore will not be available until the end of this year, 2006.