It’s hard to make purchases these days without having to have credit. Even for the simple task of turning on new electric or cable services, your credit worthiness will be checked. Having bad credit can be extremely costly. People with bad credit have to pay high deposits and more money on interest rates. In some cases, those with bad credit can be denied for new applications altogether.

In the midst of bad credit, there is some good news. Bad credit can be repaired. It will take some time and effort on your part, nevertheless the task can be accomplished. While many people resort to the services of credit repair companies, you can do the same thing as these companies for free.

The very first thing that you will need in order for credit repair is a credit report. It is impossible for you to repair your credit, if you do not know what it is that you need to repair. Your credit report will contain all of your credit information for the past 7 ½ years. The information on your credit report will serve as your guide to credit repair. Any piece of information that is inaccurate should be disputed from your credit file.

For the best results you should obtain a credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Since every creditor does not report information to every credit bureau, a credit report from one bureau might contain information that the other credit reports do not. To improve the effectives of your credit repair efforts, make sure that you have all three of your credit reports.

Recently laws have been passed that allow every consumer to receive a free credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus each year. You can receive these free reports via phone, Internet, or mail. The central website for requesting a free credit report is annualcreditreport.com. This is the only website that you can use to obtain these free annual credit reports.

You are also entitled to a free credit report if a company has taken adverse action on you because of your credit. This includes a denial for credit, employment, or insurance. You have sixty days after you receive notice of the action to request your free credit report. You may also receive a free credit report if you have been unemployed for a year and plan to seek employment within the next sixty days.

As you work to repair your credit, you will need to have proof that the information you wish to have removed is inaccurate. There are many reasons for inaccurate information on your credit report. The statute of limitations for credit reporting may have passed. This time period is 7 ½ years from the first date of delinquency. Creditors sometimes mistakenly report inaccurate information. Identity theft is a rising cause of inaccurate credit information.

No matter the reason for inaccurate information, in most cases you will need to have some kind of proof to show of the error. Once you dispute an item on your credit report, the creditor has thirty days to prove that the item is indeed correct. You then, in turn, have a period of time in which to prove that the item is not correct. The credit bureau will determine validity of the item.

Copies of statements or bills and proof of payment can be used to settle a dispute about delinquent payments. Most banks now keep record of the front and back of a cashed check. You can use this if the credit contends that they did not receive payment from you.

If you have been a victim of identity theft a police report or notarized affidavit of forgery or both can be used in order to prove that you did not create the accounts. In cases of identity theft, you only have to send the information to one of the credit bureaus. That credit bureau is then responsible for reporting this information to the other two bureaus.

Being equipped with the right tools is one of the surest ways to guarantee success with a credit repair. Without these tools, you might have a difficult time repairing your credit.

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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2007

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