Anyone ever try a credit repair expert?

[marshall]

I’m looking to pump up my credit score from 640-to 700 to get a better interest rate on my mortgage. I’ve heard opening new credit card accounts can help (some say it could hurt) the score but i doubt that would be enough. I surfed the internet and read about credit repair experts that could help. Has anyone tried these guys? Do they really help and if they do how much can they help. The agency i talked to but not sure if they can help as much as they say they can.
Thanks for the advice.

[peterjhale]

Hi and welcome

I am not sure how much these agencies can help you get a better interest rate. Best talk with your lender as most lenders have fairly fixed rates these days and your credit score looks fine.

[macmilen]

Agree about the credit repair companies. It's not that hard tp build up your FICO. Over 1/3 of your score comes from payment history, and just under 1/3 comes from proportion of balance to available credit. So here is what you do. Pay all of your existing credit cards down to less than 20% balance, pay them off if possible. If you cannot pay them off then continue to make payments of them (not the minimum) and stay under that 20%. If you can pay them off, DO NOT CANCEL THEM, with the exception of department store credit cards or any other type of consumer credit card (Best Buy, Office Max, etc.). Now, let's say you have zero balance and 4 open cards. Use a different one every week to get something small that you would normally buy with cash, say a tank of gas. Pay each one off before the end of the billing cycle so as not to incur any interest charges. You are getting the benefit of the consistent payment history, with the benefit of low balance to available credit ratio, and it's not costing you any extra money to use those cards. Keep that up for a while and your FICO scores will be up there with the best, the right way.

[magma]

Originally Posted by macmilen

Agree about the credit repair companies. It's not that hard tp build up your FICO. Over 1/3 of your score comes from payment history, and just under 1/3 comes from proportion of balance to available credit. So here is what you do. Pay all of your existing credit cards down to less than 20% balance, pay them off if possible. If you cannot pay them off then continue to make payments of them (not the minimum) and stay under that 20%. If you can pay them off, DO NOT CANCEL THEM, with the exception of department store credit cards or any other type of consumer credit card (Best Buy, Office Max, etc.). Now, let's say you have zero balance and 4 open cards. Use a different one every week to get something small that you would normally buy with cash, say a tank of gas. Pay each one off before the end of the billing cycle so as not to incur any interest charges. You are getting the benefit of the consistent payment history, with the benefit of low balance to available credit ratio, and it's not costing you any extra money to use those cards. Keep that up for a while and your FICO scores will be up there with the best, the right way.

I do agree with you this is so true

[Alby]

yes, payment history is a main factor in your credit score, a lender is interested in one thing and that is, they are going to get their money back+interest. If your credit cards are close to their limits and have been for a while, they may consider your over committed, also they take your outstanding balances into account when calculating your disposable income, usually at 3% of the outstanding balance, so you need to be aware.

[M1ck]

These agencies do not do anything to "repair" your credit. Every lender using a different criteria, so there is no "one size fits all". The companies who "sell" credit score, do not know what is used by a particular lender to assess how much of a risk you are. With regards to getting a credit card and paying it off every months etc, again, different lenders use their own rules, some will treat the card limits as if you have spent it all and then take out the minimum payment from monthly income. You should look on the net and see what deals are available, provided you have no history of missed payments etc, and you prove that you can afford the monthly payments, you will get the best rate for your loan to value.