Christmas (yes I said the 'C' word -- Ho! Ho! Ho!) is just
around the corner and consumer spending is once again at an all
time high. For those of you that are struggling from the effects
of bad credit the holiday season offers a small window of
opportunity which, if acted upon, could open many possibilities
for you in the New Year.
People often ask me why the holidays are the best time to repair
their credit. Well, I have a theory. In preparation for the
flood of holiday credit applications creditors shift gears and
temporarily transfer dispute resolution staff to other divisions
to handle the unusually high volume of new business. Being that
the creditors make much more money increasing their customer
base it seems understandable that they justify slacking off in
the dispute department for a month or so each year. This
temporary trend allows for your disputes to go unanswered which
results in the items being deleted.
Another more obvious reason is that the holiday season is a time
of vacation, cheer, forgiveness, charity and new beginnings.
This combination tips the scales in your favor in a measurable
way. It is common knowledge among credit professionals that this
time of the year is perfect for disputing credit items on your
credit report. The law states that if you dispute something on
your credit report the credit bureaus have thirty days in which
to verify that the item is valid or remove it. The vision of an
understaffed creditor's office with phones ringing off the hook
and overworked employees surfing the net for last minute gift
comes to mind. Your chances are great.
Now comes the hard part. Where do you start? Allow me to point
you in the right direction. While each major credit bureau
(Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) has online disputing methods
we have found them to be more trouble than they are worth, often
taking hours to dredge through and providing dismal results when
you do. Besides, you want a paper trail and return receipt snail
mail is still the only way. What we recommend you do is obtain
an inexpensive how to book or even better, an e-book with
templates and devote an hour to doing it yourself. We have one
featured at our website (link below) that is a 1,2,3, kit
designed to have you finished in about an hour.
You may also choose to pay money for a company to assist you.
This is also a good option. There are many reputable credit
repair companies online. Before you do that and commit to $50 to
$100 per month for twelve to eighteen months do yourself a favor
and check out how easy it is to do it yourself. Here's to a
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Copyright December 2005, yourcreditcures.com, USA
About the author:
Tad MacPherson is a credit specialist with years of experience
assisting consumers with repairing, restoring and reestablishing
their credit. Get free advice and valuable credit tools at
www.yourcreditcures.com .
