How to Repair Your Credit

Everywhere you turn, people are concerned about their credit. Even government agencies look for ways to cut the dreaded paper trail, so you can imagine how people in the private sector deal with their debt.

How Does One Get Bad Credit?

Bad credit can come to you in all sorts of ways. If you have been divorced, or had a joint account with someone you separated from can negatively affect your credit. The same is true if a co-signer on a loan defaulted on the payments, taking your credit down with theirs. Other reasons can be incorrect or incomplete loan and financing applications, collection reports, and mishandlings of an individual’s files in a credit bureau.

Why should you Repair Your Credit?

Repairing your credit can do several things. I can help lower interest rates, avoid bankruptcy, and stop collections from harassing you. When you take time to correct the mistakes that you have made, you will be able to begin again, and have a fresh start.

Provisions:

In just about any state in America, there are stipulations that apply when you attempt to repair your own credit options. For example, debt repair companies are unable to remove the debt from a person’s credit report. If a company attempts to assist a consumer by removing factual information from that person’s credit report, they are breaking the law. But, according to the fair credit reporting act (FCRA), you have a right to argue all of the information that you believe to be incorrect. If you can prove that a mark on your record was written in error, it can and will be deleted from all three of the credit report bureaus.

What is the Credit Repair Process?

Depending on how bad your credit report was, or what mistakes were made on your credit report depends on how much cleaning up you will need to do.  First, you request a copy of your credit report, which is obtainable for free for all three credit bureaus once a year. You will need to order them separately from Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax. The other option is to order all three at once from a qualified vendor such as Creditscore.com or Annualcreditreport.com. The agency holds no bearing as to where you get your free credit report, however make sure that it is an authorized agency as there are so many fraudulent credit bureaus.  Sometimes, you will need to send in a request in writing to the correct collection agency for them to remove the mark from your files. The exact step by step report will vary from state to state, but most of the time, you will need to fill out a form and submit it.

You might have more than just the typical typographical errors that will cause you to have a lower credit score, which may require the help of a professional debt counseling and settlement services. These firms and services can most of the time help you reduce your credit balance by up to 50%. They will help you set up a payment plan that is more conductive to your income, and will negotiate your debts with the debtors.