If you liked Repair Your Credit Like the Pros, you will absolutely love my brand new book that I spent the last three years researching: Book 2: Repair Your Credit Like the Pros DEEPER DIVE. This is not a repeat of the first book, and it assumes you have already read the first book, Repair Your Credit Like the Pros.

Deep dive research went into this book. I interviewed executives at FICO, Experian, and some of the most successful (ethical) credit repair business owners in the country to learn what goes on behind the scenes and what’s working best now in 2024.

I have written 27 brand new letters to go with this new book. Here is a list of the letters in this book:

1. Letter to correct name.
2. Letter to credit bureaus to correct personal identifiers.
3. Sample Letter to Dispute Merged or Mixed Credit.
4. Letter #1 to delete a derogatory closed account.
5. Letter #2 to delete a derogatory closed account.
6. Alternate Letter to delete a derogatory account with a wrong balance.
7. Follow-up Letter if they failed to delete the account as requested.
8. Letter to delete an account that you previously, accidentally  confirmed.
9. Letter with Proof to Remove False Late Payment.
10. Letter to Creditor/Lender to Delete Late Payment Without Proof.
11. Letter to Credit Bureau to Delete Uncharacteristic Late Payment.
12. Letter for Covid-related Late Payments.
13. Letter to Delete a Late Payment on an Open Account.
14. An Alternate Letter to Delete a Late Payment.
15. Information Saturation Letter.
16. Sample Letter to a Bank.
17. Goodwill Letter if You Feel Like You’re in the 1% Lucky Group.
18. Courtesy Request Letter #1.
19. Courtesy Request Letter #2.
20. Letter to delete derogatory information due to the CARES Act.
21. Metro2 Letter Demanding Deletion.
22. Metro2 Letter to Dispute an Auto Repossession.
23. Letter with Sections 605, 609, 611, 623 for Compliancy.
24. Letter to remove medical account that is less than $500.
25. Letter to Delete a HIPAA Violation.
26. Letter to delete duplicate accounts.
27. Sample Method of Verification Letter. 30

Pick up your copy now, while it’s still brand new, before the price increases.

Unlike introductory guides, this book does not tread on familiar ground. It assumes you have a foundational understanding of credit repair and launches you into a deeper realm of insights and strategies. Each chapter is meticulously crafted to provide actionable steps that propel you toward a clean credit profile and a higher credit score.

I had the opportunity to communicate with a former representative of one of the big three credit bureaus.

I asked about a scenario where the person had good credit but one 30-day late payment had plummeted their credit score.

The person hadn’t meant to be late, but mistakes happen.

As a representative who read dispute letters and made judgment calls every day, how would she handle a letter that said the late payment was in error, that they paid their accounts on time, and that their credit was very important to them?

“How likely would it be for you to delete that late payment?” I asked.

Her reply: “Whenever I saw that the person had a good history of paying on time and there was only one late payment? Yes, I would delete that all day long!”

She went on to say that a low score due to one late payment was not indicative of the person’s credit habits, and that it was unfair to penalize them in a situation like that.

This is interesting, because the person who has a 750+ credit score, who accidentally accrues one 30-day late payment, is penalized much more severely than the person who has multiple late payments scattered all over their credit history. How is that fair?

The system thinks that if a person with stellar credit suddenly misses a payment, then a financial catastrophe has happened (like getting fired from their job with no savings to tide them over) and they are on the brink of many more late payments.

Is that assumption fair? I don’t think so, but that’s the way the system is set up. And not only that…

If a person with perfect credit has a late payment with one credit card, then their other three credit card companies may see that and assume the absolute worst. “Horrors, this person is about to go into complete default on our account! Quick, let’s send them out a notice of an increased interest rate asap!”

Friends, watch your credit. If you accidentally go one day past due, call the creditor immediately and ask them not to post the late payment on your credit report. They will usually charge you the late fee but agree to forego posting to the credit bureaus.

And if you happen to have a 30-day late payment on your otherwise beautiful credit report, send a customized dispute letter directly to the creditor pointing out how you like doing business with them and have always paid on time. If your letter reaches the right person, you have a very high chance of getting that late payment removed.

When the creditor instructs the credit bureau to delete a late payment, it happens pronto without verification required.

For more information on how to Repair Your Credit Like the Pros, see here.

Let’s make 2024 the year of GOOD CREDIT! Happy New Year!
Carolyn Warren

The IRS temporarily suspended the pursuit of taxes during the pandemic years, but that is now ending.

If you receive an automated collection notice from the IRS, DO NOT IGNORE IT. The IRS has leverage that no other creditor has, and they won’t forget, go away, or fade into oblivion.

The IRS has geared up to send notices for individual taxes that were behind before the 2022 tax year. They are also sending notices to businesses, organizations, trusts, and estates that have tax debts up to the 2023 tax year.

This applies to 4.7 million tax payers, 70% of them earning less than $100,000 a year.

Now for some GOOD NEWS.

While you still have to pay back taxes owed, the IRS has announced they will waive accumulated penalties and interest. How generous, right?! I know, but it’s something, and we’ll take it.

You don’t have to apply for your part of the $1 billion tax penalty relief program. The IRS will automatically apply it to your account, but do look at the figures to make sure what they say you owe is only the tax amount and not any added fees or interest.

Again, do not ignore a tax notice from the IRS. Prioritize this! And if you are unable to pay, call and work out a payment plan. The IRS will let people make monthly payments–without interest–so set up that plan and protect yourself from severe consequences.

Statistics are showing a weird anomaly. It makes no sense to me. What do you think?

FACT: 62% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. (per LendingClub)

FACT: 74% of Americans are stressed over their finances. (per CNBC survey)

Those two facts tell us well over half of Americans don’t have enough money to be comfortable with their finances. Now check out three more statistics.

FACT: Holiday spending this year looks like it broke all records with both in-store and online shopping. (per National Retail Federation)

FACT: 96% of Americans were expecting to overspend this holiday season. (per TD Bank)

FACT: Only 23% expect to be able to pay off their new debt within one to two months. (TD Bank)

What I’m reading is that people’s actions don’t match up with what their brains are telling them about their money.

The majority are saying they’re stressed about not having enough money, and yet they’re spending even more than before — ? How does that make sense?

I would love to hear your thoughts about this. Please click on comment to post. (The system requires me to allow the post due to too many spambots, but don’t worry, I will read and enable your comment asap.)

From Isaiah 9:6 we read:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Might God.
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This Christmas season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,
Emmanuel, God is with us.

The 2024 loan limits are announced!

Both conventional and FHA have increased their limits due to the increase in home values.

For areas of the country where the average home price is higher (coastal cities and Hawaii, for example), the loan limit is higher. That is called “High-Cost” and it is not a jumbo loan (which is pricier).

The loan limits for VA loans and USDA (rural) loans did not change.

Speak with your local mortgage broker to find out what you qualify for.

I cannot believe the greed of credit card companies nowadays! Look at this:

Visa credit card company revenue 2023 is $32.7 Billion!

That is up 11% from last year’s $29.31 Billion, which was up 21% from the previous year. When will they be rich enough?

It’s not their richness that riles me up. It’s how they are charging people 35.99% when they can get away with it — when the consumer is struggling and doesn’t have wonderful credit.

On the other end of the range, if you have great credit, then they “only” charge 8.75%, which is still too much, in my book. I mean, there’s no way I am paying that!

It’s not just Visa, either. The rest of them are just as greedy!

American Express revenue as of 9/2023: $65 Billion

MasterCard $24.36 Billion

I would go on, but I think you’re already sick enough!!!

STOP LETTING THEM TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU

Don’t let them gouge you like this! You work hard for your money, and it should be yours.

And in case you’re wondering about usury laws, the laws that make it illegal to charge an unfair and insane amount of interest, usury laws do not apply to credit cards!!!

How can you stop this greedy madness? It’s simple.

Never charge more than what you can pay off when the bill comes. That way, you pay $0 in interest! Ha!

Use the card as a convenience without carrying a balance, without paying a single cent in interest.

Then let them charge 100 percent interest if they want, BECAUSE THEY CAN’T TOUCH YOU — as long as you pay the bill in full each month.

This holiday season, find ways to celebrate that does not include going into debt. Don’t make the greedy creditors more filthy rich than they already are! Are you on board? Post in the comments your thoughts.

I feel compelled to speak out on the topic of free letters for credit repair that are available on the Internet, because what’s happening to some people is tragic.

Recently — and many time in the past — someone sends me an email something like this:

Dear Carolyn,
Before reading Repair Your Credit Like the Pros, I sent <this letter> to the credit bureaus. They rejected it. What should I do now?

The letter they sent was one of those free downloadable letters. Because of what the letter said and the information in the letter, these people had done irreparable damage to their ability to get the derogatory account deleted early.

“Free” can be extremely expensive! A bad dispute letter might cement a negative account to your report like concrete. In some cases, they will need to wait for the derogatory item to age off their report. In other cases, they can try again after waiting 3 to 6 months.

If you want results like the top, experienced pros, then you must follow the strategies the pros use. One thing they don’t do is list all of their negative accounts in one letter. Another mistake is telling the credit bureaus that the balance on a paid off collection is wrong. A third mistake is sending out a dispute letter before you have cleaned up your personal identifying information. I could go on… but let’s look at this…

Here is a comment posted on one of my blog posts last week by a book reader named Darcy:

“Carolyn Warren is the best! I went from a 550 to 805 with all 3 bureaus within 6 months based on her simple but effective letter pack. Life changing. I now have over $150,000 in personal credit and I’m using that to leverage business credit. Worth every penny. FYI the book are a good read as well.”

Thank you, Darcy, for sharing your success with us!

If your credit is at a low point, grab onto hope! Darcy’s scores were at 550 and now they are top tier! With a score over 800, she has respect in all business arenas.

You can’t change the past, but you have control over your future. As we go through the holiday season, don’t throw your common sense out the window and over-spend.

The sacrifices you make today will pay off when you achieve good credit.

If you want the letter packet Darcy used, pick up a copy of Repair Your Credit Like the Pros, available in paperback and on Kindle at Amazon. The link for the letters is here.

This is important for all homeowners to know. And yet, most do not. You’ll want to pass this on to other homeowners.

Most people think a mortgage loan modification is a good idea. Many people who don’t get one are envious of those who do. Many who don’t need one feel angry at the idea that even though they pay perfectly on time for years on end, they don’t “get a break” like those who get a loan mod. BUT WAIT! There’s a lot of misunderstanding tangled up with those emotions.

First, a loan mod is not the great blessing to the homeowner that many think. It’s actually doing the lender a favor first.

A loan modification (mod) is when a homeowner cannot pay the mortgage due to a temporary hardship, so the lender modifies the contract to allow them to pay less for a specified period of time and at the same time, the unpaid portion of their regular payment gets tacked onto the end of the loan term. (Or it might be a “shark agreement.” See Beware below.)

Here is how that helps the lender:

1. They don’t have to go through the expensive process of foreclosure and resell.
2. They make more money in the long run, because the unpaid portion of the payment that is tacked onto the end of the loan earns them additional interest profit.
3. It’s good publicity, because it makes them look like good guys rather than bad guys.

Here is how it helps the homeowner:

1. Instead of losing their home to foreclosure, they get time to get their finances back on track.
2. They aren’t forced to sell their home, which is stressful and time-consuming; plus, finding a place to rent can be difficult.

Good or Bad Idea?

A loan mod is a temporary band-aid. If paying the extra interest that it will cost you is worth the benefit of receiving a temporary financial break, then it’s a good thing. Possibly even a godsend. If your financial hardship is temporary, and you will be able to resume the payments — as set forth in the loan mod agreement — then it’s a good thing.

However, if the loan mod is prolonging the inevitable loss of your home, then better to sell sooner so that you don’t lose more of the proceeds from the sale (the cash) to the lender.

If you don’t truly need a loan mod, then applying for one is a stupid/misguided idea. The bank is not doing you an act of charity out of a loving heart with the loan mod. They are making a financial move that helps their own bottom line in the long run.

BEWARE!!!

Some loan mod agreements are better than others. Read every word. Get a contract expert to help you read it. Notice if the contract requires you to pay all of the unpaid portion as a giant lump sum payment as soon as the loan mod ends. If so, will you be able to do that? Some loan mod agreements don’t let you extend the payments beyond 30 years; instead, they increase your payment immediately when the mod period ends. Will you be able to handle that payment?

Know exactly what you’re getting yourself into before you sign, then you will be able to make an intelligent, informed decision.