Before you can repair your credit, know where you stand. Your credit rating and credit score are based on the information in the credit reports maintained by the three major credit rating services: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. You can get a free copy of your report every year from each rating service through the Federal Trade Commission’s authorized provider, AnnualCreditReport.com. Check your credit report for incorrect listings of late payments and amounts owed. If you find errors or entries that look suspicious, such as an account you don’t recognize, contact the credit rating service. The rating service will investigate and if the item is erroneous, correct your credit report.
The thing that counts most in determining your credit rating is your record of late payments. Payment history counts for 35 percent of your credit score. Payments more than 30 days late are especially damaging. . To repair your credit, there is no substitute for getting your bills caught up and keeping them caught up. If you run into trouble, contact your creditors. Many lenders will not report an occasional delinquency if you make and keep arrangements to get your account current. To help you remember due dates, ask for automatic payment reminders from the creditor.
Once you have your personal credit report and completely understand it you may decide that there is a need to perform some credit report repairs. Credit report repair is often required; in just the same way as anything else often needs repair after a certain period of use. There are two ways to complete a credit report repair.
The first being free credit report repair and the second being more costly. Depending on the amount of credit report repair that you need to perform, the amount of time necessary to fix it and the details that it will entail you may find that you have no choice about which credit report repair route to pursue.
The most common and cheapest way to perform a credit report repair is to open a dispute directly with the credit reporting agency where the problem arose. Next, that agency will open an investigation and you will be responsible for proving your claim in a timely matter. Responsibility includes providing any documents supporting your side of the dispute, receipts and notarized letters in some cases.
In most cases, the agency will recommend you send all necessary proof when filing the claim, so to speed up the credit report repair process. This method requires mailing correct forms and proof to a specific address set up at the agency to handle disputes. Full and proper credit report repair can rarely be achieved without supporting documentation which makes good financial record keeping essential.
Credit report repair companies require an installment payment in the beginning and a monthly competitive fee thereafter. Not surprisingly, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union do not approve of credit report repair companies. Acting on your behalf, the credit report repair service takes your credit report, and using the fair credit reporting act and planned strategies, dispute any negative item on your credit report history that you have selected.
Some companies may even offer an upgraded service to continue monitoring your reports for other negative damage to come. This option of credit report repair is far more expensive but is not as time consuming or nerve racking as filing and handling the disputes yourself.
Handling a credit report repair yourself or using a credit report repair company will take some time. Both options require an updated copy of all three credit reports. The credit reporting agencies have thirty days to respond to a filed dispute claim. The complete process may take much longer. Whichever method you choose to pursue, the key is patience and persistence.