MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: brokers

  • Harvest Your Future Business…In The Busy Times

    harvest future businessAre you writing a lot more business than you used to? You’re not alone. Being flat out has its obvious advantages – number one being you don’t have to worry about where your next deal’s coming from. But while business is good, it’s easy to forget that times have recently been tough.
     
    There are some important habits you can form now while business is flowing well, that will separate you from the pack, and ensure that you always reap the rewards -whatever the market conditions are.
     
    By Graham Doessel, Non-Legal Director MyCRA Lawyers.
    In Australian Broker yesterday, it was reported that brokers are seeing a big boost in their market share – up to on average 46% of all home loans in the three months to the end of September.This compares to about 40 per cent 18 months ago and a low of 38 per cent during the global financial crisis.
     
    Great news – but brokers can do some really important things to make sure this trend is not temporary.While you have more clients on your books, build a plan to keep in touch with them NOW – yes, now, during the busy times. You might as well start when you have plenty of clients.
     
    But let’s talk about content. What do we keep in touch about? 
     
    In my experience as a broker, I found there are four main areas of interest to your clients:
     
    1. Themselves. 
     
    How much do you know about your client? Keep in touch on their birthday; when their house anniversary comes around; when you have a new product or service which might interest them; or any old time you’re thinking of them. Personal correspondence is always endearing.
     
    2. Their footprint in the market. 
     
    Most clients would be interested in what the housing market is doing in their area, and how they are faring in comparison to others in their area. Likewise, information on their business and investment markets will also be well received.
     
    3. Opportunities they can take to be better. 
     
    New products or services which will enhance your client’s lives, or cut the length of their mortgage down would always be of interest. Whilst understandably many brokers can’t give financial advice to their clients, they can give the benefit of their experience and their knowledge to tell their clients something they didn’t know.
     
    Do you forsee interest rates as having a major positive impact on most of your existing clients? Should your bad credit clients look at getting into the market sooner rather than later? Is there someone you can put your clients in touch with who can enhance their lives?
     
    4. How you’ve helped them. 
     
    When your client has saved thousands because you have helped them find a professional to repair their credit rating before you’ve fitted them into a loan, tell them. When you helped them find a loan that was right for them that ended up being the best long-term choice, tell them. If they’ve saved thousands over the years because you found them a more competitive interest rate, tell them.
     
    Actually pointing out what you are doing or what you’ve done may seem obvious, but it may not be so for many of your clients. Showing them where they are saving money, where they could go wrong, and how your extra effort and experience is going to benefit them will mean they feel confident about the decisions they’ve made, and more willing to make another one under your guidance next time.
     
    So keep in touch now, and create those habits that will weather any storm.
     
     
    We would like to extend our thanks to the many brokers who have allowed us to help them create business in their future, by looking after their clientele with credit rating issues and inconsistencies. We are so happy to hear many have gone back to their brokers to be fitted into a better product, and saved thousands. The loyalty amongst your clients is unmistakable – and that’s reaping real rewards.
     
    Call MyCRA Lawyers today on 1300 667 218 and find out how credit repair will work for your clients. Also ask about our generous broker referral system.
    Image: zirconicusso/www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • How will open credit scores impact Australians?

    access credit scoreCredit reporting agency Veda Advantage has just announced it will allow consumers to receive a copy of their credit score with their credit report. We look at how that will occur, and what possible impact that will have on consumers and also brokers and whether consumers will be better able to manage their credit worthiness using this ‘score’.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repair and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    It was announced on Monday by Banking Day that Veda has ‘lifted the veil’ on credit scores and will allow consumers to be able to apply to see their credit score. Available to consumers for the first time, the VedaScore is a number between 0 and 1,200 that summarises information on your Veda credit file at a specific point in time. The higher the ‘VedaScore’ the better an individual is considered credit worthy.

    For a fee consumers will be able to access their credit score along with their credit file.

    This is over and above the standard credit report, which is still free from all of Australia’s credit reporting agencies once every year and is sent after 10 working days of application.

    Despite being the credit reporting agency holding the credit files of the largest number of credit active Australians, Veda has in the past remained tight lipped about default numbers and credit statistics in Australia.

    But this week they have offered some insight into credit activity, whilst releasing their ‘VedaScore’ product, by offering up a ‘Veda ScoreCard’ – which reportedly combines consumer research of 1,000 Australians about their finances with analysis of 300,000 VedaScores.

    One of the biggest findings was that more than 2.3 million Australians are at risk of financial strife in the next year, with 27% (628,000) at high risk of credit default from something as simple as an unpaid bill, credit card or loan.

    Veda’s survey also found some interesting facts about credit active Australians. Here are three we found most troubling about the credit active Australians surveyed:

    93% know they have a credit record, but don’t know you can access it

    81% are not concerned about their credit history

    80% have never checked their credit history

    Veda says the national average credit score is 749. But whilst Veda Marketing Manager Belinda Diprose, says in a statement to the media that making the VedaScore available to consumers for the first time “makes it easier for Australians to understand and manage their credit profile” – I am unsure how this will occur – as it hasn’t been announced that there will be a breakdown of that score and how it is calculated. There may be no way for consumers to understand what they can do to prevent their credit score from being reduced.

    Yesterday Business Insider Australia featured an American report on How To Improve Your Credit Score. Whilst the U.S. system has a vastly different credit reporting system – what’s interesting is, the report gives us insight into how the U.S. ‘Fico’ Score is broken down:

    FICO score breakdown

     

     

    Chart from Business Insider Australia’s report.

    A similar breakdown could be useful to consumers looking to improve their credit worthiness or prevent decision making which reduces their credit score.

    How will the VedaScore impact brokers?

    Today we were quoted in The Adviser in a story about the Veda Credit Score.

     Graham Doessel, chief executive officer of MyCRA Credit Rating Repair, said brokers should use the score to select the appropriate loan and lender for their clients, cutting back on rejected loan applications.

    “Being able to see the credit score would be invaluable to brokers,” he told The Adviser. “It will make their job much easier, because they can have an idea very quickly how the client is going to fare with particular lenders.”

    Alex Shumsky from Loan Market Oakleigh also made an important point about credit scoring information in the same story:

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Credit scoring] can be valuable provided the credit scoring is in line with that of the banks.

    “You can submit one loan to one bank and fail on credit scoring then submit it to another bank and it gets approved, same deal, same info but they’ll score it differently,” he said.

    It will still be up to brokers to match the right product to the right client – so whilst the VedaScore will be valuable in many cases, different banks will have different priorities and different scoring systems.

    We also see it could bring new clients to brokers – those who have obtained their credit score but don’t know how to interpret it, or what the relevance of that score will be with each lender.

    Brokers will still be quite necessary in terms of helping borrowers ‘test’ how their score rates against a range of available credit. What we don’t want to see in the future, are a great volume of borrowers ‘going it alone’ using their credit score, and then falling into the trap of worsening their credit score by generating excess credit enquiries.

    So whilst revealing the score is great, we hope consumer education goes hand in hand with this product release.

    For more information on your credit file, visit our main website www.mycra.com.au. 

    Image: phanlop88/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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  • Brokers and clients disadvantaged by clients navigating the ‘minefield’ of credit reporting

    Media Release

    Brokers and clients disadvantaged by clients navigating the ‘minefield’ of credit reporting alone

    Brokers who don’t have contact with a reputable credit rating repairer to refer bad credit clients to, may be missing out on valuable commission through lost deals, and in some cases may also be doing their clients a disservice, says a leading credit rating repairer and advocate for credit reporting accuracy.

    CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs, Graham Doessel says whilst many people whose credit history shows up with defaults have obtained that default justly, there are also many whose credit file contains errors and omissions and he says those people should be given the chance to clear their name.

    “I would like to say it is as easy as calling the Creditor to sort out the mix-up, but in reality clearing bad credit is a minefield, and a credit rating repairer can be invaluable,” Mr Doessel says.

    Generally when a client presents to a broker with bad credit they have two options:

    (1) Send them packing to resolve the mix-up or to wait until the credit listing “falls off” their credit file in 5 or 7 years before they apply again.

    (2) Organise a non-conforming loan at a higher interest rate to absorb the risk associated with lending to those with bad credit.

    When faced with a credit rating error, Mr Doessel says the clients who are sent away may not always be able to resolve their credit reporting dispute themselves.

    “Credit reporting is governed by mountains of legislation across different industries, so it is not always about right or wrong, but how the letter of the law applies in each case. We have seen many clients who are defaulted despite doing the right thing and despite working actively to try and resolve the situation themselves,” he says.

    He says many brokers put credit repair in the “too hard” basket and prefer to steer their clients to the non-conforming market – at least for the first few years of the loan when they can then refinance.

    “There are a couple of reasons why a non-conforming loan will not always be the best choice for the client. Firstly, they can lose thousands on interest even over the first three years, and secondly with the market the way it’s been more home owners are stuck, finding they can’t refinance due to lack of equity in the home,” he explains.

    Mr Doessel wants to help educate brokers and consumers alike on some of the myths surrounding credit files:

    1. Consumers always know they have bad credit before they apply for a loan.
    There can be many reasons for people not to know they have bad credit until they apply for a loan. They may have moved, been hospitalised, been an identity theft victim or even been a victim of error with their creditor. If the client was not notified prior to the default, in many instances the listing has been placed on the credit file unlawfully, and should be disputed.

    2. Credit file listings are always correctly placed on credit files.
    Credit reporting mistakes can and do happen –but most consumers are unable to recognise credit file errors. Some estimates point to as many as 34% of credit files containing errors or omissions. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][i]

    Credit reporting agency Veda Advantage recently admitted about 1% of material errors detected by their system alone.[ii] But many more may go undetected by credit reporting agencies, creditors and consumers until it’s too late and the consumer is refused a home loan.

    3. Credit file complaints are easily disputed.
    Some brokers assume if the listing is there – the client must be deserving of it. But in reality, once a listing has been placed on a credit file, it is very difficult for individuals to have removed. So even if the listing shouldn’t be there, most often people are forced to put up with it. Often they are told the listing can be marked as paid, but will not be removed from the credit file.

    4. If a Default or Clear-out is on the credit file it can never be removed prior to the end date.
    Some brokers assume credit repair must be a ‘con’, as in their experience listings are never removed. In truth, unless the client can show why the listing was placed unlawfully on the credit file it will not be removed. It is up to the client (or the credit repairer acting on their behalf) to show reason as to why the listing was placed unlawfully, and negotiate its removal.

    The process of credit repair involves an audit-like investigation of the entire case to determine, based on legislation whether the credit listing was placed unlawfully on the credit file. If this is determined, the credit repairer will formally negotiate the removal of the listing from the credit file on the client’s behalf.

    5. A bad credit client should be steered to the non-conforming market.
    If a broker considers duty of care to their client, and they believe the client should be able to obtain mainstream credit, except for bad credit history – then another step must be inserted in the process – deciding on the possible validity of the bad credit before providing non-conforming finance options to them.

    “As a successful broker in the non-conforming market for many years, with many cases I was left scratching my head as to why these perfectly suitable clients who had nothing wrong bar their credit rating errors did not have other options than to enter a loan at sky-high interest rates just to break in to the property market. That is precisely why I founded a credit repair business in the first place,” Mr Doessel says.

    6. Credit repair is a waste of money.
    If a potential borrower is able to have their unfair credit listing removed, they can reduce their interest charges by thousands just by entering a loan with a mainstream lender.

    On a loan amount of $350,000, a borrower would pay $487.62 more in interest each month over the first three years in a non-conforming loan at 9% interest vs the standard variable rate of say 7%.

    When we look at that in total, the borrower would be up for a staggering $17,554.34 more just in interest alone over those first three years.

    7. All credit repairers are the same
    Consumers do need to be aware there are some agencies out there who are happy to take money, but don’t add enough benefit to be of value over what an individual could do themselves. People looking for a reputable credit repairer should ask plenty of questions, do their homework on the company, and request some testimonials from past clients before they commit.

    /ENDS.

    Please contact:

    Graham Doessel – Founder and CEO MyCRA PH 3124 7133

    Lisa Brewster – Media Relations MyCRA media@mycra.com.au

    http://www.mycra.com.au/ www.mycra.com.au.blog

    MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs is Australia’s number one in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

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    [i] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/09/1076175103983.html

    (2) http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/latest/article/-/10670080/credit-ratings-check/

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  • Helping clients save money through credit repair

    As brokers we are continually faced with meeting clients whose credit report lets them down. These clients stack up financially on all levels…until that last minute credit check reveals they have an adverse listing on their credit file.

    By Graham Doessel CEO of MyCRA Credit Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    Many brokers who come across clients with a bad credit rating either turn them away or if they are otherwise suitable for finance, guide them into a more flexible non-conforming loan.

    But many brokers may be surprised to know it can be cheaper for the client to undergo credit repair  – and if the client identifies errors or inconsistencies in their credit report – it could ethically be the best option for the client.

    For instance, let’s calculate the figures on an average loan of $400,000 over 30 years, comparing non-conforming loan interest rate of 9.5% with a standard variable rate of 7%. The client would be paying a staggering $702.71 per month with non-conforming loan interest rates. They will be hit with $22,867.15 more in home loan repayments over the first three years of the loan.

    Credit repair would not be suitable for those people who demonstrate an inability to make repayments. But as credit repairers many times we find the client has errors on their credit report, or the listing is unjust – and that we can rectify. Often we can determine that the file can be completely cleared, allowing the client access to a whole range of loans they were previously unsuitable for.

    The popularity of credit repairers is due to a large volume of errors made by creditors on credit files, and a system of redress which is often difficult for the credit file holder to navigate.

    The number of errors on credit files in Australia is astounding. Many of our clients thought they had impeccable repayment histories and would have never dreamed they would end up with a default. Let me tell you mistakes do often happen. Sometimes simple human error by the creditor leads to defaults incorrectly listed.

    Whilst paying bills on time is the best way to ensure a clear credit file, it does not guarantee a clear credit report.

    Statistics released by the Australian Consumer Association (now Choice Magazine) from a study conducted in 2004 showed around 34% of the clients surveyed had credit files which potentially contained errors in some way.

    Recently Channel 7’s Today Tonight interviewed Veda Advantage’s Head of External Relations, Chris Gration on the possible number of errors on credit reports. He admitted errors within their system alone amounted to 1%.

    “We give out about 250,000 credit reports to consumers every year. But only in 1 per cent of cases is there a material error on the file, so a default or an enquiry that’s incorrect,” Mr Gration told Today Tonight.

    Even if as little as 1 per cent of those 14 million credit files contained errors, that would still currently leave 140,000 credit files in Australia containing errors that just shouldn’t be there.

    The nature of credit reporting is that there is much opportunity for human error and these errors are usually not uncovered until people go about checking their credit file. Often people are unaware of their responsibility to maintain the accuracy of their own credit file – and so they don’t find out about their credit issues until they apply for a home loan.
    Then, once people find problems with their credit file – they often find the process of removal of errors from their credit report difficult.

    Current legislation does allow people to have inconsistencies removed from their credit file, but in reality many people are not successful when they attempt to fix it themselves. Often it is because they are not schooled enough in the legislation or can’t devote the necessary time to it to ensure a successful credit repair. Sometimes people who attempt default removal themselves can do more harm than good through lack of knowledge, or difficulty in negotiating with creditors.

    One thing brokers can do to encourage a better transaction is to refer clients to us to have their credit checked prior to applying for finance. They can take advantage of their yearly free credit file check, which would uncover any problems with the credit file prior to finance application, and ensure the client is in the best possible position for qualifying for a loan. Plus a client does not generate a credit enquiry when they request a copy of their own credit file.

    Brokers can also potentially save thousands in lost commission by helping those that may otherwise be turned away to get a clear credit file.

    Once the credit file is repaired the client is then passed back to the referring broker to be fitted to the loan of their choice.

    For more information for brokers on the benefits of referring clients, contact MyCRA Credit Repairs or call tollfree 1300 667 218.