inVIVO credit helps to build creditworthiness.

Do-It-Yourself Creditworthiness

Understanding the process, having the tools and making the time.

As you know, having strong creditworthiness is critical for a number of reasons. inVIVO credit’s core purpose is to assist consumers like you with the process of building and maintaining strong creditworthiness and part of that entails making sure you know that building and maintaining strong creditworthiness is something you can do on your own. It is very much like maintaining your pool or yard; it takes knowledge, tools and time. Some people will hire professionals to take care of the service and some people prefer to do it on their own.

Another important point that needs to be understood is that there are no guarantees as to the outcome of many item disputes. We have a very good bearing in this industry because it’s our business; we know where to start in order to get your credit score moving in the right direction but there may be items on your reports that cannot be altered or removed because of their legitimacy. This is precisely why we focus on a broader plan and over time, we are able to achieve very good results. This is also why we offer for no cost, the inVIVO for life lifetime membership. No matter what is on your credit reports, they will always come off at some point when factoring in time. The lifetime membership costs you nothing and it allows us to keep chipping away at existing items left on your reports as well as any new items that may have dropped onto your reports and eventually, they come off.

Nevertheless, if you prefer to work on your creditworthiness yourself, we want to lay out some points of focus. Remember, once achieved, strong creditworthiness comes more from good habits and responsibly managing your cash and debts than anything else:

Here is a list of preliminary items you should address to help shift your mindset into the credit reporting realm:

  • Pull Your Tri Bureau Report: This is of course the first step; you must have your reports in front of you along with some sheets of paper for note-taking.
  • Understand Weighting Methods for Each Scoring Model: FICO and VantageScore weigh certain factors differently; some more heavily and some less heavily than the other. The credit scores generated by each will typically be close but rarely the same. Both FICO and VantageScore assign percentages to their factors but VantageScore also adds an additional factor by weighting each percentage. For example, VantageScore notes that payment history is 40% of your Vantage score but it is weighted as “High Weight” whereas Age and Type of Credit accounts for only 21% or your Vantage score but it is weighted as “Extreme Weight.” Once you understand the weighting methodologies of each, you’ll be better prepared to put together your plan priorities.
  • Familiarize Yourself with Interpreting the Reports: Part of interpreting the reports is knowing which scoring model each of the credit bureaus uses. Please remember that different lenders will also use different scores and in many cases, may have developed a scoring algorithm of their own.
  • Familiarize Yourself with Regulations and Timelines: The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have published very good information about credit reporting laws and credit reporting tips for consumers, all available online. Visit this page for CFPB’s consumer credit reporting page; there’s an abundance of content here but if you’re planning doing your own creditworthiness building, this is a good place to start.

Spend all the time needed to understand the credit bureaus, the credit scoring models and the credit reports themselves. This will serve as the basis for your plan of attack for strengthening your creditworthiness.

Here is a list of short-term items you can address:

  • Make Payments on Revolving Debt As Soon As Statements Are Generated: Across the board, the most critical aspect of having strong creditworthiness is whether or not you make your payments and when you make your payments. Revolving credit accounts such as credit card accounts typically issue monthly statements. Whether you’re paying your balance due in full or you’re making a minimum payment, make that payment as soon as your statement is generated. This will positively impact your credit score.
  • Setup Autopay Whenever Possible: Autopay will help you with consistently making payments on time; a very good sign of responsible debt management, especially if you set your autopay date as soon as the bill is generated.
  • Keep Existing Lines of Credit Open: Closing credit accounts, even when showing a zero balance, can significantly affect your credit because it affects your credit utilization percentages. We prefer to keep all lines of credit open if there’s no clear security risk in doing so.
  • Settle Accounts Under Collections: Accounts under collection are tougher because you’re dealing with your creditors and until the accounts have been paid (even if negotiated down in balance), creditors will not remove them. Contact them and negotiate terms so that they are being paid down. Even as they will show on your credit report, you will receive positive impact under your payment history for making the restructured payments and for making them on time.
  • Lower Credit Utilization: For accounts carrying revolving balances, start paying them down in a manner that will get you to carrying no more than a 30% balance of your total credit line.
  • Incorporate Other Payment History: There are ways now to incorporate payments on montly recurring bills for Netflix, telephone and utility, into your credit reports.
  • Apply for Credit Only When Absolutely Necessary: This is related to your hard and soft credit inquiries. Remember that the hard inquiries, whether you’re approved for credit or not, will adversely affect your credit scores.

All of the items on this list above are things you can do in the short term while you work on disputing the inaccuate and/or unsubstantiated items on your reports.

Disputing items on your credit reports is more of a long-term initiative and can take a few months or longer depending on the item specifics:

  • Identify Clearly Inaccurate Items: Start with these; they will be the easier items to have removed and as a result, will help your credit score in a shorter period of time.
  • Identify Items with Expired Timelines: Each type of item has a duration of time it can remain on your credit reports; review those durations and if you have items that are close or should have already been dropped, send your notice(s).
  • Send Letters to the Credit Bureau(s) and/or Creditor(s): These are the notices you’ll send to each bureau and/or creditor providing them with the necessary details to address each item.
  • Investigation and Response Waiting Period: This could be anywhere from 30 to 45 days.
  • Review Response Results: Read the responses carefully and go from there. If the response is favorable, check your credit reports to make sure they have followed through on your request(s).
  • Address Response(s) as Necessary: In many cases, we’ll have to send out a second round of letters.

Item disputing is typically much more work and requires the ability to manage tasks and associated timelines but can be well worth the time after you receive favorable results.

inVIVO credit helps to build creditworthiness.

Strong Creditworthiness Unlocks Substantial Savings and Benefits.

inVIVO credit helps to build creditworthiness.

Main Scoring Model Breakdowns

FICO uses 5 key scoring factors; VantageScore uses 6 key scoring factors.

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