Pacific West Credit, LLC

02/03/2026

I love days like this. I just pulled a report for one of our clients who went from a low 500's credit score to the 700's in 9 months. 100% deletion of his 15 negative accounts. He could not be happier and I could not be happier for him.
Credit repair is NOT a one-and-done process, but with patience, and cooperation from our customers, Credit Repair Works.
Please call us for a free credit consultation to see where we can help get your credit profile back on track.

Pacific West Credit - Orange County's trusted credit repair company since 2014. Licensed, bonded & DOJ registered. Free consultation. Serving Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine & Southern California.

01/09/2026

Happy New Year from Pacific West Credit, LLC.
This is the time of year when many see their credit scores have gone down, but not to worry. It's most likely because of spending during the holiday season. When credit card balances go up, credit scores go down. Stay on top of your payments, and maybe make a couple of extra payments, and your score will go right back up. Credit utilization with credit cards is 30% of your credit score.
Call me for more simple credit tips.

11/12/2025

Re-Aging Debt

While the maximum amount of time some negative items can stay on a credit report is 7 years, sometimes creditors or collectors will misrepresent the critical date of delinquency. This is called re-aging the debt. The critical date is the trigger date from which the seven years is counted. Collectors will "change the date” and report a different date of delinquency to the credit bureaus to make the debt continue to be within the seven-year period. This is one way to keep delinquent or negative accounts on someone’s credit report past the seven year maximum limit.

If you have seen a "moving payment date” or "moving delinquency date” on your own credit reports, call us immediately.
The Federal Trade Commission has imposed civil penalties against companies that re-age debt or for not conducting adequate investigations. When working with us, if a disputed item returns to your credit report with a "moving date”, it will automatically be included in a future round of disputes using a different strategy to maximize successful results.
Call one of our customer service representatives today to learn more.
Pacific West Credit LLC - New Client Relations

10/28/2025

What Can I Dispute?

You have the legal right to dispute any information in your credit reports that you believe to be outdated, inaccurate, or unverifiable. Soft and hard inquiries, as well as other erroneous negative information, such as late payment histories, charge-offs, bankruptcies, foreclosures, judgments, repossessions, liens, collections, settlements, among others, have to meet the same criteria under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to be reported on your credit report over a specific length of time. If any item is found to be outdated, cannot be verified, or is inaccurate, it must be completely deleted or corrected from your credit report.
Call today and speak with one of our customer service representatives to learn more about your rights and how we work on your behalf.
Pacific West Credit LLC - New Client Relations

09/23/2025

There is so much talk these days about credit card utilization due to the super high credit card debt. What you hear most is that your credit card debt should be 30% of your credit card limit, but the true credit card utilization or credit card debt should be at 10% or less to get the optimum credit score from revolving debt.
Also, credit scores are a combination of everything on your credit report, not just one credit card or one installment account, but keeping your credit card utilization at 10% or less is the most effective way to raise your credit score.

01/15/2025

CFPB suing Experian. What do you mean? Below is information I received about how the CFPB is there to protect consumers.

Below is breaking news in the world of credit that you may not know about but don’t fret, we will always make sure you are aware of important information that directly impacts your clients and maybe even you.

On January 7th, 2025, the CFPB officially filed a lawsuit against one of the largest consumer reporting agencies in the country- Experian. Yes, you read that right! But what are they suing them over? Great question! I received this information and wanted to share it with you.

THE ALLEGATIONS:

•Failure to conduct legit investigations on dispute requests: The CFPB alleges that Experian used poor intake procedures and failed to accurately present all relevant dispute information to the original creditor. What this means is that even when a client should have been in the right based on the information Experian received (i.e. deletion letters, proof of payment, or the creditor providing improbable or illogical information) Experian failed to complete a thorough investigation which would have resulted in a deletion of the tradeline per the FCRA leading to inaccurate information remaining on a consumers report.

•Allowing inaccurate information to be re-reported: When a client successfully wins a dispute resulting in a deletion, Experian has allegedly failed to use basic procedures to prevent the possibility of re-reporting by a new creditor of a previously deleted account. The other two well-known bureaus have procedures to match previously deleted items with new items attempting to be reported by new creditors.

•Additional charges: In total, the CFPB is suing on 9 counts of FCRA violations as well as 4 counts of violations of the Consumer Finance Protection Act. These other allegations include failing to delete inaccurate, incomplete or unverified information (FCRA); failing to follow procedures in place to assure maximum possible accuracy of the credit information being reported by Experian (FCRA); failing to provide adequate written notice to the consumers of the results of their investigation (FCRA); “failing to convey consumers’ disputes to furnishers fully and accurately, and instead distorting, truncating, and mischaracterizing consumers’ disputes” (CFPA); relying entirely on creditors to resolve disputes, continuously doing nothing other than sending the dispute to the creditor and implementing their response EVEN IF they have evidence of the creditors unreliability.

The Bottom Line:

I know that was a long read but if you skipped over all that and are reading here, the basic details of the situation is that the CFPB is alleging that Experian, at multiple points in the past years have failed to protect consumers at every turn in the dispute process. Which is not only violating multiple FCRA laws and CFPA laws but also directly negatively impacting the consumers by failing to remove inaccurate information, allowing re-reporting of previously deleted information and, in some cases, completely disregarding the dispute as a whole.

So how does this affect the consumer or you? Well, as we both know very well, negative information on a client’s credit report can affect not just a consumer’s ability to purchase a home but also things like employment, car insurance rates, interest rates on credit cards, housing, etc. This will in turn, of course, cause many issues for you while trying to push a loan through. The CFPB is "hoping" to correct these issues and force Experian to follow procedures put in place to protect people and it’s our job to help protect your clients as well!

For now, this is just the beginning of the lawsuit, and we will know more as it progresses, but this is yet another example of why our clients need us to help them and keep them informed. If they can’t rely on these bureaus, who else do they have besides us? Through PWC's platform clients are able to file direct disputes that are easily tracked, monitored, and often completed quicker. Your job is just to get them connected!

Speaking of getting people connected, if this made you think of someone that could benefit from doing a consultation to discuss their credit, send them on over! If you have any questions about this lawsuit or how it can affect you as a mortgage professional or even as a consumer, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Talk to you soon

01/13/2025

I’ve been asked more than a couple of times now by friends of people who were affected by the fires and lost their homes what they do with their house payments. Unfortunately, the payments still need to be made until a forbearance can be put in place. Make sure you are talking to your Bank or lender immediately to have something set up with your mortgage payments otherwise, it will absolutely affect your credit. You also have to ask your lender to not report the missed payments to the credit bureaus. It’s a vicious cycle that is going to have negative effects in more ways than one.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions.

12/04/2024

Want to improve your credit but don't want to work with a company like mine? After much research, I came across this company that does a great job of DIY credit repair. Just click on the link below to see if this is an option for you.

$39.99 per month

We give you the tools to take control and take action to build your credit, on your time at your price. Get started today for $39.99/month.

10/31/2024

Can Student Loans Be Included In A Bankruptcy?

Yes, student loans can be discharged in bankruptcy, but it's not guaranteed. The process is handled on a case-by-case basis, and government attorneys may choose to partially discharge a loan instead of wiping it out completely.
To discharge student loans in bankruptcy, you must:
File a separate action called an "adversary proceeding"
Request that the bankruptcy court find that repayment would cause undue hardship for you and your dependents
Pay court filing fees, unless the court waives them
The new process for discharging student loans in bankruptcy was finalized in November 2022. It's intended to make the process more transparent, equitable, and streamlined.

Not that we encourage filing for bankruptcy but, when there is no other choice or no other way out this could be something worth looking into.

Call now to connect with business.

10/29/2024

Have You Ever Thought About How Divorce Affects Your Credit?

- DEBTS & DTI: Joint debts were likely taken on with two incomes in mind. After a divorce, one person might be left handling these payments alone, potentially increasing their DTI and lowering their home purchase eligibility.

- CREDIT: A divorce decree may state who’s responsible for joint debt, but credit bureaus are NOT obligated to honor it. If your ex-spouse stops paying, your credit could suffer with late payments, collections, or charge-offs.

- DOWNPAYMENT & SAVINGS: Depending on the situation joint savings might need to be split, potentially cutting years of savings in half, which could impact their ability to buy a new home.

Need help? Give us a call.

Call now to connect with business.

10/25/2024

Here is the last of my 10 top credit tips

9. Paying your rent late
Many landlords ask for rent on the first of the month, but don’t send it for several days. While you may think that you can turn in your rent a little late (just in case), landlords can still report you for a late payment. And if you don’t pay your rent for 30 days, even if you have a legitimate reason for withholding rent, your score can drop. Anything that gets you closer to an eviction notice will hurt your credit score.

10. Not alerting creditors if you have changed names
While this may seem trivial, not notifying creditors of a name change could result in credit report inaccuracies. Bank accounts, credit applications, and other documents that become part of your credit history are integrated into your report through many different ways, some of which do not require identification like your social security number to be considered valid.
You have worked hard to build a reputation of reliability and trust with your creditors. Don’t let errors, inaccuracies, or ill-informed decisions tarnish your credit score.

Call or DM us for free credit advise

10/24/2024

What is a pay-for-delete letter?
Borrowers may pursue pay-for-deletion by contacting the collection agency or writing a formal letter, also known as a pay-for-deletion letter, to the agency. In your pay-for-delete agreement letter to the collection agency, you should clarify that you are willing to repay the total outstanding debt or part of it in exchange for the debt being removed from your credit. Once the proposal is received, the collection agency can decide whether or not to remove the remarks.

Your Welcome!