Close Credit Cards-Pay Everything In Cash
Pay Off Collections Before Applying for A Loan
Close Accounts You Don’t Need or Use
Paying Off Your Auto Loan Will Help Your Credit

All sounds like great advice, right? And it may be for some things, but I can tell you first hand that all of these items will negatively impact your credit scores. As you can see, it’s not always easy to separate good advice from bad.

Haste definitely makes waste when it comes to making decisions about how to handle credit challenges, and in some cases it is almost impossible to reverse a wrong decision. Taking action on bad advice can cause an instant drop of up to 100 points or more to your credit scores. Trust me on this. In later chapters, I will show you how a drop of 100 points can cost thousands of dollars per month in additional interest rates and fees. That’s an attention grabber, isn’t it?

Here are some tips to help you separate good advice from bad when it comes to your credit:

• Get Educated. Knowing how to separate good advice from bad is not easy, but it can be done if you do your research. A good place to start is by reading my book, The Big Score – Getting It & Keeping It. You can also find a great deal of information on my site and at the Federal Trade Commission Site: www.ftc.gov.

• Ask for a referral. Asking for a referral from a source that you can trust is a great step toward separating bad advice from good. In many cases you will find that your realtor, your mortgage professional, your accountant, or your attorney can recommend a trust-worthy credit improvement expert or firm that can answer your questions.

• Don’t Buy Into a Sales Pitch. Firms that advertise on television or in the newspaper are generally staffed with salespeople, not specialists who can help you. My company has never advertised to the consumer directly. We have always received our business primarily through word of mouth.

• Expect to Pay. Don’t expect to receive good advice for free. Everyone has to make a living. If you call on a professional credit expert for advice, expect to pay as you would an attorney, or an accountant.

• Ask Questions. Make sure the credit specialist you are talking to or taking advice from can tell you how credit scores are calculated. In this book I will talk about many factors involved in calculating a credit score. Without this knowledge, it would be impossible to create a strategy to successfully improve credit scores.

• Be Realistic. Improving credit scores takes time. Watch out for companies or individuals promising miracles will occur in a few days or weeks. Remember, it took time for your scores to get where they are, and it will take at least 3-6 months, depending on your challenges, to improve your situation. It can take up to a year or more if you have multiple collections, tax lien, bankruptcy, or identity theft issues.

• Participate. One of the reasons my program is so successful is that I require participation from my clients. I load them up with education and I require that they manage their credit in a specific manner. Your participation not only ensures a higher level of success, it ensures a greater knowledge base.

You can achieve credit improvement success. It’s not rocket science. It’s knowing your rights and the inner workings of the system. That’s precisely why it’s essential to know you can trust the person who gives you advice regarding your credit and financial issues. The right person can do great things. The right advice will advance your goals. Conversely, the wrong advice can lead you down a path that runs at odds with your long-term goals.

Regardless of whether you are on the verge of bankruptcy, with a credit score of 550, or whether you have a credit score of 720 and want to achieve and keep a 780, improving your credit scores is completely do-able. Believe me. As a credit score expert, I have seen it all, and there is very little that can’t be improved if you tap into the right resources.