In today's exhilarating episode of The Miller Law Chronicles, I'm sitting down with the exceptional Philip Tyrone, the genius behind '7 Steps to 720 Credit Score'. He shares his brilliant credit repair strategy, inspiring stories of success, and the groundbreaking role of AI in reviving your credit. Don't just learn about achieving a desirable credit score, harness insights to conquer financial fears and retake control of your future. Make sure you tune in today!

Phil during the podcast is going to talk about his strategy in helping people reach that 720 credit score and the success stories that many of our clients has had. Phil's a remarkable soul. I think you're really going to enjoy the podcast.

Thank you.

Hi, this is Attorney Jamie Miller, and we're here today for another edition of The Miller Law Chronicles, and I'm really excited to have a really good friend and mentor that I've known for a long time in the bankruptcy world, the credit repair world, credit restoration world.

Good friend named Phil Tyrone. Phil, welcome to my podcast. I'm so excited that you could join me today.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Oh, Jamie, it's an honor to be here. And I look forward to talking about this information and helping some of your clients.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, we go back at you. I think we go back to 2013. So it's our 10th year and back then we developed this program specifically for consumer bankruptcy attorneys up to their clients. And I remember specifically thinking, Oh, my God, that's gonna be amazing. Because every consumer bankruptcy attorney. Needs a program to help their clients rebuild the credit.

Right? And it shocked me how many bankruptcy attorneys were like, Oh, no, I'm not going to pay that for my client. I mean, that's their problem, right? And it was a reality check on how certain bankruptcy attorneys care. And certain bankruptcy attorneys don't care like it's just it's a black and white thing and you were always on the leading edge of that.

And that's 10 years later. It's why You're the number one in Wisconsin. I mean, you are, you care so much. People feel it. And so that's how we met. I don't know if you remember that.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Oh, I definitely remember those initial conversations. And I had gone a couple different routes. Cause I always wanted to be able to differentiate our firm from others in really helping people to get their credit back after they file bankruptcy. And it wasn't just because I wanted to use it as a marketing tool.

You're not stagnant. If we're talking about, yeah. You know, building business and building opportunities, which isn't really the topic of the conversation, but as the world changes so do you. And even in our conversation before this, you know, just talking about AI, which is a huge thing and how that impacts your business and can help you potentially help more people.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: I mean, and the thing is, Jamie, most people filing bankruptcy are with debt. With bad credit. They don't realize how easy it is. Rebuild your credit score after bankruptcy. I mean, it's in fact, it's so much easier. We have people who are enrolled in our course by debt negotiators or debt consolidation companies, and they join our live question answer sessions where, you know, I'm engaging with them.

Because they really hear these real life people who filed bankruptcy and nine months later, I have a 720 credit score and they're like, what? Because they're being told, oh, you can't file bankruptcy. You're not going to get a car. You're not going to get a house. It's like, no, actually. They're hearing it in real time, so it's something that we're, we love to share. Same way you do, you love to share the information because there's real life after bankruptcy, which we'll talk about.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right. Yeah, so, tell me a little bit about Phil Tyrone. How did you end up in the seven steps of 720, credit score, what's your background, how'd you fall in love with bankruptcy?

So you get an overdraft line. So you're not charged. I'm like sure and she ran it and she said it like very loud and she's like, Oh, I'm sorry, your credit score is too low. And I looked around, I'm like, didn't we just hear that? And I went back to my office, I ran my credit and I had like a 620 ish credit score.

And I had a collection on there from some, you know it's really called incredible universe. It's like an electronic store. So I hired a credit repair guy who would come into my office and fix, you know, people's credit because you needed a high credit score to get a loan. So I said, Hey, can you fix my credit?

And I started realizing, I said, I need to come up with a way where it wasn't like this works part of the time. And do I know someone at the bureaus or I know someone at this collection company. No, I need something that works every single time, no matter what. And the beautiful thing that I learned after years of this, using my credit at Guinea Pig, you know, it's easy to rebuild a credit score as long as you rebuild credit around the bad credit.

And that's how I found the bankruptcy niche, and now we've had 120,000, probably 125,000 people through our credit program, all from people who've gone through bankruptcy, and, you know, small segments of debt negotiation or whatever, but for the most part, bankruptcy.

And I said, if you want that, you have to go elsewhere. Because part of our core value is to help people get back their credit score. But what that takes me to the people that say, yeah, I want to file bankruptcy. All I care about is stopping a garnishment or stopping a foreclosure. I don't care about rebuilding my credit. What do you say to people like that? And why is credit so important?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, so I hear that all the time. I mean, I hear that all the time from our clients or our clients and I think I always go to the genesis of that concern. Like, why? And the more I dig on those questions and that happens all the time on these question answer calls is they're afraid like they don't want to get in the same position again.

And what you've learned from this bankruptcy is a lesson that will not only change you, it's going to change your kids. You've broken the cycle. If you look at this the right way, and this is why what you're talking about with Miller Miller's core value of saying, Hey, we're going to get rid of your debt, but we're also going to get. You're breaking the cycle of financial bad decision making for families. I mean, and literally it transforms. That's why when you refer one of your clients to us, we tell them, Hey, your kids want to get enrolled? Your sons want to get enrolled? Give them the program for free. You don't have to pay us.

Give them the username and password. Absolutely free. You have our permission. Get your kids in the program. Let's break the cycle of bad financial decision making. So, to your question of what do I tell them, I'm like, that's, first of all, I try to get in deep of what their concern is. And I believe that's the concern.

Same thing with car, home insurance in various states, same thing with homes, go on and on. But it's really, it's the truth of the matter is after a bankruptcy and after the coaching that people receive. And it's from this learning lesson, they're not going to make these mistakes again, and their future will be dramatically different in a very short period of time.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: History, all that stuff.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Yeah, right, exactly. You're the name of your mission, 7 Steps to 720. What's the significance of 720? Why 720, not 710, not 730? What's the significance of that number?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, it all, I mean, it all started when that, when going back to when I was struggling in 97 with my credit score, 720 was sort of like this number where if you had a 720 credit score back then, you didn't have to show your income and you got the best interest rates, and that's sort of like where it came from.

Let it work over time. You'll have a 750, 780, 800 credit score naturally. So when an error comes on your credit, it won't go below 720. And it's sort of like, you know, one of those things of like, that was the name of it from 97 and it sort of stuck, right?

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right. And what are some of the key factors that contribute to a 720 credit score, or any credit score you have? What are the elements that go into that?

Those type of things. But let's talk about the things that really, really impacted credit score. If you're paying your bills on time and you're not maxed out because you have, there's people listening to this, pay their bills on time. They're not maxed out on the credit score. They're not running their credit everywhere, trying to get all these new loans, but they still have a low credit score.

They would be denied just because of the year. I had a client come to me with a 530 credit score because of an error. We got that credit score off. She popped way over 720. It was one mortgage that was reporting multiple times late. It was all an error. Right? Errors are very, very common. Sixteen Minutes has a great episode on the credit bureaus and it's comical.

Like, when you submit a problem with the credit bureaus for an error, it gets shipped down to South America and a person reviews the American's credit report to determine if a person from South America looks at the American credit report, determine if the error is correct and they only have a phone on their desk.

Well, how many credit cards do you have? It just you need data, right? The bureaus need data and no credit is just as bad as bad credit. Right? So those are two things that are really simple to come to mind, you know, errors and not enough credit. I mean, I'm not going to review the, like I said, you got to pay your bills on time. Don't be maxed on your credit card and stuff like that.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right. And one of the misnomers, like I have a client come in, they'll have 80,000 in credit. Credit card debt, other miscellaneous unsecured debt, and they'll make about $35,000 a year. They're making the minimum payments and they're up to date on the payments. And then they come in and they haven't checked their credit score.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, right. I mean, they're gonna be surprised, right? I mean, it is. It was shocking. Sometimes you get people who have a lot of debt that have decent credit. I mean, they're maxed out, but what happens, they play the game. They keep the thing going, credit bureaus raise the limit, and they rob Peter to pay Paul.

I mean, we've seen many times where people have a high credit score with high debt. But, I mean, you know, it just depends.

Atty. Jamie Miller: I have a good friend. We go out to dinner and my credit score personally fluctuates 20 points here and there and I just don't, like nothing changes from month to month, but the credit score change, it just seems to fluctuate and my friend is just like, he's so obsessed with his credit score.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Good deal.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Yeah. So taking this into the bankruptcy world, you made a reference to like, no credit not being a good thing. What does it mean to have really no credit?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, I mean, just after like, for example, someone thought one of your clients filed bankruptcy, right? If a lot of people think, oh, you know, if I do nothing and I am a cash only citizen in 10 years when that bankruptcy falls on my credit report, my credit score is going to pop and go up, right? And that's not the case.

Right? So, for example, my mother in law was Greek, Canadian. She came down from America, from Canada, and I got her on this program, and she had a 720 in like four or five months. It was nothing. Easy. Right? The second easiest time to rebuild the credit score is after bankruptcy. Because you have no debt.

Everything's clear. And all we need to do is make sure that the errors are off the credit report from the bankruptcy, which is easy. Right? Your office does that as part of their bankruptcy. I mean, this is like your commitment of adding value to your clients. You're going to make sure their credit reports are clean of error.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right, but how is somebody, how is somebody getting a credit card after they file for bankruptcy?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Oh yeah, well it's easy because there's plenty of credit card companies that cater simply to people who just filed bankruptcy. And they just know it. And now, don't get me wrong, you're not getting the best credit cards and you're not getting the credit cards that, you know, you're getting credit cards that have a higher annual fee.

But the beautiful thing about that, it doesn't matter. Right? You're going to have this credit score for excuse me, you're gonna have this credit card for 12 months, 24 months, then you're going to get the new credit cards that have the no annual fees or the United Airlines or Southwest or whatever card you want.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right, and it's definitely working. So the client comes in and they say. I, you know, I'm working. I have my credit card debt. I have my car or my house that I want to keep after I file for bankruptcy. They have a let's say a 600 credit score, we're getting rid of all the unsecured debt.

They're going to reaffirm on their house and on their car, what's the general, what's the future look like for that person as far as getting on track to getting that 720 credit score?

One, how quickly you implement the program. And two, you know, what your credit looks like ahead of time. A 600 credit score is not that bad. Right? We have clients, as you know, that have a 500 credit score. Right? So it all depends on those two factors, but someone with 600, you can have a 720 credit score in under a year. Not that complicated. It's really not that complicated. And that's why we, you know, what our job is to coach them through the program.

Atty. Jamie Miller: And tell me, someone files bankruptcy, and the way. When someone does a chapter 7, we take them through the process and then we refer them over to the 7 Steps to 720 program. What can they expect as part of that program?

It's eight videos with extra videos. If you wanted to learn more, the truth of the matter is if you watch the first three videos on errors, credit cards, and installment lines, You can get a 720 credit score just from that. We front load it with those because those are the most important. But we have other videos like if you're married, how to reestablish, how to establish credit if you're married, or how to manage your credit if you're married.

It's different, right? And we also have one quick credit strategy because people call us and say, hey, I need something quick. So anyways, a series of videos, but most importantly, and this has turned out to be the most used part of our program, which actually wasn't designed that way, but we keep the video short.

And the reality is, client has this question, another person has the same question with a different amount and a different account number, right? So, that's that. And the second of all, it's how I stay up to speed on what's happening in the marketplace. Because I need to understand how the credit bureaus are changing and people bring things up all the time.

Oh, what about this service? What about this service? Oh, I've never heard of it. And I go sign up for it and I see how it impacts my credit using my credit as a guinea pig. So that's what we do and that's a monthly question and answer session with people. And people can, we record it and people can watch it in the future.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right? And what are, give me an idea of like, what are some of those questions? Like, what's the question you get over and over again?

Well, you can't take out a loan, right? I mean, just what's the best credit card to get this credit card denied me. I mean, just everything you can imagine, right? It's just anything nuanced. That's what comes to mind right

Atty. Jamie Miller: Yeah. But is the program going to help them find the three credit cards that they can get?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: No, it's all part of the program. Yeah.

Atty. Jamie Miller: And what about the installment loan?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Oh, yeah. There's different options. That we have on that like what you can either. I mean, like with regards to credit cards, it's all on our website to 720CreditScore.com you go to credit cards that help rebuild and there's all these different credit cards that change actually monthly depending on the issuer, right?

So we've had the credit rebuilder program, it's on our website. And that's where we approve everybody, it's has nothing to do with your income, has nothing to do with your it's no income qualifications, no credit score qualifications, just you make the monthly payment reports, and now we're transitioning that over, and a non profit called Evergreen Financial Counseling is going to be managing that whole thing for us. So you know, that's how that works.[00:28:00]

Atty. Jamie Miller: And when someone takes out like one of these credit rebuilder loans, what can they anticipate a monthly payment could be.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: 39 bucks. And so before we had to do it, you know, my first finance company that, hey, I need a set amount, right? So I had 12 months. But the problem is with bankruptcy, you know, after you get a have a bankruptcy, you can't be late. Like you cannot be in rebuilding the program and rebuilding your credit after bankruptcy.

You can't be late. Not even one time. And it was always a stress for me because I'm like, you know, people are committing 12 months. What if they can't pay, you know, all that stuff. So I found a new finance company and they're allowing me, they're allowing me to do it month to month. So they moved it out 24 months, right?

So that's an enhancement. We just started and it's actually not even on our website yet. It's that new. We're transitioning over the next two weeks.

Atty. Jamie Miller: So, do clients say, oh, I'll file bankruptcy, I'll just get a secured credit card. Does secured credit cards have any value?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Credit cards have the same exact value as a unsecured credit card.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Oh, it does. Okay. And so that's something if they're able to get it, it's a positive.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Yeah. The only problem with secured is they gotta come up with 200 bucks. If you need three of me come up with $600, right? So a lot of people just don't have it. This is a simple question. Sample question we get all the time. It's like, well, hey, I got one security card. I don't have the money for two more.

What do I do?

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Like that's an example of one of our question answers.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, so let me answer it a couple of ways. First of all, you're right. Most of the time they're different like 99% of the time. And the reason why they're different is because the three bureaus have different criterias of judging your credit one, but two creditors don't report to all bureaus. And that's changes the game.

Right? So if you have your car being reported to TransUnion, but not Experian or Equifax, then if you make your payments on time, it's going to be higher. If you make payments lower, it's gonna be lower. TransUnion, Equifax won't even know about that car payment, right?

That was before Credit Karma. I paid for all of them. And there was a 200, I think 237 point difference from the lowest to the highest. It was huge, and the reason why is because one credit scoring, you know, FICO has a max score of 850, Vantage has a max score of 990. It just, the numbers, it's just, you can't, we're not apples and apples, right?

Atty. Jamie Miller: And I'm noticing with electronic banking now that Chase or Wells Fargo, these larger banks all, allow you to see your credit score. What, is that a FICO score?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, it all depends on the bank. Some banks will tell you it's a FICO score, but some it's advantage. It's so confusing because here's the reality. A car dealerships running your credit is going to get a different credit score than the mortgage.

Like, they all have different scoring criteria. Even if you're using TransUnion. TransUnion card is different than TransUnion rental. You know, they're just scoring it differently.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right. And at what point, if someone's in a Chapter 13 should they get enrolled in a 7 Steps to 720?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: At write a confirmation.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Okay.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Got it. And so someone you mentioned earlier, someone in a Chapter 13, Really doesn't have to wait 36 months or 60 months to get a 720 credit score.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean well, during a Chapter 13, depending on where they're at, it's I mean, it takes time to rebuild it, but they don't have to wait till the discharge. Right? Is that what you mean?

Atty. Jamie Miller: Yes.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Yeah.

Atty. Jamie Miller: And where does student loans factor in here?

Atty. Philip Tyrone: So student loans are sort of like an anomaly, right? Because they're not considered an installment line. They're not considered revolving. But here's the concern with student loans. When you look at a credit score, many times, a student loan payment, one payment, shows up multiple times on a credit report, right?

Of course you need to make your payments on time. And if you can't make your payments on time, because we have people who join our question answer session because they bought our program, right? They're not, they're in debt, but they don't have bankrupt. They haven't filed bankruptcy or in debt consolidation. And my response is. Look, if you cannot afford to pay down your debt and you don't have a very realistic plan to pay off all your debt, within two years, you got to file bankruptcy. You got to talk to a bankruptcy attorney immediately, right? You got to see if you qualify because it's heck of a lot easier.

It's not the case. Like if you knew I mean, you know, Jamie, because you're in this business, but if they knew who filed bankruptcy, they wouldn't be embarrassed to do it at all. I mean a lot of people file bankruptcy, and it's a great way to get a fresh start. It's one of the reasons why America is what it is. Because it gives people a fresh start.

And rebuilding their financial future and I appreciate, that message because it's really important. And you know, the one thing and I appreciate your time so much. We could sit here all day and talk about this. The one thing I tell my clients and maybe you can just as kind of a final thought here someone comes in, you know, we do a consult, they're stressed.

They have credit card debt. They may be behind on other debts. I tell them we can file bankruptcy. We can get you to a 720 credit score. We can you know, stop the creditors from harassing you. Stop the garnishment. But the path to the 720 credit score isn't something that happens automatically. It's a partnership.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: this exactly the difference between what we do and credit repair. Credit repair is, you know, Lexington law. Oh, pay me $119 a month and let us write letters for you forever. No $119 a month with no ending gate, right? And credit repair. Oh, pay me all this money and we're going to manage it all for you.

But the problem is they can't rebuild the credit. Rebuilding the credit is the key. So I absolutely agree. And this is something I've said many, many times. You need to meet me halfway. I'm going to tell you what credit cards to get and tell you what to do. We're going to help you get the errors off the credit report because of partners like you.

Atty. Jamie Miller: You are the best. I am so just so excited. Cause you and I talk, and every one of my clients that comes to Miller Miller gets referred and is set up for an appointment with 7 Steps of 720. And there's nothing more frustrating than the percentage of clients that chooses not to follow that lead and take advantage of the program.

A relationship with Phil Tyrone and 7 Steps at 720. And I just can't, I can't thank you enough. You've changed the lives of me and so many of our clients. And I just appreciate your time so much, Phil.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Well, Jamie, you're one in a million and you know that one in a billion. There are not many people who care for the client for the debtor for the client in debt. Like Jamie Miller. And I mean, this is what you built when we get on the phone and I'm asking you all the questions.

Hey, how do you do this? How do you do this? How do you do this? How do you do this? It is shocking the structure and the culture you created because it permeates all the way down, like to the point when they're answering the phones and people feel it. And this is why, you know, your clients win. Yeah. When they choose Miller Miller.

But they come back because we nudge him and we feed him and we feed him. And we've had people come back and say, Hey, You know, I was rolling your program four years ago. Great. Now's the time.

Atty. Jamie Miller: Right.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: we will never give up. We'll never give up. And little by little, we're changing the impression of what bankruptcy really is. I know you feel you can't say that a little self serving for you to say, but from my perspective, it is bankruptcy is the greatest gift for. learning the lessons because we're not really trained this in school.

Like, where are we learn? Where do we learn how to use a credit card in high school, you go into college and everyone just giving credit cards away, right? This is the greatest gift to get a reset and start over. And that's what why I love serving this clientele.

Atty. Philip Tyrone: Okay. Sounds good, Jimmy. Thanks so much.

so

Atty. Jamie Miller: Sure.