Easy Steps to Repair Your Credit

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Easy Steps to Repair Your Credit, So you can be on your way to purchase your first home!

I was once your shoe with bad credit and now my score is 690. Whoppie!
Below I have compiled a list of useful tips that will help you to repair your credit in less than a year.

Negative credit information is any action that causes creditors to consider you a riskier borrower. It includes late payments, accounts in collections, foreclosures, bankruptcy, and tax liens. Once negative credit information is introduced into your credit history, you cannot remove it on your own. However, time heals all wounds. The longer it’s been since the negative information was introduced, the less it will affect your credit score. In time, negative information falls off your credit history.
This list details the length of time that negative credit information affects your credit score:
Late payments: 7 years
Bankruptcies: 7 years for completed Chapter 13 bankruptcies and 10 years for Chapter 7 bankruptcies
Foreclosures: 7 years
Collections: Generally, about 7 years, depending upon the age of the debt being collected
Public record: Generally, about 7 years, although unpaid tax liens can remain indefinitely (always pay the tax man first!)
Rather than despair over negative information, take action to improve your score.
The best way to improve your score is to have good behavior reported every single month. For example, you can take out a secured credit card and use it monthly. Charge no more than 10% of the available credit limit, and pay the balance in full and on time every month. Your credit score will improve as your negative information ages and your credit report fills with positive information.

1. Assess Your Credit History for Free

You are entitled to receive one free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) every year. These credit reporting agencies keep detailed records of your credit history that you can use to assess your credit. Assessing your credit involves three simple steps:
1.Download a free copy of all three credit reports.
2.Review the credit report to find errors.
3.Prepare a list of items that you need to dispute.
Download free credit reports
AnnualCreditReport.com is a website sponsored by the three major credit reporting bureaus, and they are required to provide you with a full credit report every year. The first time that you assess your credit history, download a report from each of the major credit bureaus by following these steps.
Step one: Visit AnnualCreditReport.com and click on the “Request yours now!” link.

Follow the step-by-step instructions on the website. Download credit reports from all three bureaus because a mistake may only be listed at one bureau.

Once you’ve filled out the form and requested reports from all three bureaus, you’ll fill out some security questions and be directed into your report, one agency at a time. If the security questions trip you up, the website will lock you out of your report, but it will offer a phone number that you can call to get your credit report via mail. If you get locked out, request the report via mail.
After the bureau authenticates you, you’ll be directed to your credit report. In the next step, we’ll show you what you need to review.
Review your credit report
Review every credit reporting agency’s credit report in detail. Each report has the following sections: Credit Summary, Accounts (includes payment history), Inquiries, and Negative Information. Reviewing each section can help you understand the source of a poor credit score, and it can help you identify if your report contains errors.
When you review your credit report, you will need to visit each section of your credit report, and keep notes about erroneous information. Remember, there are three bureaus, so you need to repeat this process for all three reports.
The next section details what you should should note.
Take notes
As you review your report, these are the things you should note.
Accounts section
The accounts section contains a detailed history of all accounts (open and closed), your balance, and your payment history associated with each account. You should be able to see month-by-month payment information for 7 years of history. Each month will have a symbol next to it that indicates whether the account was paid as expected or if it was late.
Review each account, the balance, and the payment history, and ask these questions:
Do you recognize all of the accounts on your credit report?
Are all your closed accounts noted as closed?
Does each account have the appropriate account balance listed?
Is your payment history accurate?
If you see missed payments that shouldn’t have been there, write it down. Your credit score is negatively impacted when you are 30 days or more past due. If you see a balance on a card that you haven’t used in years, it could be because the account has been stolen. Misinformation in the accounts section harms your credit score, so make a note of all incorrect information.
For your own records you should also take note of the following:
What is my current balance relative to my available credit (credit utilization)?
Do I have any open accounts that have associated late payments?
Resolving these issues can help you improve your credit score moving forward.
Credit inquiries
Credit inquiries are records of new credit that you’ve applied for. For example, if you apply for a new credit card, a car loan, or a mortgage, you will see records of credit inquiries.
Do you recognize all of the inquiries on your credit report?
If someone steals your identity and tries to apply for new credit in your name, an unrecognizable credit inquiry is usually the first sign of a problem. Make a note of any unrecognizable credit inquiries.
You will also want to take note if you see many credit inquiries where you did not receive the line of credit you wanted. Credit inquiries have a slight negative effect on your credit score, so if you’re applying for a lot of credit, you may need to slow down until your credit score improves.
Negative information
Negative information includes negative accounts, collections, or public records. Negative information has the biggest impact on your credit score.
Do you recognize all of the negative information on your credit report?
If the negative information in your account is not accurate, you will need to contact the credit bureaus to correct it.
Negative information hurts your credit score, but as it gets older the effect lessens. Take note of all accurate negative information, so you can follow our strategy to avoid it in the future.
Next steps
If all the information in your credit report is correct, then learn how to monitor your credit score for free and how to improve your score.
On the other hand, if you don’t recognize all the information, you will need to take steps to remove incorrect information. And, if your identity has been stolen, there will be even more steps required.

2. Resolve Incorrect Information on Your Report

Incorrect information appears on your report for four reasons:
Someone stole your identity and opened new accounts in your name.
Someone stole one of your existing accounts, and started using it.
The bank made an error and reported a delinquency or default that never happened.
A collection agency made an error and reported a collection item on debt that was never yours.
If someone stole your identity
Incorrect information due to identity theft is a serious issue that you need to resolve as soon as possible. You may not know whether the incorrect information in your report is due to identity theft, but these are some common symptoms of identity theft:
You don’t get your bills or other mail because someone has changed the mailing address on your accounts
Debt collectors call you about debts that aren’t yours.
Medical providers bill you for services you didn’t use.
Your health plan rejects your legitimate medical claims because records show you’ve reached your benefits limit.
The IRS notifies you that more than one tax return was filed in your name.
You are arrested for a crime someone else allegedly committed in your name.
Warning: A common form of identity theft is when a family member steals your Social Security number and uses it to apply for credit.
You can start to resolve identity theft issues by visiting www.identitytheft.gov to report identity theft and get a recovery plan. This is an excellent, free website created by the Federal Trade Commission. In addition to reporting identity theft, you will receive a free action plan, and you’ll gain free access to people who can guide you through the identity resolution process.
Below we detail some important action items you can take.
1.Place a fraud alert on your account with the credit reporting agencies by calling each credit bureau (numbers below).
oEquifax: 1-800-525-6285
oExperian: 1-888-397-3742
oTransUnion: 1-800-680-72892
2.Put a credit freeze on your credit reports. A freeze blocks potential creditors from getting access to your credit report, making it less likely an identity thief can open new accounts in your name. Follow the directions in this article to place a credit freeze on your credit reports.
3.Create an Identity Theft Report by submitting a complaint about the theft to the FTC and filing a police report.
If someone stole your account
If someone stole the account information of an existing account, you should immediately contact your bank or credit card company. Once you report your card as lost or stolen, the bank will typically reissue a new card and correct information on the credit report directly.

3. Dispute Credit Report Errors By mailing a certified letter
CALL US FOR A SAMPLE LETTER
If you do not think you were the victim of identity theft, but believe that there is incorrect information on your credit report, you can dispute the information directly with the credit reporting agencies. We will explain how.
Disputing incorrect information involves three steps:
Dispute the item in writing, not online with each credit reporting agency.
Write a letter to each organization (bank, collection agency, credit union, etc.) that submitted incorrect information, and keep copies of those letters.
When you dispute incorrect information, you must keep a copy of your mailed correspondence in case the issue does not get resolved right away. Keeping copies of your correspondence will allow you to get help from the Consumer Federal Protection Bureau if necessary. Your dispute should include all of the following:
A copy of your report.
Specific information about what is incorrect.
Any documents that support your position.
An explicit request to remove or correct incorrect information.
If you need to dispute information, download the following step-by-step instructions and letter templates that will make disputing incorrect information as pain free as possible.

After you dispute the incorrect information, you will need to follow up to be sure that the information gets resolved.
Follow Up on Disputes
Once you register your dispute with the credit reporting agencies, they must investigate the item in question within 30 days, and they must forward all the relevant data you provide about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the information.
If the information provider finds the disputed information is inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide credit reporting companies so they can correct the information in your file.
Do I have any other options?
If you are unhappy with the way your case was investigated by the credit reporting agencies, you do not have to give up. Instead, you can complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on their website (www.consumerfinance.gov).
When you complain to the CFPB, you can should provide copies of all of your correspondence to prove your case. The CFPB will reach out to the credit reporting agencies on your behalf and try to help get your situation resolved.
Monitoring Your Credit Score
In order to catch issues, and stay on top of your credit score, you should implement a credit monitoring strategy. The best, free way to monitor your credit is with Credit Karma, which gives you access to two out of three credit reports.
If you prefer more monitoring and additional credit protection, you can pay a fee for services that provide daily three-bureau credit monitoring, resolution assistance if your identity is stolen, and insurance if you have to engage in a legal battle. This guide ranks the top identity theft protection services.
Whether you choose a free or paid version, credit monitoring is a great service. As soon as you detect suspicious activity, you can take action. The sooner you work to deal with issues in your credit report, the less damage can be done.

Step 4. Improve Your Credit Score
Once you resolve issues on your credit report, it’s time to implement a strategy to start improving your credit score. The single best thing that you can do to improve your credit score is to pay current accounts on time and in full every single month. You can picture it as burying negative information under a mountain of positive credit information.
Your top priority should be keeping accounts current. Continue to pay whatever account has the most positive information.
Your next priority should be keeping accounts out of collections. If you owe late payments, work to pay them back before the item goes into collections. Once these accounts are current, they will start to work positively toward your score.
Next, work on paying down your debt to provide positive information, and in time improve your score. Likewise, paying off installment credit (like mortgages and car loans) will add good information to your credit report.
If you have no current accounts, consider taking out a secured credit card and using less than 30% of the available credit each month to add positive information to your report.
The last thing you should do is attempt to resolve debts in collections. Once an item is in collections, paying it off will not improve your credit score.
Going forward, take care to avoid taking on more debt than you can handle, and implement a strategy to pay down your debt quickly. Once you start making positive changes, your credit score will improve, and within a few years, you’re likely to have good credit again.
Secondly, get a secured credit card and pay the balance off before the due date and you will see a huge difference in your credit score.

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