Accumulating debt is very easy nowadays, particularly when you take into account the increased usage of credit cards and shopping on the Internet. No matter if you are paying your bills late or simply disregarding them and not paying them at all, the overall effects are going to be the same. Your credit report score will typically take a substantial hit, particularly if you owe thousands of dollars that you’re currently unable to pay. Fortunately there are some relatively easy bad credit repair tips that will help. These are simple and quick things that you can do on your own.

Probably one of the most effective of the free credit repair tips would be to cut up all of the credit cards that you currently have, or at the very least, all of them except one. For those that tend to go overboard when it comes to their spending habits, this can take a lot of self-discipline. Even if you feel you have the self-discipline to keep the credit cards without using them, it is a good idea to remove the temptation altogether. After you have your financial situation back in order, you can always get new cards at that time.

 

 

Probably the most important of these bad credit repair tips, at least to start off with, is to get a copy of each of your credit reports from the main consumer credit reporting agencies and find out exactly what your credit report scores are. The three main credit reporting agencies are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Once you have your credit reports, go over them and look for possible errors. It is estimated that nearly three out of every four credit reports contain erroneous data. Look for all of the negative accounts found in your credit report that may be inaccurate and highlight them and put them into a dispute credit report letter that will be sent to the particular reporting agencies reporting them. You can also request an investigation if you’re not sure whether or not an account is correct. Any account shown on your credit report that cannot be verified by the reporting agency has to be removed from your credit report.

Allow the credit reporting agencies four to six weeks to complete their investigation. After you have received the results from the investigation, go over the report to find out which negative items, if any, were removed from your credit report. Even if there are negative accounts in your credit report that were verified, you can still send the reporting agency a procedural request to find out what methods they used to verify those accounts. Continue to repeat this process until you get the majority, if not all, of the negative accounts removed.

If there are negative accounts that you are unable to get removed from your credit report, you still have a couple of options available to you if you have the finances. If you have negative accounts that are less than 180 days old and have not yet been charged off, consider paying off the past due balance. You don’t want to make payments on accounts that haven’t been charged off as this will make the charged off account current and will have the effect of lowering your credit report score even more. You can also contact the creditor and make a pay for delete request. A pay for delete request works by offering to pay off your debt in exchange for having the negative account removed from your credit report. It is advisable to mail the creditor the pay for delete request in the form of a letter and make sure that if the creditor agrees to the request, that they make it in writing before you send them any money.

Understanding these credit repair tips is a must for those who have a low credit report scores and truly need to fix their credit problems. For anyone planning on making a major purchase, such as buying a new home or car, good credit is an absolute necessity. Not only will having a high credit score increase your chances of getting approved for a loan, but it will generally save a lot of money in the long run due to the lower interest rates that are offered to those with a high credit score.

 

 

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Filed under: Credit Repair

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