Repairing Your Credit Is Not That Hard

Way Too many Americans today have done what seems to be irreparable damage to their credit score. However, credit repair is not as difficult as the average person thinks. With a modicum of self-restraint and some budgeting, you can repair your credit without any assistance from an outside agency. It takes more time to repair credit than it does to wreck it, but good credit is an necessity in today's growing world.

Do not fall prey to the seven or ten year bad credit "monster" so many creditors put forth. You can positively impact your history through diligence and effort. These time frames are by no means a set standard on how long negative reports affect your standing. Many times these are used as a scare tactic to keep you from being proactive in your efforts.

If you have challenged or denied negative items on your credit report and some still remain, you may be able to reduce that number even further by contacting the collection agency or creditor. By law, these companies need to provide written proof that the account is yours. This means a hard copy of a signed contract or other legally binding document, not just a printout of the information they have in their computer system. Many of these companies do not hold onto these documents. If they can't come up with acceptable proof, they are required to remove the account from your credit report and stop all collection attempts.

Avoid big purchases prior to your needing your score to be at it's best. Anytime you take out a major loan, such as a car loan, your score will take a short dip. This is due to the fact that you now have much more debt than you did before.

Try to negotiate with your creditors about the amount of interest you'll pay on an old debt. The incredibly high interest rates can get challenged and reduced in some situations. On the other hand, you're likely bound by a contractual agreement to pay any interest charged by lenders. Be very wary of suing your creditors, especially if all of your issues were covered in the contract.

When starting the process of rebuilding your credit, pull your credit report from all 3 agencies. These three are Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. Don't make the mistake of only getting one credit report. Each report will contain some information that the others do not. You need all three in order to truly research what is going on with your credit.

For a quick boost to your FICO score, start paying down your credit cards. Your FICO score is heavily influenced by how much available credit you have. Try to get your cards down to where you are only utilizing 50% of the available limit at most and keep them there.

If you work every day but never seem to have any money, you should track how much you are spending and on what. By keeping a daily list of everything you spend your hard earned money on, you will be able to cut down or do away with those expenditures that are not required. You will be able to establish a realistic plan of how much money you need for a month, and you can use the rest to pay off other debts or just save the money, the choice is yours.

By requesting your own credit report, compiling your debts, and consulting with your creditors to establish payment plans, and establishing a reasonable budget in your life, you too can repair your credit history. Repairing your credit score will help make your future a brighter place, and this is a goal that you really can reach by yourself.