Credit Pilgrim

Navigate Your Credit Successfully

Neal Frankle
I’m Neal Frankle, Certified Financial Planner™. Credit problems are a serious business. In fact they changed my entire family life when I was 16. This site is here to help you repair your credit without getting ripped off. Read my story.
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About me - Neal Frankle

I’m Neal Frankle, Certified Financial Planner™. Credit problems are a serious business. In fact they changed my entire family life when I was 16. This site is here to help you repair your credit without getting ripped off. Read my story.

My Story

I have been a financial advisor since 1985 and I became a Certified Financial Planner™ in 1994. Since then, my business has been to help clients get their financial lives together although I don’t do credit repair work directly. And I can tell you that there is nothing more important in your financial world than having the best credit rating you can get. I know this from personal experience.

When I was 15 my mother died and when I was 17 my father was killed in an airplane crash. Before he died, my father was so distraught by my mother’s death that he ignored his financial life completely. As a result he ran it into the ground by not paying our bills.

The utility company shut off the power to our home and the water company shut off the water completely. We were visited regularly by the sheriff who served eviction notices and other payment demands. This was on top of the constant knocking on our door at all hours of the day and the non-stop calling by debt collectors.

And because my father completely trashed his credit, it was extremely difficult to find anyone who would rent us a place to live after we got thrown out of our house. It was frightening to say the least and made worse by the feeling of being completely powerless and at the mercy of my father’s creditors and bill collectors.

I am not in the credit repair business as I said. That’s not how I make my living. But I do know a lot about it because my profession demands it. And I created this site for three reasons:

  1. Education

    you need to know the real story of how credit repair works, how collectors, creditors and credit bureaus operate and how the law protects you. I took an in-depth look at all the components of the credit repair process and I break them down for you on this site. And I explain how they work in plain English so you can take your credit life back – really. There is a lot you can do yourself to vastly increase your credit history and score.

  2. No Rip Offs Please

    Credit repair is a huge industry. The companies in this business tell you that they can help you wipe your credit clean. I admit that there are some professionals out there who are for real. But mostly the field is cluttered with schemers and scammers guaranteed to waste you time and take your money.

    I’ll show you how to spot the legitimate pros from the make-believe players. Just working with the right people makes all the difference in credit repair if you decide you don’t want to do this by yourself.

  3. Credit Repair Service Sales

    As I said above, I’m not in the credit repair business but I need to know a lot about it because of the business I am in. I spent and spend hours researching this topic so you don’t suffer the same consequences I did growing up. From time to time, I may recommend using a credit repair firm if I feel they continue to be a good value for my readers. If you sign up with them, I will be paid a referral fee.

    To be frank, I think that’s fair. I spend a good chunk of time each updating this site and making sure you have the most effective credit repair tools possible. And while I honestly don’t think everyone needs professional help, what’s wrong with being paid if you decide you do want a professional on your side and I steer you in the direction of a reputable firm? Nothing.

Why not look around the site right now? There is a lot of good information that should answer many of your questions. You can also send me an email if that would be useful to you.

If you want to protect your family against the terror that I faced as a kid, I want to be part of your team. If you suffer from bad credit, you’ll find all the resources you need right here to turn that ship around. Here’s the best post to help you get a quick start on your road to fixing your credit.

All the best,
Neal

When Credit Problems Are Caused by Income Disruption

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

Of all the factors that cause credit problems, income disruption is perhaps the most overwhelming. After all, income is required in order to service debt, and when that income is disrupted, it means your ability to maintain your credit profile virtually disappears. But that’s not all. You May Have to Juggle Debt Payments This is […]

Improving Your Credit After Foreclosure

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

Improving your credit after foreclosure is a step that is absolutely necessary. Foreclosure is one of those credit issues that has far-reaching effects on almost every area of your life. The sooner you can get back on the right track, the closer you will be to restoring your life back to something that looks like […]

Is Swearing Off Credit the Solution to Your Credit Problems?

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

If you have dealt with credit problems in the past, you may have promised yourself that you’ll never borrow again. You might reason that living without credit will be living without credit problems. And while there is some logic to that thinking, life has an almost comical way of going in unexpected directions. For most […]

How the Good Old Summertime Can Hurt Your Credit

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

Just a guess, but the good old summertime might be, on balance, the favorite season of most people. It brings warm weather, backyard barbecues, more time with family and friends, weekend getaways, summer vacations – what’s not to love? Well, if you aren’t careful – and some people are not when the warm weather hits […]

How to Repair the Damage Done by Identity Theft

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

If you have been a victim of identity theft you are the victim of a crime. That’s a criminal matter to be handled by the police. But as a result of the identity theft, you could be left with damaged credit. How bad the damage will be will depend upon how extensively the thief used […]

5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Close Out that Credit Card

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

It’s not at all unusual for people to close out a credit card after paying it off. But in most cases, it’s not the right thing to do. As hard as it is to believe, closing out a credit card can actually hurt your credit situation, much more so than it can help. We’ll start […]

Is it Possible to Have a Judgment Removed From Your Credit Report?

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

If you have a judgment on your credit report, it will be one of the more difficult entries to change in your favor. In fact, since it is a claim decreed by a court, there’s very little opportunity to have it removed from your credit report at all. What recourse do you have when there […]

How Bad Credit Can Destroy Your Marriage

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

Unfortunately, there are a large number of factors that can hurt your marriage. Bad credit ranks up there with the most important. The tricky thing is that bad credit can destroy your marriage, and often does so in ways that are hard to see or understand – unless you take steps to correct the problem. […]

What to Do If You Have Collections on Your Credit Report

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

Collections on your credit report are hardly uncommon. Often they don’t even come from a regular creditor, but from someone who you’ve done business with in the past. It could be a landlord, a utility company, or a repair company. If you have an unpaid balance with them, or if they even think that you […]

Why Your Free Credit Score Isn’t the Score the Lender Uses

by Neal Frankle, CFP®

Have you ever wondered why the credit score used by a lender is different from the one that you got from your free credit score provider? The truth is that it’s the most realistic outcome. That’s because lenders use one credit score, while free credit score providers issue one that’s totally different. How can it […]

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