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Credit Repair, Doing it Yourself
by Michael Russell
We all know what bad credit can do to our ability to get financial help when it
is needed the most. Although, it is a part of life, things do get out of hand;
missing payments and piling up debts; we don't always control everything that
happens to us in life. But that does not make bad credit less damaging, anyway.
Bad credit could readily make a bad situation worse. It prevents you from
getting loans, financial help or credit cards, or makes you pay neck-breaking
interests on loans. Since we all will need credit someday, the earlier you start
doing something about that bad credit, the better. It sure will be no good to
pay off debts just before requesting credit, because most lenders are more
interested in your financial history.
“
don't be surprised to find mistakes or negative comments that are not true
”
It may not be so easy to repair bad credit, but there are steps you can take to
make the whole process easier. So, when you find yourself in such a situation,
the following advice could be of great help.
I think the first port of call should be the credit bureaus responsible for
providing credit reports in your locality or country. Each country has established
credit bureaus with the task of monitoring your credit performance, as reported
by financial institutions and you can always get your credit report from these
bureaus, free or for a fee, depending on your country.
If there is more than one established bureau, you may want to get each body's
version of your report. It affords you the privilege of comparing the different
versions. The reason why the reports may differ is that they are prepared based
on the information supplied to the bureaus and it is possible they get different
information about your accounts from different reporters.
Once you have the reports, scour them for errors. Don't be surprised to find
mistakes or negative comments that are not true in your reports, it happens. You
will also want to take note of credits that have been cleared but are still
showing in your report, or accounts you cannot remember opening. Fraudsters do
open accounts in people's names only to clear out the credit when the attached
credit line gets reasonable. These are all very bad for your credit rating.
You may also find scathing negative comments in your report. For a start, you
will need to clear all these anomalies. Get accounts that are not yours removed
from your credit report. Talk to creditors who are reporting negative comments
about you or still showing bad debts that have been paid. You may be pleasantly
surprised at how many creditors are willing to cooperate once you have explained
your situation.
The bottom line is communication. Talk to creditors; explain the situations you
are facing. People can't help you if you don't tell them what you are experiencing.
Besides, you can file a dispute, if you are sure some negative comments or bad
debts are not supposed to be on your credit and the creditor don't want to
cooperate, especially when you have documents to back up your claims.
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