His message: Know how credit works, and don’t run away from your financial problems.
“Because when you try to buy a house 10 years later, that’s gonna kick you in the butt,” says Cooper, 50, of Atlanta.
Cooper knows all about having bad credit. As recently as 2017, his credit score was a lousy 524.
“I never had a credit card,” he says. “I had $6,000 worth of unpaid bills.”
He vowed to sort out his financial situation and fix his credit. He and a Fedup-4U partner did it together. They learned the hard way not to deal with fly-by-night credit repair services.
“We got burned by a lot of companies,” Cooper says. “They took our money and disappeared with it. We both got burned for about $4,500 altogether.”
Although there are legitimate credit repair services, there are also shady ones that demand money upfront and promise way more than they can deliver. Then they’ll milk you for money until you wise up.
Cooper and his friend went through this ordeal with three companies. Then they found Credit Sesame, a 100% free credit monitoring service that helped them learn how to fix their credit for free.
The app started by sending Cooper a free credit report card — including his TransUnion credit score — and provided him with personal recommendations.
It showed him a quick view of his total debt, plus all the factors contributing to his low score: credit usage, credit age, inquiries, account mix and payment history.
Cooper’s favorite part about Credit Sesame is its personalization. It suggested concrete steps, based on his situation, to better manage his credit score.
[Ed: This is a powerful bit of information for those suffering from the effects of less than stellar credit. We took the time to take a critical look at Credit Sesame, and we suggest that you take a look at it, too. It really is 100% free. Imagine a 277 point increase in your credit in 6 months– or even a year!]
