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BestCredit: How to Win the Credit Game, 2nd Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Dana Neal
Publisher: Paladin Press
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy New: $15.90
You Save: $14.10 (47%)
New (16) Used (12) from $14.79
Rating:  60 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd, Revised and Updated
Pages: 437
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 1581605013
EAN: 9781581605013
Publication Date: April 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Written by a former debt collector, this credit repair book covers many aspects of credit restoration, including how to legally remove any adverse credit from a consumer credit report, how to negotiate debt, how to prevent and recover from identity theft, the secrets to raising a credit score, and more. Remove judgments, liens, late payments, bankruptcies, collection accounts, inquiries, charge-offs, repossessions, and foreclosures. Learn how to negotiate like a pro, reducing credit card and other unsecured debt to a fraction of what you owe!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 60
Best book on credit... reality-based info, not pollyanna-false promises July 3, 2010
Laura Higgins (San Rafael, CA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I work for a credit union, and part of my job is to create financial education materials for our members. Lately I've been researching the hottest current topic: credit repair. I've read so many book on the subject, and spent hours and hours on the Web, and the #1 thing I've learned is that the info that's available is mostly NOT accurate, NOT current, and NOT helpful.
But Dana Neal's book IS tremendously helpful, if not totally accurate. That is NOT his fault, though -- books by their very nature are obsolete as soon as ink hits paper, right? Even though the second edition is relatively new, it's still four years old -- and during the past four years you have to admit there's been a huge upheaval in our economy. (I've been bugging Dana by email to come up with a 3rd ed, but he's busy on other projects.) So, you have to take that four-year-old info into consideration. (But, if you check his Web site, he does have FREE info you can download that's newer, called White Hat Credit -- [...])
I KNOW, just from working for a credit union, that the stunning number of regulatory/government-mandated changes that have hit the financial industry since Obama's inauguration has been massive; we scramble to just keep up with all the new rules and regs. If you read the news, you know the reality: 7.9 million jobs lost and maybe never to return -- that's 7.9 million families impacted by job loss. (Do the math, folks.)
If you were swept out in that job-loss net in the past few years, I feel for you. When your credit gets smoked, it's awful. I have a family member in that boat -- and the ONLY advice I could give her was in the copy of Dana's book I got her. Follow what Dana Neal says in his book, and you've got a better chance of coming out OK in the long run; but it's still gonna hurt in the short run.
Best Credit talks about ways to negotiate with those you owe. Dana cautions against just "skipping to the 'how do I do it?'" part of the book, which is great advice. Up-front, he paints a vivid picture of what you MUST know in order to be successful -- and I have not found that perspective in any other book.
It is definitely worth the money, and more importantly, it's worth your TIME to read it, learn it, and use it.
(Last thing -- BANKRUPTCY IS NOT THE BEST OPTION. NEVER. IT WILL HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE; DON'T DO IT. Lawyers who tell you it's the best path are LYING to you. Because lenders will ALWAYS view it negatively, always. Better to take your lumps and try to negotiate a settlement than to get the "clean slate" of BK, because it is NOT TRUE.)
 No gimmicks or secrets revealed... just straight forward solid advice May 30, 2010
Ugly Duckling (The Internet)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After reading only half of this book, I increased my credit score by 79 points in less than 60 days. No secrets here though. Pay your bills on time, keep your balances below 20% of your credit limit, and stay away from lesser known lenders; then you'll be good to go. Good resource to have around that will motivate you to get out of the debt trap.
No Question - A Must Have If You're Serious May 22, 2010
Michael Chapman (Natchez, Mississippi)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book should be the core book of your library on both (1) credit repair/restoration, and (2) debt elimination/reduction. Both are vital. Author Dana Neal has coined the term "Debt Fusion" to mean doing both at the same time. I can say from personal experience that it works, period! In July of 2009 I began using the remedies in this book to repair my own credit. At that time I had over $6,000 in credit card debt (3 different cards), another $1,500 in just plain outright bills, a truck I was upside down own, no job, no money and my unnemployment was running out. My FICO credit score was 591, and my credit reports were riddled with negative accounts, collection accounts and serious delinquiences. I purchased this book, along with Liz Pulliam Weston's book "Your Credit Score - Second Edition" and Shaun Aghili's book "The No-Nonsense Credit Manual." I began to not only read each of them, I devoured them! I studied them. I wrote notes in the margins. I bent down the corners of pages I wanted to come back to. I stuck post-it notes on important pages that I knew would help me and tabbed them, I hi-lighted relevant lines and paragraphs. When I was done with the first round, I re-read them! As I continue my own Debt Fusion actions, I constantly am going back and referring to these books. Best Credit, of the three I used, is the "Bible" and the core of my Debt Fusion library. It gave me the hope - the tools - and the confidence that I could actually do this: to take control of my financial life and begin my credit repair and debt elimination fight. You need energy, motivation and passion to begin such a frustrating, time consuming and often tedious process, but you also need the tools: the information, techniques that work and inside information that this book provides. I learned from these books, especially Best Credit, how to read and understand all that minutia in the credit reports that seemed like Greek. He shows you a step by step process of how to break down the information and accounts in the reports, and then how to prioritize it, and then how to tackle it. Today, in May 2010, I have no credit card debt, all my bills are paid, and after ten months of taking control of my credit reports - learning to understand what was in them and then taking action - my FICO score is 722. No joke. Next month I expect it to reach 731 when my credit card furnisher reports a $0 balance on my last card that I just paid off - which improves my "credit utilization" - the amount of actual debt (debt balance) in relation to the amount of credit available (debt to limit ratio). This is one of the main factors in your score as Neal explains, along with other important factors of how your score is determined. This book is comprehensive, and covers over 400 pages of credit information. You can skip sections that don't apply to you. He also gives practical real life stories and examples all through the book, that help explain and illustrate what he's talking about. I recommend all three books, but if you can only afford one - start with this one. Don't even hesitate. If you have the determination, and will stick with it and give it time, then this book and the others will definitely help you repair and improve your credit!
Buy It May 19, 2010
D. France (San Jose, CA)
This book changed our financial life. My husband went from a 590 to a 740 in one year. Buy it. Read it. Do exactly as it says and your financial situation will quickly improve.
JUST WHAT OUR COUNTRY NEEDS March 3, 2010
Fontaine (New York, NY, USA)
At a time when our country is beginning to see the forest from the trees in terms of the vast complexities of money management, this book hits the mark. Really puts a human face on a very inhumane process and truly EDUCATES and EMPOWERS its users, not just advises. Great book - will save you hundreds, if not millions.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 60
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