How to Do Your Own Credit Repair


by Joseph Ducat - Date: 2007-02-07 - Word Count: 482 Share This!

Many people really want to repair their credit, but they tend to view the credit repair process with trepidation. They seem to view credit repair as a difficult and daunting task, and they wish to avoid the hassle they believe it will put them through. That is why so many people postpone doing credit repair for much too long.

I was of the same frame of mind until recently. I was also intimidated by the prospect of having to repair my credit. But when I finally decided to go ahead and do it, I discovered that it was not as hard as I thought it would be. Yes, it is definitely a little time-consuming as well as inconvenient, but no more so than many other things. At least it is not as bad as pulling teeth. In any case, I think that everyone should have a go at doing their own credit repair.

To begin doing your credit repair, you first have to get a copy of your credit report. In fact, you should get three--one from each of the major nationwide credit reporting agencies, which are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Getting your report is actually very simple. The law says that you are entitled to a free report once every 12 months from each of the three credit reporting agencies. You can request your credit report from them through a central website at annualcreditreport.com. Or if you prefer, you can also order your report by calling a toll-free phone number, or by writing to a mailing address.

When you have received your copy of your credit report, you should review it to see if contains any items that you would like dispute. It would help your case if you can put together any documentation that can help to support your dispute claim. Then you need to contact the credit reporting agency that authored your report. Send them a letter of dispute along with copies of supporting documents--just copies, never the originals!

By law, the agencies are required to verify all information in your credit report. When you dispute any piece of information, they will have to show that it is accurate, or else remove it from your report. In doing verification, they will normally contact the creditors who provided the information that was summed up in your report. That can save you the trouble of having to deal with every creditor individually (although you may have to do so anyway, at times).

At the end of the verification process, the agency will let you know the results, and if they have corrected your credit report, they will send you one free copy of the corrected version. At that point, you can request the agency to issue a notice of correction to everyone who has obtained a copy of your report within six months prior to the correction. The entire credit repair process will take several hours.


Related Tags: credit repair, debt, credit score, rights, consumer protection, fixing credit, free report, dispute

You can get tips about DIY credit repair and read other articles that can help you with your credit at http://creditrepairinsider.info

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