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README FILE FOR THE INSIDE SECRETS OF CREDIT REPAIR INTRODUCTION Thank you for trying The Inside Secrets of Credit Repair. The program is designed to provide you with the knowledge and tools to perform credit repair using the rights granted to all consumers by Congress in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If you are not familiar with the process of credit repair, perhaps a brief explanation will help. INTRODUCTION TO CREDIT REPAIR Companies whom you have (or had) accounts where payments are being made to pay for merchandise or services (installments loans, revolving charge accounts, etc.) can report to one or more credit bureaus the history or current status of your account. These reports may be positive (account in good standing, paid off as agreed, etc.) or they may be negative (payment past due, account charged off, etc.). While no harm is done to you by positive reports, negative reports are potentially damaging. In most cases these negative reports are accurate, i.e., they reflect actual past due payments or other problems with the account. Therefore, being accurate, you cannot have them removed from your credit report simply by asking. However, you have the right to question the validity or accuracy of any entry. The Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies the rights of an individual in making sure that the credit bureaus report factual and verifiable credit related information about them. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, therefore, gave individuals a great deal of power to insure that what is being reported about them is accurate. The ability to question entries in your credit report is the foundation of credit repair. If, upon questioning the entry (called disputing the entry) the credit bureau finds that the information is not accurate, it must be changed promptly. This will often lead to changing a negative entry to a positive entry. And, as most people have learned, negative entries often lead to credit denial because the creditor to whom you are applying may assume that your poor credit history indicates that you will not pay your debt with them as agreed. Whether this is fair or not is not really the issue. Unfortunately, creditors don't have too many other alternatives to determine if you will pay your debt before they loan you the money or sell you their merchandise on credit. If the credit bureau can't get verification of the entry within 30 days of your dispute, the entry in question must be deleted from your credit report, accurate or not. Not being able to get verification is frequently the case. Companies go out of business or can't produce the records on you (or can't be bothered). Thus, credit repair is partly a process of seeking verification of information reported about you. If the originator of negative information can't back up their claim upon your request to do so, such claim should be removed and no mention made of it again. Your right to dispute entries in your credit report gives you the ability to monitor, and possible change, what is being reported about you concerning your credit history. As long as you are not frivolous (discussed in the program) the results of properly using your right to dispute credit report entries can be rewarding. Of course, there is much more to be learned about credit repair using the Inside Secrets of Credit Repair. This has only been a short introduction. Not only will you learn about credit repair with the program, but you will find many valuable tools for credit repair. PROGRAM FEATURES An example of the credit repair tools included in this program are credit report request letters. By entering information specific to you, these prewritten letters will allow you to request your credit report from the three main credit bureaus. There are many other prewritten letters included to make the task of credit repair easy and effective. In addition to many prewritten letters, you will find other tools such as complete definitions of the codes used in your credit report, sample dispute statements you can use, the full and unmodified Fair Credit Report Act and a Case Study of credit repair. In addition to these tools, the program has powerful features such as on-line help, easy to use menus, word searching and book marking to help make credit repair an easy and rewarding task. DISCLAIMERS, NOTICES AND RIGHTS OF PARTIES Distributors, please read all information following. Users can read selected sections that apply to them. Before we get you started with the program, you are requested to read the following information if it applies to you. It is imperative that you understand what this program intends to do for you and what your rights and obligations are pertaining to the use of this program. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT All versions of The Inside Secrets of Credit Repair are copyrighted and are the property of InfoTek, Woodbury, CT. Any modification(s) and redistribution of such modification(s) is a violation of copyright and present a hazard to subsequent users who may follow the advise of someone not well versed in the techniques of credit repair. DISTRIBUTION AND REPRODUCTION RIGHTS Read this section only if you intend to distribute this program. This evaluation copy of The Inside Secrets of Credit Repair may be sold as shareware by Distributors whose primary business is the selling of shareware. No specific permission is required for a shareware Distributor to copy and sell this program as long as they abide by the restrictions contained herein. However, a Distributor must discontinue the sale and distribution of this program when notified by InfoTek in writing to discontinue such sale and distribution. Distributors may freely copy this evaluation copy of The Inside Secrets of Credit Repair for purposes of selling it through their normal channel of shareware distribution as long as the program is copied in its entirety and reasonable care is exercised to avoid contamination by computer and software viruses. The author prefers that this program not be combined on a single disk or hard drive with other shareware programs. However, if the Distributor feels that the other programs do not impact the value and usability of this program, and they copy it as a compressed file or place the uncompressed files into its own directory, they may combine this program with other shareware programs at their discretion. Shareware Distributors may add value to this program by including user instructions, automated installation batch files, and so forth. But, they must in no way modify the actual program to accomplish this or modify or replace program related files or otherwise impact the intended functionality of this program and its related files. Distributors may charge a fee that is consistent with the fees they charge for other shareware programs they distribute, but in no case shall the fee charged for this evaluation copy exceed $10.00. Shareware Distributors are encouraged to offer a prompt and unconditional money back guarantee, but this is not a requirement for selling this program. Shareware Distributors may, at any time, request in writing on their business letterhead, the latest revision of this program or any other shareware program being offerred by InfoTek. Unless InfoTek has good reason to believe that the requesting party is NOT a legitimate Shareware Distributor, a new or higher revision of the program, or any other shareware program available at the time of the request, will be promptly mailed at no cost. These shareware Distributor restrictions and policies have been designed to protect users from obtaining a damaged or impaired program and to insure that the price charged for this program is consistent with other shareware programs sold for evaluation purposes. In all cases, shareware Distributors are responsible for their own conduct as it pertains to the sale of this program. NOTICE TO PURCHASERS Purchasers of this shareware program are requested to contact their Shareware Distributor to resolve any conflicts pertaining to the sale of the evaluation copy of this program. If satisfaction is not obtained with the Distributor, the user is requested to notify InfoTek at 50 Lake Road, Woodbury, CT 06798. InfoTek will not arbitrate the dispute or refund the purchase price on the behalf of the Distributor, rather will supply the user with another evaluation copy of this program for a flat fee of $5.00, inclusive of shipping and handling. Distributors are encouraged to offer an unconditional money back guarantee. However, this is at the discretion of the Distributor. Those other than shareware Distributors may freely copy this evaluation copy of the program to allow others to evaluate the program, but must keep the program and all associated files intact and unmodified. Non-distributors may charge an amount consistent with their out-of-pocket costs. FOR USE IN U.S.A. ONLY These credit repair techniques are applicable to the United States only. Distributors are requested to confine their distribution of this program to the United States. If a user acquires this program outside of the U.S.A., they are advised to not use the program unless they had residence in the U.S.A. and need to repair their credit with credit bureaus within the U.S.A. RIGHT OF USAGE PRIOR TO REGISTRATION You may use the program to prepare letters to request your credit reports from the various credit bureaus without any obligation to register with the author as a user. If upon review of your reports, with the aid of this program to decipher the meanings of the codes used in the reports, you decide to pursue credit repair using this program, you are required to register with the author to continue using this program for credit repair. The author is confident that you will find this program invaluable if you need to repair your credit report. If you do not need to perform credit repair, you may wish to register anyway so that you will continue to receive update notices as new revisions are made available. This will also insure that you have the program ready for use at a later date should you need it. Full details about registration and what it includes is provided from within the program. Just select "HOW TO REGISTER" at the top right of your screen and follow the prompts. NOTICE TO ALL USERS Nothing in this program ever suggests stepping outside of your legal rights as granted to you by the Federal Trade Commission. You will not be advised to use unethical or questionable tactics. If you engage in activities that extend beyond your legal rights as granted you by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you may render your credit repair efforts ineffective and may subject yourself to problems. WARRANTY NO WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED THAT, BY USE OF THESE CREDIT REPAIR TECHNIQUES, YOU WILL REMOVE NEGATIVE CREDIT ENTRIES IN YOUR CREDIT PROFILE. THE ACTUAL REMOVAL PROCESS IS BETWEEN YOU AND THE CREDIT BUREAU IN CONJUNCTION WITH YOUR CREDITORS WHEN APPLICABLE, AND IS SUBJECT TO A WIDE RANGE OF VARIABLES OF WHICH THE AUTHOR HAS NO CONTROL. YOUR ACTUAL REMOVAL SUCCESS WILL DEPEND LARGELY UPON YOUR DILIGENCE IN PURSUING YOUR CREDIT REPAIR OBJECTIVES. INSIDE SECRETS OF CREDIT REPAIR IS PROVIDED 'AS IS' WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT IS ANY LIABILITY ACCEPTED FOR ANY DAMAGES INCURRED, EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, AS A RESULT OF USING INSIDE SECRETS OF CREDIT REPAIR. RATHER, THIS PROGRAM PRESENTS GENERAL GUIDELINES, TIPS AND POINTERS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION THAT, WHEN APPLIED PROPERLY, HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO WORK AS THEY PERTAIN TO OPTIMIZATION OF CREDIT PROFILES. INTENDED USE These techniques are intended for PERSONAL USE ONLY. They are not to be used to repair the credit profile of a business (many of the legal rights of an individual consumer are not extended to a business). Also, this program is not to be used as the basis for a professional credit repair service. The development of programs to address credit repair for businesses and a professional repairers version are under consideration at this time. Please contact InfoTek to inquire about the availability of these programs. ENDORSEMENTS This program is not endorsed by any Federal agency or body, by any credit bureau or affiliate or by any professional credit repair person or organization. Such endorsement has not been pursued by the author since these techniques are based on the rights of the consumer as stated in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and therefore need no further endorsement. COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS To use this software you will need, at a minimum, the following: 1. An IBM XT or compatible (AT or 386 preferable) 2. At least 512 kilobytes of free RAM 3. One 360 kb 5 1/4" or 720 kb 3 1/2" floppy disk drive. 4. EGA or VGA color monitor. (Note: Monochrome monitors work but important color coding is lost). 5. 360 kilobytes of free hard drive space (If you elect to install this program on a hard drive) 6. DOS 3.3 or above. OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES 1. A mouse is recommended (Microsoft is preferable). However a mouse is not required to use the program. 2. A printer is necessary if you want to print letters, forms and other information directly from the program. 3. A Word processor may be used to modify and print the Letter Templates (provided as ASCII text) if you so desire. GETTING STARTED Thank you for reviewing the above. You are now ready to get started with the program. Your disk should include the following files: GO.BAT The batch file used to start the program. (*) CREDIT.HCM The hyper text file containing the information. CREDIT.HIX The index file for the hyper file. (*) HL.EXE The program needed to read the hypertext file. RESTART.HSF A file used to store running information. (*) LETTERS.ASC The letters used in the program in ASCII text format. README.TXT This readme file. *.ADD Files containing credit bureau information. (*) *.DTA Files used to store information you enter from within the program. (*) (*) DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MODIFY THESE FILES. NOTE: If any of the above files are missing, try unzipping the original file again. If you received the files unzipped you were given an incomplete disk and should notify the Distributor or person who sold (or gave) you the disk. If you cannot get a new and complete disk, send your name and address with $5.00 to InfoTek, 50 Lake Road, Woodbury CT 06798. Request an evaluation copy of The Inside Secrets of Credit Repair and specify the disk size. If you purchased the incomplete program from a Shareware Distributor, please advise us of the name and address of the Distributor, we will insure that the Distributor receives a new and complete disk. INSTALLATION To speed up the program, it is recommended that you copy all of these files to your hard drive. To do this simply do the following from DOS: (Don't type in the ' marks.) Step 1. Go to the root directory by entering 'C:\' and pressing enter. Step 2. Type in 'MD CREDIT' and press enter to make a new directory called "CREDIT". If you want to put the files on hard drive other than the C drive or in a directory other than CREDIT, simply substitute the drive and directory specifications with your own. Step 4. Change to the new CREDIT directory by typing in 'CD\CREDIT' and pressing enter. Step 5. With the program disk in drive A, type in 'COPY A:\*.*' and press enter. All files on the disk in drive A will be copied to the CREDIT directory on your C hard. drive. Step 6. Remaining in the C:\CREDIT directory, type 'GO' and press enter. The program will start. Once you are in the program, just press the space bar to begin moving through the screens. Follow the directions presented to you from within the program. Make sure to spend ample time learning the basic commands and functions of the program. This will insure that you receive the most value from the program. If you are unfamiliar with hypertext, make sure you review ABOUT HYPERTEXT and USING HYPERTEXT which you select from the START UP MENU. Once again, thank you for trying The Inside Secrets of Credit Repair. We are confident that you will find the principles of credit repair interesting and, when used properly, will prove rewarding. Remember, the right to monitor your credit report and to dispute inaccurate entries on your credit report is your legal right. Use those rights properly and they will prove to be valuable to you for maintaining a good credit status. Thank you.