Hello everyone, Josh Jampedro here, your trusted loan officer. Today, I want to delve into a topic that resonates with many of us: improving our credit scores. There's a lot of buzz in the market, with various companies and even credit bureaus like Experian, advertising methods to boost your credit scores. It's an area packed with nuances and potential pitfalls, and I'm here to guide you through it with some key insights that could make a substantial difference in your financial journey.

Exploring Credit Score Improvement Methods

So, increasing your credit scores, often a very hot topic. You see a lot of companies out there advertising that they can increase your credit scores. Even credit bureaus like Experian offer something called Experian boost, which they claim can help you to increase the scores on your credit report. That can help you gain more borrowing power, whether it be for a mortgage or for a car. One thing that's important to understand is something called credit disputes.

The Role of Credit Disputes in Credit Score Management

So, credit disputes are whenever you have something reporting on your credit that you don't agree with, and you tell those credit bureaus, which are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, that that information is not correct. Now, disputing the trade line on your credit report in and of itself doesn't actually do anything. It doesn't change the credit scores just yet. What happens is it requires that the creditors who are reporting that to your credit report have to verify that the information is accurate. So that can do one of two things. Let's say you actually did miss that payment, and it's like Verizon that's reporting to your credit report that you have a missed payment or something like that. If you dispute that and it turns out that it's correct, well, then nothing changes. If it turns out that it's wrong, then that can fall off of your credit report and increase your scores.

Timing Your Credit Disputes: Strategic Considerations

But it's important to understand that if you want to dispute something on your credit report, don't do it when you're going to get a mortgage. Don't dispute trade lines on your credit report, like right when it becomes time to buy, because you know that if you get a higher credit score, it can help your buying power. It can help you with interest rates. You want to do that well in advance because lenders are less likely to lend funds if these are conventional loans or FHA government backed loans. Lenders are less likely to lend the money to you if you have disputes because it leads to uncertainty in your credit profile. Lenders don't know if the information is accurate, if it's inaccurate. And a lot of the times it's hard to get a mortgage if you have a lot of disputes. So you have to take those out of dispute on your credit report in some cases before you close on the loan, or you have to prove which side is accurate. Is it disputed accurately? Did you actually miss the payment? So doing that while you're going through the mortgage process is not a good idea. Not saying that disputing things on your credit report is not a good idea but doing it when you're trying to get a mortgage is not a good idea. You want to do that well in advance so that you can clear up any disputes and have them resolved before it actually comes time to get preapproved.

In conclusion, while it's always beneficial to maintain a healthy credit score and address inaccuracies, timing is key, especially when you're planning significant financial steps like securing a mortgage. As your loan officer, my advice is to plan ahead and resolve any credit disputes well before you embark on your home-buying journey. This ensures that your credit profile is as robust as possible, helping you secure the best terms for your mortgage. If you have any questions or need personalized guidance, feel free to reach out to me, Josh Jampedro. Here to help you navigate the complex world of credit and lending with confidence and clarity.