This a letter that has worked for others and you can edit it to fit your own situation.

This is for when there is a collection or charge-off on your credit report that you tried to work out with the creditor, but they completely ignored your letter and gave you no response. In fact, you are not even sure it belongs to you, because you never received any notification. You only discovered it when you got your credit report.

You would then write to the credit bureaus that show it on your credit report. You can say something like this:

I received my free credit report and was quite shocked to see an account that is FALSE.

1) I reached out to this creditor, and they did not respond to me.

2) I have never received any notification of this account.

3) I do not recognize this account as valid and belonging to me.

Account # (copy exactly what it looks like including any XXXs in the number)  DELETE

Please confirm that this false account has been deleted. 

Thank you in advance and have a nice day,

If you have otherwise perfect credit, add a sentence that says, “My credit is excellent, so this makes no sense!”

You have the right to a credit report that is 100% correct.

Thank you for reading and subscribing. I appreciate when you add a comment on a post, too.

I heard some good news from one of my book readers this week, and thought you’d like the encouragement.

He wrote: “I have recently started my credit repair journey. Using your first book, I have already gotten a collection account deleted from Experian. I have some more difficult accounts, so I am using your second book for those now.”

That’s GREAT news! Closed and paid collection accounts are easier to get deleted than open accounts. With open accounts, be careful and mindful of these three factors:

1. If the account is old and soon to age off your report, it’s probably best to leave it alone. The older it is, the less it impacts your score, anyway. If it is not past the date of the Statute of Limitations in your state, then don’t poke the sleeping giant. (There is an entire chapter on the Statute of Limitations with a state chart in the new book, Repair Your Credit Like the Pros DEEPER DIVE.)
   
2. If a collection has a large balance owing, make sure you have the funds to negotiate a 50% settlement before you touch it. If it’s “sleeping” you don’t want to wake up the creditor before you have money to negotiate with. On very large collections, sometimes you can get as low as 30%, but 50% is very good.
   
3. If a collection account has a large balance owing, they are more likely to file a lawsuit against you. Be aware of that before proceeding. If you are served papers, respond immediately and try to work out an agreement or payment plan that includes them deleting the account from your credit report when it has been fully paid. Keep a record of all your payments in a file, because you might need that later.

Credit repair can be a sprint, but some accounts are more like a marathon. Either way, you CAN repair and restore your credit and good name. Week-by-week, month-by-month, you pay on time and work on having anything that is reporting false, misleading, erroneous, outdated, or unverifiable removed.

Never give up! You are 100% worth the effort it takes.

Did you apply for financing with an automobile dealership only to find later that they created a zillion inquiries by shot-gunning out your name and social security number to a long list of possible lenders?

Did they fail to inform you that they would be pulling your credit report multiple times? And fail to get your permission to do that?

If so, here’s how to handle it:

1) If they are older than 10 to 12 months, ignore them. Inquiries only impact your score for the first 12 months, even though they stay on your report for 24 months.

2) If new and you want them removed, look online or in your auto paperwork to get the name of the Sales Manager. Then write to that person and say this:

On (date) I purchased a (kind of vehicle) from your dealership. The car is great and I was happy with my experience, except for one thing, which I want you to rectify.  I did not give permission — nor was I informed — that the finance agent would shotgun my credit information out to multiple lenders, causing my credit report to have (how many) inquiries on my report. I did not authorize this! I was not asked permission! I was led to believe my credit report would be ordered only one time. Therefore, I need you to have your team delete the following erroneous inquiries from my credit report immediately:

1) name of loan company on your report
2) Next one
3) Continue with list

I will be looking for a quick and amicable reply, so I can continue being a fan of (name of dealership).

Sincerely,

your signature and contact

That should do it! Follow up with a phone call, if needed.

In case you aren’t aware, my new book with a ton of new valuable information and 27 new letters I wrote this year is available on Amazon. If you’re still on your credit restoration journey, you need this resource. See it here.

Sharing some good news to encourage you today…

From 500 Score to 720!
A book reader emailed: “My credit score was 500 and I never thought I’d be able to own a home. Now, four books later (the Repair Your Credit Like the Pros series), my score is 720 and I just purchased a brand new house.”

That news really made my day, so I wanted to share it with you, because if she can do it, why not you?!

Late Payment Deleted, Credit Score Restored!
Another book reader had been preparing his and his wife’s credit to buy a home and had saved for a down payment. They were in the process of getting officially preapproved by their mortgage broker when BAM! his credit score dropped by 80 points. And it wasn’t even anything he’d done wrong.

One of his credit card companies was linked to a club membership for the annual dues. He completely forgot about it and never received any notice. The dues didn’t get paid and his credit card reported a 30-day late payment which plummeted his credit score by 80 points. Devastating!

He called the credit card company and explained everything and asked them to remove the late payment. They said, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do.”

That’s when he reached out to me vis https://askcarolynwarren.com/ask-a-question/ and asked if he could hire me to write a custom letter. I said yes.

Less than a week later, the president of the credit card company telephoned him personally and said the late payment was being removed and that his credit score would be restored to the high 700s as it had been before.

That’s what I call success!!!

Professor Chooses My Book as Required Reading

The Metropolitan College New York is requiring students in their summer class, “The Principles of Finance,” to read my book, Repair Your Credit Like the Pros. A reader wrote to tell me and say she’s learned so much from the book.

I am grateful for this compliment and endorsement! I never expected that to happen when I wrote the book for people who need help repairing and restoring their credit. God is good!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

For almost 10 years, I have been writing posts to help people save money and avoid mortgage scams and rip-offs. I have also been writing about repairing and restoring your credit, and how to get a credit score you can be proud of.

But there is always something new to learn! So please post a comment and let me know what you would like me to write about next.

By the way, have you noticed my website and blog posts are not cluttered with annoying ads all over the place? I pay Word Press an annual fee to keep the ads off.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions, ideas, and comments.
Carolyn Warren

Good news that many people don’t know… underwriters DO count the following income sources when you apply for a home loan…

Seasonal Work Some jobs, such as construction, roofing, road construction, etc. are seasonal and it is standard to receive unemployment income during the off season. That is perfectly fine and your unemployment checks count in your annual income. Calculate your annual income for the past two years and then divide it by 24 for your Nannual income.

Overtime Income As long as you can document receiving overtime income for the past 12 to 24 months, you can put it on your loan application. (Whether 12 or 24 months is required depends on the overall strength of your loan application for the automated underwriter.)

Pay Increase For a recent pay raise, explain and document, then you can use your new, higher income to quality. (Your loan officer will help you with this.)

Incarceration Income For people who were in prison, write down your prison job and income, such as: Federal prison, Custodial work, $35/month, 15 years. You use that to satisfy the two=year employment requirement. Then you will need 12 months of employment on the outside, and that is the income figure that will be used to qualify. If you have been out of prison for more than 24 months, do not include your prison job on the application at all, because only a two-year record of working is required.

Recent college grads Your years in school count toward the two-year employment requirement, but you need at least 12 months earning income. If you graduated three months ago and began work immediately, you need nine more months of income to qualify for a mortgage.

The above is an excerpt from Chapter 17, “Income: Qualify Your Earnings Like an Underwriter,” Get the Mortgage You Want Like a Pro.

If you’re planning to buy a home in the next year or two, this is important information to know now so that you don’t get caught unawares.

INCOME YOU CANNOT COUNT ON A MORTGAGE APPLICATION with a bank, credit union, or any loan using government money. (You would need a non-conforming loan available through mortgage brokers.)

Tip money that is “under the table” and not declared on taxes.

New self-employment income that is less than 24 months. If you’re newly self-employed, that is not enough time for the underwriter to average your income or see the income trend.

Inheritance, because it is not an ongoing income. However, you can use it for your down payment and/or closing costs.

Lottery winnings don’t count, because they are a one-time windfall. However, you can use it for your down payment and/or closing costs.

Cash income that is not declared on 1040 taxes. You can’t count secret “under the table” income.

Exaggerated income, surprisingly common. The income on your loan application must match your W2, 1099, tax returns. The underwriter always checks and recalculates, so there is no sense in exaggerating on the application.

For the following income, you must have been receiving it for at least two years:

• Part-time work
• Tip income
• Automobile allowance
• Self-employment income
• Gambling income
• This is not a complete list, just some of the most common types of income that require two years of receiving.

This information is taken from Chapter 17 “Income: Qualify Your Earnings Like an Underwriter,” Get the Mortgage You Want Like the Pros.

$2,500 is now available to be used toward buying a home if your income is below 50% of the median income for your area. Here are the facts:

This is a true grant from the U.S. government housing agency. You do not pay it back.

The $2,500 goes toward your down payment or loan costs, it is not given to you as cash.

To see if you qualify, Google “median income for <zip code>.” Then see if your income is below half of that. For example, the median income for Wenatchee, WA 98801 is $70,800. If your income is $35,400 or lower, you qualify for this grant.

This is for owner-occupied homes, not rentals or investment properties.

How to Get the Grant

This grant comes from the Congress-chartered company referred to as Freddie Mac. They provide money to banks and mortgage lenders. You get this grant from any bank or mortgage lender that uses Freddie Mac money.

Call and ask, “Do you have the new $2,500 grant from Freddie Mac?”

Low Income, not Low Credit

To get the grant and buy a home, your credit must qualify and you must be able to afford the proposed house payment. If your rent is the same as a mortgage payment, I encourage you to look into this with a local mortgage broker.