Credit Repair Kit For Dummies [Paperback]

Stephen R. Bucci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2005 | Series: For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback)

Don't let your credit suffer needlessly from errors or outdated information

With tools and tips for fixing a bad credit report

A bad credit report can hurt your chances at qualifying for loans and credit cards, and it can even get in the way when you want to rent an apartment or land a job. Credit Repair Kit For Dummies is your essential guide to managing your credit -- from fixing mistakes on your credit report, to improving your credit going forward, to establishing manageable payment plans with creditors.

Discover how to
* Protect yourself from identity theft
* Improve your credit score
* Assert your rights under the FACT Act
* Maintain great credit
* Investigate your legal options

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Don't let your credit suffer needlessly from errors or outdated information

With tools and tips for fixing a bad credit report

A bad credit report can hurt your chances at qualifying for loans and credit cards, and it can even get in the way when you want to rent an apartment or land a job. Credit Repair Kit For Dummies is your essential guide to managing your credit — from fixing mistakes on your credit report, to improving your credit going forward, to establishing manageable payment plans with creditors.

Discover how to

• Protect yourself from identity theft
• Improve your credit score
• Assert your rights under the FACT Act
• Maintain great credit
• Investigate your legal options

About the Author

Steve Bucci is the President of Money Management International and former president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern New England. He is also the author of the nationally syndicated Debt Advisor column.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (December 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764599089
• ISBN-13: 978-0764599088
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

149 of 160 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't get down to the nitty-gritty credit repair tactics, April 27, 2006

By 

A.Marie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Credit Repair Kit For Dummies (Paperback)

I'm lukewarm about this book.

This book is good if you want general credit information but the title "Credit Repair" is misleading. If your credit is really jacked up like mine then this book won't cut it. I'd suggest doing online research to find out how you can repair your credit.

The book should have covered things like "pay for delete" which is a negotiation tactic that you use with collection agencies in which you pay the amount that you owe and they delete the negative tradeline off of your credit report. This is something that you would need to get in writing before making the actual payment.

Another term that the book should have covered is "restrictive endorsement". This is when you give your creditors a check w/ stipulations in the memo like "by cashing this check you are agreeing that this debt is paid in full" or "by cashing this check, you are agreeing to remove the negative tradeline off of my credit report". Note that this does not hold up in every state so you must be careful.

This book doesn't really touch on HIPAA information which is needed if you want to remove medical accounts (that have gone to collections) off of your credit report.

My suggestion if your credit is really bad is to do online research to figure out how to clean it up. This book is nothing more than definitions and you could get those online as well.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must-read for college students, December 20, 2006

By 

Elizabeth Lewin (Westport, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Credit Repair Kit For Dummies (Paperback)

As a financial planner and co-author of Making Bread: The Ultimate Financial Guide for Women Who Need Dough, I recommend this book for every college student. They need to know how to use credit wisely and this book will help them understand how it can be done. More importantly, students will learn what happens when they abuse credit. Few, if any, understand how bad credit will affect their future ability to borrow money. Money management should be a required course for college students. It is not, and they go into the adult world as financial illiterates. This book will open their eyes to what can happen.

Elizabeth Lewin

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Information Source for All Users of Credit, October 12, 2006

By 

Grace Park (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Credit Repair Kit For Dummies (Paperback)

This book helped me get back to the basics of managing my credit - because unbeknownst to and forgotten by many, credit indeed needs to be managed! Also the chapter on budgeting was very useful. Stephen Bucci uses wit and simple everyday language to make the book not only easy to understand and follow, but also engaging. A good purchase for those who need a refresher or reference for real life credit related problems!