Rebuilding your credit is sometimes frustrating, but once you do, you`ll get to enjoy all the financial benefits of having good credit. Your credit affects many areas of your finances, as it partly determines what credit products you qualify for and what interest rates you`ll receive. If your credit is not in good shape, taking some simple steps can help you to rebuild it.
1. Go Over Your Reports
While you might think you know exactly what is on your credit report or are afraid to look, you can`t rebuild without knowing where you stand. You`ll need to get your credit report from the three major credit bureaus for review. Inaccurate negative accounts could be hurting your score. If you see accounts you don`t recognize, you may be a victim of identity theft and will need to contact the authorities.
2. Date the Negative Items
Negative items that are yours don`t stay on your report forever. Under federal law, most negative entries expire once 10 years have passed. This includes old debts you paid late or after the accounts entered collection.
Once old negative entries start to fall off, your credit score should increase. If old entries are not removed once they expire, contact the credit bureau you receive the report from to ask for removal of the entry.
3. File a Dispute
If you see accounts that are incorrectly reported, fraudulent or otherwise incorrect, you need to file a dispute for these entries with the credit bureau. The credit bureau must investigate your claim and give you a decision within 30 days.
The exact steps you`ll need to take to dispute an incorrect entry vary by bureau. You should provide copies of proof of your position, such as a cancelled check showing a debt payment, if you have it. Proof will help you prove your case to the credit bureau and increase your chances of having the negative entry removed.
4. Aim for Positive Entries
Once you`ve cleaned up negative items as much as you can, you must move on to adding positive entries. This may be difficult at first, depending on your score, but there are credit products designed for people who are rebuilding their credit, such as secured credit cards.
Before you accept any credit offer, make sure you can afford the repayments. You also need to read over the offer details, such as the interest rate and any other card fees, so you don`t end up with a product you can`t afford. Some “bad” credit offers have extra fees that may make the product unaffordable. Confirm the creditor will report the account to credit bureaus before you sign the agreement.
5. Watch Your Report
Keep an eye on your progress as you add positive entries. If your score isn`t improving as much as you hoped it would, you may need to add a new type of account, as the types of accounts you have is part of your score calculation.
If you’ve ever tried to fight this battle on your own, you know what I’m talking about, right? why they’re not too excited about removing negative or incorrect items from your report why are they nor correcting them or removing them at all??!!!
Here’s a little bit more, and how to put the law on your side of the credit playing field for once…
Did You Know?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) receives more complaints against credit bureaus than ANY other type of business. (Yes, they are a business, not a government agency like some believe)
In fact, in February of 2000, the three major credit bureaus paid a fine of $2.5 million for ignoring consumers’ requests for their files!
Here’s More Startling News …
79% of all credit reports contain errors.
29% of credit reports contain serious errors, false delinquencies or accounts that did not belong to the consumer.
20% of credit reports were missing major credit, loan, mortgage or other information to demonstrate the credit worthiness of the consumer.
26% of credit reports contain accounts that were closed by the consumer, but incorrectly listed as “closed by credit grantor.”
41% of credit reports contain demographic information that was misspelled, outdated or incorrect.
Contrary to Popular Belief, Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs) Are NOT Government Agencies…
The credit reporting bureaus are publicly traded “for profit” companies. They, like all publicly traded companies, are in business to make money for their stockholders…period.
But that alone is not the scary part…
Some of their biggest customers are credit card companies and predatory lenders, who BUY their lists of people with less than perfect credit so they can prey upon them, with HIGH interest offers.
But, due to the startling statistics we just revealed, they are heavily regulated … one of the MOST heavily regulated companies in fact.
So what can you do about all of this?
Know Your Legal Rights …
Congress has given you rights that the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) really hoped you wouldn’t know.
We all know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, right? And, if accused of a crime, the burden of proof lies with the accuser. But, with the credit-reporting agencies, it appears this is not so.
However, they are only a repository of anything and everything that creditors report to them.
And here’s the surprising fact about CRA’s…
They have no economic reason to ensure the accuracy of the information reported to them. And, in fact, they have every economic reason not to at all.
They are only powerful because most consumers don’t know how to wrestle with them.
In fact, Congress set up provisions to allow consumers (you) the right to CHALLENGE information that is deemed to be inaccurate. And you can also challenge information that is not properly validated.
Until next time…why not get your free credit repair consultation? It’s as simple as filling out a form online (securely)…and then waiting for a call from one of our credit specialists.
CALL 619-313-8059 AND a representative of Credit Corner will help you correct and restore your credit.
CREDIT IS YOUR GREATEST ASSET, REPAIR IT AND PRESERVE IT.
