Real solutions for real people
Last fall we were faced with the decision to choose between saving our business from absorbing some detrimental and unavoidable losses while entering our slow season by utilizing our own personal finances and lines of credit, or experiencing a greater loss of our business itself, the sole source of income for a family of 6. We operate our business with integrity and will always choose to do right by our customers and maintain our reputation so the decision to personally float and absorb those losses was a no brainer. We would take a hit so our customers wouldn’t have to. This decision, while necessary and intentionally chosen, absolutely destroyed my personal credit score through the wildly inaccurate debt to income ratio and the percentage usage on my credit cards. It was worth it but has created a very skewed reflection of my integrity and commitment as a borrower to be trusted in my financial decisions and obligations. I was caught in a catch 22, I couldn’t take out a loan, I couldn’t qualify for a zero percent transfer card, nor could out business qualify for any lending, as my personal credit score plays a 50% role as an owner, because my credit report made us look unstable and appear as a huge risk to lenders. My debt to income ratio was wildly inaccurate as I was sacrificing my own paychecks while absorbing large purchases on my lines of credit. No income depositing into my accounts but thousands of dollars in purchases just doesn’t make you appear to be financially responsible. No one would look at the statements and see that we weren’t paying interest on those purchases, we were maintaining financial commitments and doing so responsibly, it was just business expenses and roll over balances because we were making new purchases as quickly as we were paying the previous amounts owed. No one would look at the business income, no one would allow me to prove it was business expenses. All they saw a debt to income ratio and card balance percentage that was majorly out of balance. I was faced with debt consolidation as my only option, which would in turn permanently close my accounts that had been our only safety net which I didn’t want to surrender to save my credit score. Then my path crossed with Dean. He looked behind the curtain and allowed me to provide the documentation showing that the balances on my cards were in fact business expenses and my business bank records showing that I was in fact keeping up with those payments responsibly and strategically. I just desperately needed to secure enough funding for my business to re-absorb a large enough portion of those balances to jump start the process of healing my personal credit so that more traditional lenders wouldn’t hold my personal credit score against my business in trying to establish business lines of credit before the next slow season of our industry sets in. Dean was compassionate and empathetic. There was no high pressure to take on a larger amount than I needed to maintain progress. I didn’t want to simply transfer the same problem from my name to the business, I wanted a solution. To make a large enough dent to improve my score while freeing up additional funds to snowball the remaining balances and he made this happen so fast and smooth. My credit score has gone up by 15 points in one week and my card percentage has decreased by 7% just through his ability to secure us a lender who wouldn’t do a hard pull on my credit while also looking beyond the inaccurate numbers reported and into the circumstances that we faced to preserve our livelihood. We are so grateful to be seen as the hardworking and sacrificial individuals that we are and not simply as a number on a report that would either benefit their bottom line or not be worth their risk. Dean is a miracle worker and because of him, 6 people under one roof have their financial stability restored and a little extra faith in humanity. Thank you Dean and the rest of your team for seeing the people behind the numbers and for being so personable in how you secured a plan to meet the needs of our unique circumstances. We are so grateful!