| Credit history repair sounds complicated. You might think that you need to hire a professional to do this for you. You can hire a credit repair specialist if you prefer, but it's not necessary to spend the money. You're probably able to handle your credit history repair on your own. To repair your credit history, the first thing you should do is request copies of your credit reports. You'll actually have four credit reports and not just one. This is because there are four credit reporting agencies that most banks and businesses contact to check your credit. You'll need all four reports for credit history repair because they could all be a little different. The names of the four credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and Innovis. You're entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each agency once per year. If you've gotten a report in last the year then you'll have to pay for a copy. If you've applied for some kind of credit, however, and been turned down, that entitles you to a copy. You'll receive a letter of rejection from the credit granting agency saying this. This letter should tell you the time period in which you need to request the free report. Once you have your credit reports, look them over carefully for errors. One of the most important things you can do during credit history repair is to find errors and inform the agencies they need to be fixed. If you have mistakes on one or more of your reports that lower your score, doing this will improve your credit rating. You'll need to get forms from the agency in question to fill out. This will prove that you paid a debt that's on your report. Each error situation requires certain information from you to prove that it's a mistake. Once you've fixed the mistakes, there are other ways you can do your own credit history repair. Look at the credit lines you have still open. If the amount you owe is close to your credit limit that lowers your credit score. The best thing you can do to speed your credit history repair is to pay those balances down. Make more than minimum payment. Pay as much as you can. And don't ever be late on the payments as those really count against you on your credit report, especially when it's frequent. If you have some cards that are charged close to the limit, make larger payments on those first to get them down. This can help you avoid over-the-limit fees. Between $25 every time you're late or if your balance hits your credit limit, you can be adding hundreds each months on cards you don't even use. Sit down and figure out which cards have higher interest rates and make a plan to pay more on them. Make a plan to pay off your debt as quickly as possible, and do your best not to accumulate more debt. In a short amount of time your credit history repair will pay off. |
