Do you have damaged credit? Well you are not alone! Whether you fell behind paying your bills because of a loss of income due to a lay-off or illness, or any other reason, you can repair your own credit without the hassle of finding a reputable credit repair company!
To begin, you will need to get a current copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus, Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Everyone is entitled to one free copy of their credit report each year. You can get your copy by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.
Once you get a copy of your report from each of the reporting agencies, you will need to examine each one carefully for any errors. If you notice any errors, dispute them immediately with each agency.
A real quick way to increase your credit score by a few points is by simply updating your address and telephone number if it is incorrectly listed on your credit reports! You may start to get more collection telephone calls and letters through the mail, but this should be a “good thing” if you are seriously working on improving your credit.
Now you will need to look at each account listed on your report. Any accounts that you are not sure of, contact the company to have the debt validated as yours, but be sure to only do this if you truly do not recognize an account. Don’t waste your time by disputing any accounts that you know are yours.
Now its time to work on clearing up all negative items listed on your report. You can start by getting current on any accounts that are still open but are past due and be sure to stay current.
Next you should work on any accounts that are listed as collections. You will want to get these paid off as quickly as possible. One way to resolve these types of accounts quickly is to contact the company and offer them a settlement as paid in full (usually about 30% of the balance) if they will agree to delete all the account information from your credit reports upon receiving payment. Most creditors will be more than happy to agree!
These tips will help you improve your credit all by yourself without the worrying of being scammed by so-called credit repair companies that cost you money and leave your credit in bad shape. However, you need to remember that it does take time for your score to improve, but by following these steps, you could see a significant score increase in just a few short months!