Most of us would prefer to never have to contend with the credit bureaus and credit repair. Of course there are some us that in the past have made poor purchase decisions, or been a little late on bill payments. Now we need to figure out hot to fix our credit. Of course the normal tasks of paying our bills on time and making all the minimum payment requirements on consumer credit cards will ensure our credit report doesn’t get worse, but there are a few things we can do to actually improve our credit.

Of course like most things in life we can’t know where we’re going without knowing where we currently stand. The first step to fixing your credit is getting a copy of your current credit report. You can request this for free from all or one of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion).

Once you have your report it’s time to start looking for errors. A large percentage of people have an error on their credit report unknown to them. It’s not until you review your report that you can spot errors. Items such as debts still showing that are since paid, items that aren’t yours, or items that show as late but the payments were made on time. All of these negative items have an affect on your credit score.

Of course you can challenge and get these items removed. This brings us to another important point. Always keep good records, hold onto receipts and statements of large bills you pay off, or make monthly payments on. You never know when you’ll need the documents as support. If you can provide backup paper work showing that you paid an item on time, or off entirely yet it’s still showing your credit report there’s a good chance you can have the item removed.

Of course this doesn’t happen instantaneously, but the credit bureaus are required to review claims within 30 days. After which you should receive a reply about the outcome of your complaint. If you begin to have trouble at this point, then it’s time you may want to consider a professional to represent you on your behalf.

Credit repair specialists, and attorneys are highly trained professionals in the field of credit repair. They earn their living be representing people like you and I and getting items removed from our credit reports. The benefit of hiring a professional is two fold. One they may see items you didn’t realize you could get removed, and two they usually only get paid if they are successful. Because of this pay structure it’s in their best interest to be successful for you.

While it’s always easier to have a professional represent you in a credit bureau situation remember the items mentioned above. There are simple steps you can follow to accomplish the same thing. If you aren’t trying to remove something technical, and the credit bureaus are responding to your claims there is no reason you can’t fix your own credit rating.

Okay, so you are in debt and are not sure how you will ever get out of the hole you have dug for yourself. The phone rings all day long as collection agents attempt to collect debts you accumulated during the time you were in financial crisis. You feel helpless, out of control, not knowing how to respond to these calls because you simply don’t have the money to pay off your debts and still eek out a meager existence. Below are some things you need to know in order to better respond to the collectors on the other end of the phone.

The first thing you need to know is that good collectors are prepared with facts and figures, records of past conversations, and a wealth of ‘closes’ designed to get you to pay up. Imagine this picture…The collector calling you is sitting in a comfortable chair looking at a computer screen that displays all of the relevant data about the debt the collector is attempting to collect. The screen has information about the creditor on whose behalf the collector is working, the amount of the debt claimed, a record of all recent phone calls including those made but for which there was no connection made. The collector also has more detailed records available at the click of a mouse so that during any conversation you can be reminded of anything you said or did over the telephone. Knowledge places the collector in the enviable position of aggressor. You, on the other hand, are unprepared for the phone call and have none of the relevant information directly at your fingertips. This places you in a defensive posture from the start.

Additionally, it is important to remember that collectors are well trained in a number of techniques for ‘closing the sale’ or, in other words, collecting the debt in full. They are trained to keep the conversation as short as possible, knowing the longer they are on the phone with you the more likely they are to make a legal error thereby nullifying the ability to collect the debt. Only if they sense a ‘kill’ or if they are trying to solve a problem will they stay on the phone longer than one or two minutes. Often, collection agencies place a quota of calls that must be made per hour and/or create a collection to call ratio as a quota. In either case, it is important for the collector to keep the conversation short and simple while still attempting to collect the debt.

Collectors are often paid a percentage of what they collect and are paid handsome bonuses for reaching and exceeding their collection goals. This fact places considerable pressure on the collector to make the ‘sale’ by collecting the money owed–and as much of the money owed as is possible at the moment they are on the phone with you.

If a collector calls they will ask to speak to you. If you are unavailable they are not to inform the person answering the phone that they are attempting to collect a debt. They will ask that you return their phone call as soon as possible and will provide their name, a contact phone number and, often but not always, a reference number to use when you call back. That’s it. So when you call back you are still on the defensive because before an agent gets on the phone to speak with you they have pulled your digital file and are reading it on their screen.

Collectors are also obligated to verify that you are really the right person so they will ask for additional information to verify your identity. Often they will ask for your social security number. I suggest that you respond only with the last 4 (at most 5) numbers of your SSN. If they ask for your address ask them to tell you what their records show and you will verify if that is correct or incorrect. Also, the collector does not want to identify for whom they work or what creditor they represent until information is verified. You should demand that they make that identification before you divulge any personal information. This is a matter of protecting your identity in this age of identity theft.

Creditors are trained to inform you of the reason for their call and then they will use the oldest trick in the books to get you to speak first…They will go silent. The idea is that if they create a vacuum of silence you will be the first to fill that vacuum. Don’t. Wait for the collector to speak first. After about 10 to 13 seconds the collector will begin speaking again, perhaps asking what your intentions are with regard to the debt in question. If you are in a position to pay all or part of the debt then make an offer of settlement. Make sure that the offer you make is well within your ability to pay because you can be certain that you will receive a counter offer. It is also a good idea to make the settlement offer precise. Let’s say you owe $849.47 to the Acme Widget Company and the debt is legitimate.

Since it has been placed in the hands of a collection agent Acme has written off the debt. Also, it is quite likely that ABC Collection Agency purchased the bad debt from Acme for a substantial discount. ABC makes its money by collecting more than they paid for the debt in the first instance. ABC may also charge Acme a commission for collection and pay the difference back to Acme. The point is there is a minimum that the collector can settle for and still make a profit on its operations. But back to the $849.47 debt. If you make an offer of $300.00 to settle you will generally receive a higher counter offer than if you offer say $279.50. The psychology of the precise offer is that you give the impression that you have carefully considered the possibilities and what you can realistically afford at this moment, that you have a genuine desire to clear this debt off the books and they you have the money on hand to make the payment. The $300 offer is too general to communicate that kind of precision.

If you only provide an excuse for non-payment the collector sees this much in the same light that a well trained sales professional sees an objection and employs a series of counter measures to combat the objection. You will be subjected to a series of questions and demands such as:

A verification of information on your account A suggestion that you borrow funds from relatives A suggestion that you pay the full amount is easy monthly installments drawn directly from your checking account You will be asked on which day you are paid from your work If you make a settlement offer they will counter with a figure higher than you suggest that will be at the top of where they believe you can realistically pay

In the final analysis, the collector will often not settle for a verbal commitment to pay but will want a commitment in writing accompanied by your payment.

Don’t burden collectors with your sad tales of woe. First, they don’t care about your personal tragedies. Secondly, they are trained to respond with a sympathetic remark and then ask when you will be able to pay up.

Finally, remember that collectors keep good notes of each and every conversation they have with you. The purpose of these notes beyond record keeping is to find areas of contradiction in your story so that you may be tripped up in future conversations. I suggest that you do two things.

First, keep excellent records of your conversations yourself. Note to whom you are speaking and clarify any promises you make to them or offers they make to you. If your records are as good as theirs then you may be able to neutralize their aggressive advantage. Secondly, keep your conversation to a minimum and make no commitments you are unwilling or unable to keep.