Frequently Asked Questions

What is a credit score and what can I do to improve it?

A credit score, sometimes called a “Fair Isaac” or FICO score is calculated based on the number of credit accounts you have, your payment history, and your personal information. It is made from a calculation so complex that there is no exact formula, but the scoring ranges from 350 to 900. You can improve your score by paying your bills on time; not maxing out your credit cards; limiting inquiries on your credit reports (by not letting prospective creditors pull your credit reports unless it is absolutely necessary); deleting negative credit items; deleting inquiries; and doing your best to settle outstanding debts, collections, and judgments

How can bad credit be legally repaired?

It is your right and responsibility to assure the accuracy of the items on your credit reports. If information recorded on your credit reports does not accurately represent your behavior as a consumer, then you have the right to request that questionable information be removed from your reports. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) afford you the legal right to dispute inaccurate items on your credit reports with the credit bureaus and your individual creditors.

The most popular method for restoring bad credit is the credit bureau dispute. Because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right to dispute and delete any items on your credit report that you feel are inaccurate, untimely, misleading, biased, incomplete or unverified.

When you dispute a questionable negative credit item with the credit bureaus, you are demanding that they perform an investigation to determine whether or not the item should be listed on your credit reports. If the credit bureau cannot verify the accuracy of the item, then they are required to correct the listing or completely delete it from your credit report.

Another facet of credit repair is to work with your creditors to remove the negative items from your credit reports. Your creditors have the ability to delete negative items from your credit reports at any time. With more cooperative creditors, sometimes all it takes is to ask the creditor to adjust or delete a negative credit listing. In situations where this non-confrontational approach is not sufficient, the various consumer protection acts provide you with tools for forcing creditors and collections agencies to prove the accuracy of the reported accounts.

Can I repair my own credit?

Yes. You have the legal right to work out your credit disputes with the credit agencies and credit grantors yourself. Given experience and study, you could do much of what our staff does. It is similar to your right as a citizen to represent yourself in court. Many people, however, choose to ask Garranteed Solutions to represent them because of the depth of experience the firm will bring.

I paid off a collection account but it is still appearing on my credit report. Why?

Paying a collection debt doesn’t mean it automatically be removed from your credit report. What it does mean is that now it will be reported as a “Paid Collection.”

My credit cards are maxed to their limits. Is this hurting my credit score?

Yes! Optimally, you should try to keep your balances 35% below the limit. Try never to let the credit card balance exceed 50% of the credit limit.

Having credit cards can improve your credit scores—if you do not abuse them and if you have no more than one to three. Of course, making your payments on time will also help increase your scores.

Do I need to pay my bills?

If there are delinquent questionable listings appearing on your credit reports that have not been paid off, the actual debt behind the account remains the same even if the account is deleted from your credit report. You may still owe the same money that you validly owed in the first place subject to your state's applicable statute of limitations. If you don't pay the debt, the creditor or a collection agency may re-report the listing.

Removing a negative listing without addressing the debt is only a temporary solution. In fact, we will only dispute credit listings that you indicate are inaccurate, untimely, misleading, biased, incomplete or unverifiable. If you feel that a negative credit listing is 100% accurate, timely and verifiable, then do not dispute it.