How To Repair Credit So You Don’t Waste Money

November 20, 2009 by Chad Valiant Jnr  
Filed under Credit Articles

Hiring a professional is an option for credit repair but is not necessary. All the steps that they take can be done by you for less money. Below are the steps on how to repair credit yourself.

First, you need a copy of all three reports. Once a year you can get these reports at no cost. Ordering them from the bureaus will cost you a small fee though.

Place your order through the internet, by mail or phone.

Do not contact the bureaus for the free report.

Offers for free credit reports from places other than FACTA might require you to subscribe to their service for a fee. Your credit score will not be included. You will have to pay for that separately.

Most businesses do not report to all three agencies. They also do not share information. All three reports are needed to get an accurate picture of your credit standing.

Make copies of the reports to be used to dispute incorrect information.

Read the reports and understand what they mean to you. Mark incorrect information to dispute it.

Review your reports at least once a year because you need to know what your creditors think of you.

Identifying information such as your name, address, employment and previous addresses are listed.

You may find your name misspelled. Ensure the identifying information is actually about you.

The summary area of the report provides information on the types of accounts you have. It also contains how many accounts you have, the balance, how many are current or delinquent, open and closed accounts, inquiries and public records.

You will find more detailed information in the account history area. The creditor name, account number, account type, responsibility, monthly payment amount, date opened, date reported, balance, credit limit, loan amount, high balance, high credit, past due, remarks, payment status and your payment history will all be included in this section.

Information that is wrong should be disputed. This includes: payments that were not late but reported as late, accounts that do not belong to you, past due accounts, collections, and charge-offs and maxed out accounts.

When you receive your report, instructions for disputing information will be listed. Send a copy of the report with the incorrect information marked with your dispute.

The biggest part of your credit rating is your payment history. Increase your score by setting goals to bring all accounts current and showing a paid status.

Pay the open accounts first. Any that has been charged off need to be paid in full. Try to make payment arrangements with the collection agency if they will work with you.

The amount of your debt when compared to the total amount of credit makes up 30% of the credit score. Maxing out your cards costs your points on your credit score so bring those cards down below their limit.

After taking care of the negative information on the report, try to have good information added. It is possible that you will have to apply for credit cards rebuild your credit. Try for department store cards if the major credit card companies turn you down. It may be necessary to obtain a secured card first.

It is important that you do not let good accounts slip to take carry of bad accounts.

If you are not able to resolve the issues on your own, then turning to credit counseling companies may be the answer.

Did you know that you can save money by doing you own credit repair instead of a company? This article will tell you how to repair credit in an instant. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!