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Six Steps to Better Credit with Credit Repair

By Ian Webber

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 07Nov2009
Word count: 639
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Credit Repair One Step at a Time

It is not hard to improve your credit with credit repair if you know how. This is true regardless of your current situation. It does not matter what your starting point is, there is always hope. Credit repair can help. Just take one step at a time. Before you know it your credit will be looking great!

Step One: Get Your Reports

Get your credit repair project off to a good start by getting the right credit report. You can get your credit reports for free, at AnnualCreditReport.com. It is nice that they are free, but unless you are adept at reading credit data these reports will make your job more difficult than it needs to be. Instead, invest in a nice tri-merged report. You do not need to stumble over three individual reports in three different formats. Tri-merged reports, which are sold by the bureaus and a variety of vendors online, are designed to be user friendly and include everything you need.

Step Two: Find the Obvious Errors

Proofread your reports for obvious errors. One of the keys to credit repair success is developing a healthy skepticism about the accuracy of credit data. The credit reporting system is massive and prone to error. Over three quarters of all reports have mistakes on them. Always give yourself the benefit of the doubt. If you find any derogatory information on your credit report that you do not recognize, add it to your list of items to dispute.

Step Three: Find the Hidden Errors

Given the importance of your credit scores it is essential that you invest an appropriate amount of time in your credit repair project. Patience can pay off in a big way. You have already found the obvious errors, but there is more work to do if you want truly awesome results. Many of the reporting errors that can depress your scores are hard to spot. Get out your reading glasses and find closed accounts that are reported as open, paid accounts that report with a balance, underreported revolving limits, and duplicate accounts.

Step Four: Find Flakey Collections

Collectors are allowed to report collection accounts to the credit bureaus. But if they sell the account to another collector or return it to the original creditor they are supposed to eliminate the account from your report. This rarely happens for the simple reason that collectors have no motivation to comply. Unless you make an effort to remove these obsolete accounts with credit repair they can hang on for years. Examine collections carefully. If an account is reported by a new collector dispute the earlier version.

Step Five: Send Dispute Letters

The dispute letter is the heart of the credit repair process, and the creation of an effective dispute letter is an art. You must keep your communication simple. There is no benefit to telling a story, in fact the more verbose you are the less likely you are to get a agreeable result. No matter what you say the clerk at the dispute processing center will attempt to translate it into a code that summarizes the complaint. Be clear, be neat, and say what is on your mind.

Step Six: Do Not Give Up

After all the work you have put into your credit repair project, you want results. The credit bureaus do not always deliver satisfaction straight away. If your dispute is not processed to your satisfaction you must not give up. The credit bureaus may send a letter verifying the item, or they may reject your dispute as frivolous. Send your dispute again. Demand your rights to have the issue researched properly. Statistically, the odds of success are dramatically higher with three attempts. Stand your ground. You will prevail. Good luck!

Copyright © 2009 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Ian Webber is an expert in consumer law and credit repair. Ian is a graduate of the London School of Economics and The University of Chicago where he earned his LLM. Ian consults with one of the leading online credit repair services and is currently based in Florida.

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