There Are NO TRICKS to Good Credit

I finally had enough. I've seen these click-bait ads for years now: Tricks to outsmart the credit world - sneaky tactics to make bad credit magically appear as if the borrower now has a stellar credit rating, thus moving their interest rates from confiscatory, mob-lending levels to less than major banks pay to the Federal Reserve.

It's not true.

It's just not.

There are STRATEGIES you can use to build and keep good credit scores and a good credit rating. But, there are no tricks that can "trick" the system into showing a false read. At least, no tricks that lenders and creditors haven't seen a million times.

Here are a few reasons why tricks do not work.

1. There are dozens of scoring models. There are even varieties of the famous FICO scoring models. And, many of those other scoring models purposefully grade "on the curve" to give a false sense of good credit.

The problem with these enigmatic scoring models is that they are useless. That is, the credit scoring model and the organization which employs that scoring model does not actually lend money. So, what good is that score if the people with money to lend do not rely on that scoring model for their lending decision?

Often, my customers will tell me "I've been watching my score and it's gone from 588 to 720...I'm good to go now." Truthfully, the 588 was from a real mortgage credit report and the 720 was from some company which was NOT in the business of lending money but, rather, in the business of selling false hope. Their scores were completely irrelevant because they did NOT actually make loans. Oh, they sold something alright. But, all they had to offer was pipe dreams and a fake read on their suckers'....I mean customers' credit rating.

2. Some credit enhancement services will tell people to put a derogatory account into "dispute." Here's what happens when you put an account into "dispute" status. That dispute temporarily removes that account from affecting the credit score. So, the alleged "trick" is that by removing a negative effect on your score, it will magically cause the score to go up.

Here's the problem with that fantasy. Lenders require that "disputes" be removed from accounts on a credit report before they evaluate your credit worthiness. At the very least, lenders limit the number of "disputes" above which number (right now, 1 or 2), they will not proceed with your loan application. In other words, you have to take your trick back.

So, what is the purpose of these "disputes?" Honestly, I don't know...unless YOU TRULY HAVE A DISPUTE - a real dispute with facts and documentation to back it up. Then, you can win the dispute and get your accounts into ACCURATE reporting. But, that's not what the tricksters are trying to do is it?