Raise Credit Score But Don’t Let a Credit Report Define You
The Henry family, I think, is typical of families in my community. Twenty years of marriage produced two children who now attend community college. Mr. Henry opened his own small engine repair shop years ago and after saving some money, decided to purchase his own building. With good credit and a twenty percent down payment, Mr. Henry could have easily qualified for a larger, even a newer building to house his business, but he was afraid of overextending himself. To me, he was the perfect customer.
When the economic downturn started, it took a while for the Henry’s to feel the pinch. After all, he was a small engine mechanic, a business in need instead of want. Business’ could recycle old file folders. Some could even do away with the perks of free coffee and employee uniforms when their budget’s shrank, but engine repairs couldn’t be ignored. Without lawn mowers and other tools, work wouldn’t get done, which means no money.
This was the situation last year when I ran into Mr. Henry at the hardware store. He confirmed to me that though they were struggling, he was getting by. Both kids worked and attended college. His wife was cleaning houses and he only had one employee so his overhead was low. Though I would have liked to have been able to have offered him a refi on his building, my industry was likewise hurting. Money was frozen by banks and investors alike. The only product I had to offer was Hard Money–twelve percent money due in two years, and this is regardless of credit.
Mr. Henry and his wife recently came into my office with an update of their financial situation. It appears that the business in need had finally fallen prey to the economy. With housing sales at an all time low, gardener’s were no longer required. Commercial properties, now vacant no longer needed maintenance and the small engine repair business shut it’s doors. Mr. Henry was devastated and nearly cried as he told me of the circumstances that brought them to my office.
I still had no loan for him, although I would have done anything in order to locate one. I know he is a victim of the times and the fact that he has ruined his credit doesn’t mean he is a ruined man. We spent nearly an hour discussing this as his wife swiped tissues from my desk.
I’m in the commercial loan business. I’m also invested in helping people to raise credit score with sophisticated computer tools. This have served me well for several years, but lately I’m in the counseling business, explaining to people that they are not their credit report. Just because their scores have dropped doesn’t mean they are bad people. I believe it is wrong to attach such importance to credit report scores and have told many of my clients about this.
The Henry’s aren’t failures. They are hard working couple who have been besieged by forces out of their control. They asked my advise, even brought a Profit and Loss for me to study. They obviously didn’t overspend. No great credit card purchases and certainly no exotic vacations from my perspective. Money earned was used to pay debt and had the economy continued, they would have been cited as a business success. Instead Mr. Henry hung his head low in shame.
I’ll help them to raise credit score and I’ll continue to tell Mr. Henry that a credit report does not define a man. It’s what’s inside.
Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.
CR Machado is a partner with CMA Capital Funding – http://www.raise-credit-score.net/