How To Repair Your Credit

During our whole life we have been taught that being a responsible fiscal adult meaning having a great credit score. Most Americans take great pride in their credit score. It allows you to buy whatever you want even if you can’t afford it and get the best interest rates offered at that time. Over the past 3 years we have seen millions of Americans lose those once perfect credit scores due to job loss or health issues. The circumstances limit the borrower’s ability to make monthly payments on time to the creditors. Typically when a payment is 15-30 days past due the creditor will report a late payment to the three credit bureaus.

Learn how to improve your credit score

The best time to start repairing your credit is before it is ever tarnished or as soon as possible if it is not at the score you want.

Step 1: take a look at your credit score and see what it currently looks like. You can do this by going to www.freecreditreport.com. You want to make sure you do what is called a Tri-merge. That is pulling your score from all three credit bureaus TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. These three score will give you an idea of where you are at. Most financial institutions are looking for a credit score of 720 and above these days. If you are not at a 720 or above its time to get going. Especially if you are in foreclosure, if you can start filing disputes right away this will result in less long term damage.

Step 2: Review your credit report for any errors. Even though your creditors do their best to report correct and accurate information it does sometimes happen that errors will appear on your report. That is why having a crediting monitor system like www.freecreditreport.com is so valuable. They will let you know anytime someone is looking at your credit or negative information is impacting your score.

Step 3: If you find errors or you are just looking to improve your score you need to demand that a dispute be opened on that particular account. You will need to in writing send a dispute letter to each of the three bureaus assuming that all three are reporting an error on that account. The credit bureaus have 30 days from the time they receive your dispute to reconcile this information with your creditor. If the creditor cannot validate and prove what they have reported then the negative item must be removed from your credit report. The best time to dispute items on your report is near the holidays. Especially the month of December, everyone is off the last two weeks of the month typically and not a lot get done.

Use these tips to your advantage and you will be well on your way to improve your credit score. There are plenty of FREE example dispute letters on line. This will assist you in improving your credit.

Filed Under: Credit Enhancement • Foreclosure

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