I Was Turned Down for a Mortgage and Skeptical About Credit Repair
My trip to the mortgage office
I left the mortgage office completely devastated. Brian, the loan officer, told me I couldn’t qualify for a mortgage because of my credit. My midscore was 580 and I needed to be in the mid-600 range.
I did what most people would do. I googled “credit repair” and started to search for help. Brian had given me a few tips on how I could improve my credit on my own, but these were mostly long-term strategies to build credit. I wanted to be in a new home within the next few months – not a year or two from now.
Lots of Options. How do I pick?
I quickly found a few companies that looked promising – Lexington Law, Sky Blue Financial, CreditRepair.com. They all seemed to offer a similar service which was basically to send out few dispute letters every month for a monthly fee. That was the first red flag.
Why would I pay for something I could do myself? I needed something better than hiring a company to send out automated template dispute letters.
Plus, I had a variety of things on my report and I wanted a company that would work aggressively on everything at once. I had medical collections, late payments, credit cards that had been charged off, and a bankruptcy from several years ago.
After reading some mixed reviews from those companies, I came across White Jacobs and Associates. They had an outstanding reputation online through Google Reviews and Facebook so I decided to dig a little more. Since they offered a free consultation, I decided to reach out and ask more questions.
I found Steve. Here we go.
After speaking with Steve, a senior credit analyst, two things stood out to me. First, their program would last a maximum of 6 months. This sounded way better than being on an ongoing monthly program that could take years. Second, their audits are backed by an in-house attorney. They don’t just send dispute letters. Their team actually audited creditors through a 4-round process that was customized to my situation.
I signed up and worked with Steve throughout the whole program. It was nice working with the same person during the entire process because he kept me updated and coached me. It was personal. I needed that because my financial situation is personal. I don’t like having to repeat my story every time I need assistance. Steve was there to answer my questions and guide me in raising my score.
The results are in.
So here I am 5 months later. I got approved for a home with a mid-score of 680. Brian, my loan officer was surprised I was able to raise my score so quickly. He asked, “How’d you do it?” and I told him. Needless to say, he started referring people over to Steve and his team. If any of my close friends or family need help with their credit situation, I send them over to WJA.
It’s important to recognize the advantages of working a team that does things differently than run-of-the-mill companies that spend millions on advertising but have a cookie-cutter process. I decided to hire a team that doesn’t sacrifice on the quality of their process. Ultimately, the choice is yours.
Learn about the the WJA mission, the WJA process, or look at some Results and Reviews from past clients.