Primarily, I write to rebut the negative reviewers, among them self-described #1 authority in the country (and yet curiously uncredentialed) Bill Bauer, loan officer DFC and JD, who together dismiss this book as ‘pap’ and ‘cloaking strategy.’ Yes, the book can be repetitive and some of the advice seems slightly dodgy, but I find merit in the authors’ advice to negotiate with creditors to remove negative credit marks in exchange for payment (however long-delayed) of debt. If someone who has had credit problems in the past can eliminate these negative marks immediately in exchange for payment rather than pay the bill and simply wait out the expiration of the negative marks (minimum: 2 years!), WHY WOULDN’T THEY?

This is not ‘pap.’ This is not ‘cloaking strategy.’ This, my friends, is ‘negotiating.’
Rating: 4 / 5

I am one of the many people who, at 30 years old, had never requested copies of my credit reports, and who thought I had perfect credit prior to inexplicably being turned down for a loan. Much to my horror, I found out that there were more than 40 errors in my credit reports. Dozens of accounts that had been closed for many years were still reflecting as open, students loans erroneously reflecting defaults, credit card accounts erroneously reflecting 30 and 60 day late payments. All false information. Using Todd’s book, ALL of this false information has now been removed from my reports. Moreover, this book will teach you how to get results when the reporting agencies play their little games of “verifying” erroneous information. I can’t tell you how many times my reports came back with “information verified” even though I had enclosed written documentation that the information being reported was not correct (it really is unbelievable isn’t it!) Berman explained how to be persistent, get aggressive, and fight these unethical reporting companies and their shoddy work practices.

Even if you legitimately have creditors knocking on your door, this book will give you some very helpful advise as to negotiating a partial payment in return for a promise not to report the negative information to a credit bureau (DFC doesn’t want you to know that). And the book will also tell you how you MAY be able to get some accurate (but old) information removed from your report.

Finally, the credit reporting agencies try very hard to make your report as cryptic as possible in an effort to prevent you from understanding exactly what they are reporting about you. Todd’s book shows you how to read your report – a very important first step. However, I must add that because the book is now 6 years old, and because the agencies keep changing the form of their reports (gee, I wonder why?), this is the book’s biggest downfall right now (and the ONLY reason I didn’t give it 5 stars). PLEASE Todd if you’re reading this, revise your book and publish a new edition!

Notwithstanding this one downfall, I still HIGHLY recommend this book.
Rating: 4 / 5