Free Credit Repair Advice – How to Repair Your Own Credit

When you are trying to repair your credit, it may be best to try to fix it yourself. If you suffer from bad credit you will find that numerous firms will contact you claiming to be able to assist you in rebuilding your credit for a fee and once you hire them they will take care of everything. However, the truth of the matter is that fixing your credit on your own may be the best thing you could possibly do.

Fixing your own credit can be a difficult process but many who opt to fix their own credit do not find it that difficult to do. More and more people are beginning to repair their own credit. If you want to go this route you need to first contact one or all the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Ask them to send you a free credit report. The FACT act was passed in 2001 by Congress and the act lets every consumer obtain one free copy of their credit report annually.

Once you have obtained a copy of your credit report, you will need to take some time to check all the information for accuracy. You will most likely find some mistakes. These discrepancies may be due to the fact that that an old account that you had has been paid off but it is still being reflected on you current statement.

Once you have made a list of all of the mistakes on your credit report, mark them on the credit report or on a sheet of paper. Send a copy of the report to the agency you obtained your credit report from. You may want to contact them by telephone as well. When they receive your complaint they will ask for proof that what is on the report is indeed an error. This is why it is best to send a copy of your credit report to be on the safe side. When they check the error they will notify you saying that they have fixed the mistake or that they do not have enough proof to take the mistake off of your credit report. If you want to successfully improve your credit you need to be stringent when it comes to making sure that all the information on the credit report is correct and reflected on your statement.

A big part of beginning any type of credit repair plan, whether you are repairing your credit yourself or using a debt counselor, is making a long-term plan to keep control of your finances so that you will not make the same mistakes you made with your credit in the past. Credit repair counselors are there to assist you but what is the use of paying their fee if you later find out the firm is not reputable?

Repairing your credit is very time consuming and it will require that you take it very seriously. Over a period of time, you will see the positive and favorable results. You will soon know that these results came about through your own motivation and your own efforts. There is absolutely no better feeling.

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Question by troubleshy57: What is the best way for a person to “repair” their credit?
I’m not sure how to go about this especially if some of the debts is more than 5 years old.

Best answer:

Answer by KNN
Don’t pay anyone to repair your credit. Its simple and you can do it yourself. these credit repair companies will charge you lots of money. What you have to do is contact all these companies you owe money to. If you don’t know, get a free credit report from one of the 3 bureaus. Contact them and pay them, you can also offer settlement amounts, but keep in mind they might 1099 you and it will show on your credit report that its a settled account. Once you get all the matters paid, continue with paying your accounts ON TIME. After as much as 6-8 months you will see an increase in your credit score. And don’t apply for any new credit for awhile.

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You hear it all the time on TV, read it on the web, free credit report this and free credit report that. Of course, free never really means free does it? No. They will give you your free credit report only after signing up for one of their monthly credit monitoring services, which are usually a waste of money anyway. Did you know that you can get a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureau?

It is true. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, to provide you with a free credit report once every year upon request. The keyword here is request, they won’t send it to you unless you ask. Make it a point to order your copies every year around the same time. Check each one for accuracy and signs of illicit activity.

To order your yearly credit report online, visit the website annualcreditreport.com or you can call their toll-free hotline at 1-877-322-8228.

Identity theft is a tough crime to fight, partly because the victim frequently doesn’t even know they have been victimized by a credit thief until months or years down the road. By then, the thief is long gone, and who knows what kind of trail they will leave, if any.

In this day and age, you have to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to identity and credit fraud. Thieves count on you being lazy and lax with your financial records, don’t give them the upper hand. Check your credit report regularly.

UPDATE 10/28/09: I personally went to annualcreditreport.com and got each one of my three credit reports for NOTHING. While you only get one every 12 months, it is still really convenient. I downloaded mine and printed it out instantly. You don’t have to join anything or sign up for any service. They do give you the option to purchase your FICO score for $7.95 but you don’t have to, if not then just press the “No Thanks, Just The Report” button. The reason you never hear of this site is because they don’t advertise it. Makes sense I guess, probably a cost thing, and a fraud thing. Before entering info into ANY site, look at the browser address box and make sure you are at the site that you think you are at.

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