Credit Repair
is often misunderstood. People not familiar with it think that credit
repair is illegal. This couldn't be further from the truth.
Credit repair for the most part is a completely legal process. We
say for the most part because there are really bad resources
out there that may tempt you to use illegal methods like creating
a fake credit profile. That is certainly not credit repair
and not recommended. EVER.
Using state
and federal laws a person can often remove negative items from
their credit reports in 30 days or so. What's not discussed a lot
is the technical aspects of credit repair. Often times people dont
know where to start. They'll head to a search engine and simply
type in "www credit repair" or "credit and repair"
and hope for the best. More research is needed before you jump into
a plan to improve your credit. The credit repair secret is really
no secret at all. Any of us with a bit of time and a little credit
education can make great improvements in our credit reports.
What's dangerous however, is jumping in feet first with no knowledge
of what you're doing. You can make your credit worse.
So, without haste, here's
some tips on REAL credit repair.
Get all three credit reports: This
should be done using a service like annualcreditreport.com.
It's free and nationwide. Unlike a lot of services that claim
the credit reports are free but then charge you an annual or
monthly fee, annualcreditreport.com really is free.
Review negative account histories:
This is really important because the devil is in the details.
Most items that are deleted during a credit repair process are
those that were proven to be inaccurate in some way. It doesn't
have to be a huge mistake as any mistake that ultimately cant
be proven will work to delete the item. Should you feel bad?
Not at all. The credit bureaus and collection agencies dont
feel bad for you. It's your right to repair or find fault. If
they cant do their job in reporting accurate facts or proving
to you what is accurate then the item doesn't deserve to remain.
It's simple.
Draft your credit repair letters:
Once you determine which accounts you are going to target, you'll
begin drafting your letters
to send off to the credit bureaus and collection agencies. Dealing
with collection agencies is a BIG part of credit repair
although its not discussed as much as it should be. You will
ultimately have to make a decision as whether to deal with the
collection agencies or not. If a credit bureau sends an investigation
request out to a collection agency who then in turn claims the
item is accurate, you'll have to take your investigation to
them to finalize it. The good news is that a lot of the time
their record keeping is atrocious. Especially if the debt has
been placed 2-3 times. This is how a lot of times items are
deleted.
What about tax liens & judgments?
Those take a little more work to remove but they also have more
areas for mistakes. We've written specific articles on tax
liens and judgments
because we cant cover it all here.
What laws do I use for credit repair?
Normally the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and the FDCPA
(Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) will be sufficient. Within
those Acts are all the rules that credit bureaus and collection
agencies have to follow. We have separate articles for the FDCPA
and the FCRA here.
Keeping records: This is a must. No
credit repair job can be complete if you dont keep good records.
Odds are that you'll have to follow up with a collection agency
and credit bureau more than once. Keep track on a log sheet of
all your efforts as well as any letters you send out. All communication
needs to be sent by certified mail so you have a receipt of delivery.
More Credit Repair Help
Resources:
Free
credit repair tips and tactics.
Use this article to guide yourself through the DIY credit repair
process.
