ho wants to hear "...you are not a responsible person!....pay your bills on time!...stop procrastinating!" For those hearing this from others, or directly from your conscience, know that when it comes to Credit, there is little worse than getting a negative item on your credit report because of these things.

It takes seven (7) years for legitimate negative items to be automatically removed from your credit report. To help you, our SMART Credit Report™ shows you the date when a negative Credit item is to be automatically removed by the statute of limitations.

Attack your bills when you get them. Don't wait! Putting them in a "to do" pile for later never works well.

There is always a downside to late payments!

One of our Smart Actions™ is a "Goodwill request to remove a Negative item." This is our second most popular Smart Action™. It seems to be effective about 50% of the time. Most creditors will remove the negative from your credit reports simply for customer service reasons, especially if you are a current customer and are asking to remove only one late.

Naturally, sub-prime is a bad place to be. There is a way to take charge of your financial problems. It does not take that long. Getting out of sub-prime is part of what our Smart Credit® system allows you to do.

You certainly know that a strong credit score can make a big difference in your life. Financial stability is a feeling not to be underestimated. Our Smart Credit® system gives you the ability to Control your Credit, with a Button!™ and make a big difference in your life.

Generally, people put off managing their credit or debt with the best intentions to get to it. You may tell yourself:

• I don't owe anyone or have credit, so I'm OK
• I don't need credit, so it doesn't matter
• I'll wait until I can pay them off and then it will be fine
• I'm in so deep I can't do anything about it

You would be wrong on all counts!

Remember, it is your creditors' computer systems that automatically report you late. It WILL happen if you procrastinate. Showing late on your credit WILL lower your score and, in some cases, dramatically. It is a pain you don't need to have.

Your credit report and score are affected each day by inaction as we explain in "Understanding Credit Scoring."

This common misconception leaves consumers shocked when they are turned down for credit because they have a 'bad credit score.'

Because of the way credit scoring and credit underwriting works, having no credit is sometimes worse than having bad credit.

If you have no credit accounts, or have credit accounts with no payment history, in essence you have no credit score.You will get points for having the same job and living at the same address for a minimum period of time (usually 2 years), but they aren't enough points to qualify for credit.

Your credit score affects more than your ability to borrow money or buy on term payments. Your credit score determines your eligibility for and the cost of:

• Car Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Other forms of insurance
• Employment (many employers view credit reports as a representation of how qualified and conscientious an employee you may be)
• Acceptability to rent a house, condo or apartment
• The deposit you have to pay for utilities, rent or other necessary services

Your credit score affects where you can live, where you can work, what you can drive and many other aspects of your daily life.

One of the most common of ineffective good intentions is waiting to pay off your creditors because it causes more damage than paying a little at a time.

The reality of this approach is that if you have been waiting for more than 30 days to make a payment, you are damaging your credit.

There are several things you can do to help improve your credit score that may not involve making payments.

More than 70% of all credit reports contain errors. The first step in your "Credit Management Plan" should include removing incorrect or erroneous information in your credit report.

In this guide you will learn how credit works, how financing works, and the simple painless things you can do to be on your way to better credit

Our Smart Credit Report® has tools to help you. Unlike other services, with us you are always in control, and you can choose from our wide range of affordable services.

With your membership in Our Smart Credit Report®, you are taking your first important steps toward controlling your Credit.