Whatever your background or record, you can take some simple and quick steps to begin your own credit repair. It costs nothing and you can begin right away - but the results can be tremendous!
You can begin by ordering a copy of your credit reports, going through them, and understanding them. There are three different credit reporting bureaus, and each one may have slightly different information.
The law entitles consumers to a free copy of the credit report, one from each of the three agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. You are able to get one from each bureau every year.
The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, has set up a website where you can order them: annualcreditreport.com. Be careful of any other website that claims to offer you free reports - this is the "official" site, and any others have strings attached.
You'll start your credit repair efforts as soon as you get your reports. To begin with, you want to read each report line by line.
The reports will either include a "dispute" form, or give you a web address where you can download them. This is where you will begin fixing your credit score.
Make a note of every outdated, inaccurate, or incorrect entry - you will be disputing these. Fill out a dispute form and provide corrected information, or why it is inaccurate, such as debts that have already been paid but are still listed.
By federal law, the credit reporting bureaus have up to 30 days to verify each dispute. If they don't do so, or don't do it within the 30 days, they must remove those entries from your credit report.
With just this simple step, some of these negative entries will be removed from your credit report. They will no longer contribute to a low credit score, and your score will immediately go up - sometimes by hundreds of points!
You can begin by ordering a copy of your credit reports, going through them, and understanding them. There are three different credit reporting bureaus, and each one may have slightly different information.
The law entitles consumers to a free copy of the credit report, one from each of the three agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. You are able to get one from each bureau every year.
The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, has set up a website where you can order them: annualcreditreport.com. Be careful of any other website that claims to offer you free reports - this is the "official" site, and any others have strings attached.
You'll start your credit repair efforts as soon as you get your reports. To begin with, you want to read each report line by line.
The reports will either include a "dispute" form, or give you a web address where you can download them. This is where you will begin fixing your credit score.
Make a note of every outdated, inaccurate, or incorrect entry - you will be disputing these. Fill out a dispute form and provide corrected information, or why it is inaccurate, such as debts that have already been paid but are still listed.
By federal law, the credit reporting bureaus have up to 30 days to verify each dispute. If they don't do so, or don't do it within the 30 days, they must remove those entries from your credit report.
With just this simple step, some of these negative entries will be removed from your credit report. They will no longer contribute to a low credit score, and your score will immediately go up - sometimes by hundreds of points!
0 comments:
Post a Comment