Credit Repair People

We live in a credit nation. The mistakes in handling credit are well documented but even so no one would dispute the importance of having good credit. Your credit score, when handled properly, can give you many advantages to creating wealth through leverage. Here are some credit basics to improving your scores.

Step 1: Go directly to the source to see what exactly your credit is. You will want to pull all three credit reports from www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com, and www.experian.com. These are the bureaus that your creditors report to and you will need to investigate all three to determine what incorrect and derogatory items you have.

Make sure that you get both your credit report and score. Do not waste your time with a so called free credit report service as those are usually a waste of you time. They are usually trying to sell you into some monthly credit monitoring plan that is expensive and unnecessary.

Once you receive your reports then take note of each one separately. All three bureaus report based on different matrices and will reflect different information. Note what items are derogatory. A derogatory item is any item that is listed as a public record or that has a late payment.

Step 2: Dispute. When you begin the dispute process always write your dispute letters in your own words. Do not use the forms provided by the bureaus. Disputes are handled by real people and should be treated as such. Employees at credit bureaus are trained to sniff out credit repair companies and false disputes so you are always better off putting the dispute into your own letter in your own words.

Go after all the incorrect information on your credit report. You can see a quick jump in your credit score by simply correcting false information. If, on the other hand, there are items on you rreport that are yours then you are better served by contacting the creditors directly. Many creditors will remove derogatory information at the request of a current client.

Step 3: Wait or Pay. Many people are aware that after 7 years most derogatory credit comes off. What many people do not know is that investigating an old item can reactivate the derogatory and cause an immediate drop in credit score. In some cases, the closck may even be “reset” for another 7 years. Be cautious in investigating old items. Make sure that you have proof that the items are either paid or incorrect.

Another thing you can do to improve your scores immediately is to pay down current credit items such as credit cards with higher balances. A good rule of thumb is that your balances should be no more than 50% of your available credit and preferable as low as 30%. If you have one card with a zero balance and another with a higher balance then you are better off transferring a part of that balance to the free and clear card.

Step 4: Be careful establishing new credit or closing old accounts. Most people don’t realize that a simple act like closing out an old account that you have not used for a while can lower your score. One of the contributing factors to your score is the length of time your credit has been established. That means that older accounts, even those no longer used, will have a favorable effect on your credit score. Never close out old especially if you are in the process of applying for a mortgage or loan.

By applying the strategies I’ve outlined here you can fix or maintain your credit. In some cases, working with a credit repair agency is worthwhile but before you do these simple steps can put you well on your way to excellent credit.

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Tags: Credit Repair