Credit Repair
Personal
credit repair.
Credit Repair
Be prepared to see up to 50% errors when you receive your credit
report. Credit repair companies are controversial. When you
dispute a derogatory item, your creditor has 30 days to respond
by either providing proof or removing the derogatory status. Credit
Repair Companies that claim...Read More
Credit Repair
[Continued]
to do credit repair often take your money, vanish into the night
and do nothing to repair your credit. You can do your own credit
repair but it does take time and is hard work.
stereotyped to deceive customers by making false promises they
cannot keep. They promise to erase your credit history of all
bad or slow debts. Sometimes they call themselves credit repair
services or credit clinics and for a hefty fee, they promise to
clear your credit report of any negative information.
The actual truth is no one can do a credit repair on your report
if the information is correct. You can write a letter up to 100
words and have it attached to your credit report if the debts
were caused by a catastrophic circumstance such as illness or
job loss. If there are mistakes on the credit report, the credit
bureau will investigate and delete any incorrect information at
no cost to you. Some credit repair companies claim you can create
a second credit file.
Fraudulent companies sometimes offer to provide consumers with
different tax identification or social security numbers in order
to create a new credit file. This practice, called "file
segregation," is illegal, and it doesn't work. A bad debt
will stay on your report for 7 years and 10 for bankruptcy. You
can do your own credit repair as long as you understand it wont
happen over night.
Why is Credit Repair Important?
Jack Sutherland, age 25 had a very good job as a computer networking
technician but he found out he had terrible credit when he applied
for a loan to buy his first house. Because of his lack of experience
and his youth, Jack had abused his credit card while in college.
Jack decided to personally take on the task of doing a credit
repair on his own credit history.
The first thing for his credit repair, Jack did was request a
credit report from the local credit bureau. Next, he ordered a
report from the top credit bureaus such as Equifafax and Experian
to compare reports and look for errors, as often is the case.
Next Jack called his debtors and requested reduced monthly payments
as a method of dissolving debt. He negotiated with collection
agencies. Some agreed to settle for a reduced amount to be paid.
Jack was careful to get letters from all paid off debtors and
have them placed in his credit file. You may have been denied
credit because of an insufficient credit file, yet you have credit.
Some creditors -- such as gasoline card companies, local banks
and credit unions may not report your credit history to the credit
bureaus. You can try asking the credit grantors to report your
account information and monthly payment history to a credit-reporting
agency. Not all will do that. So, in the future, before opening
a new account, ask if your on-time payments will be reported monthly
to a credit-reporting agency.
Build a solid credit history by obtaining a secured credit card.
Shop around for the best deal available, but limit your applications.
Lastly for your credit repair, open a savings account at your
bank. This shows creditors that you are working to save and that
you have reserves to repay debts.
Return to Top
|
