However, the process can seem overwhelming and confusing to an individual that has never had to deal with their credit directly. If you are wondering about free credit repair help, this post will give you the information you need to get started on the right track.

Free Credit Repair Help — The DIY Method

If you want to repair your credit on your own, you should understand that this can be a time-consuming process and that you will need to keep meticulous records. However, if you are comfortable with contacting the credit bureaus and your creditors directly, free credit repair help by doing it yourself is well within reach.

Get your free annual copy of your credit report, either online or by writing to each bureau. Under the law, you have the right to get your credit report for free each year — three, actually, one from each credit reporting agency.

Depending upon which state you live in, you may be entitled to a second free credit report, and if you’ve been recently denied credit or employment based on your credit files, you can get yet another free report.

Once you have a copy of the reports, it’s a matter of going through the dispute process to remove any inaccurate information.

Free Credit Repair Help — Consumer Agencies

One of the biggest obstacles when it comes to credit repair is misinformation. If you want to be sure you’re getting information that you can trust, you need to look to reputable sources. There are several agencies that provide information about free credit repair help and credit in general:

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) — is in charge of protecting consumers’ rights. This government agency offers information on credit and credit repair, as well as tips for individuals who want to hire a credit repair specialist. Because the FTC investigates many thousands of fraud claims when it comes to credit repair, they take an extra-cautious stance when it comes to credit repair companies in general.

The BBB (Better Business Bureau) is another consumer advocacy organization, but it is not a federal agency. They do, however, collect information on a local and national level about all companies, including credit repair companies. They also have resource pages that cover various tactics to use to manage your credit and get yourself on track for free

Both of these agencies provide information on free credit repair but for actual free credit repair help — that is to say, advice — you will likely need to turn to additional sources.

Free Credit Repair Help — Free Consultations

Many credit repair agencies offer free credit repair help, at least in terms of initial information to get started. It’s common for these credit repair companies to offer free initial consultations, as well as websites full of free downloadable documents to help you on your path to increase your credit scores.

Lexington Law and the Credit Assistance Network, just to name two out of many companies, offer free consultation to get you started. Many of the legitimate credit repair businesses will give you a free consultation and advice as to how to proceed, and a real business trying to help you won’t ask you to sign anything until you’re ready.

The NFCC (National Foundation for Credit Counseling) offers free resources – calculators, budget worksheets, consumer tips and an online financial self-assessment tool. They offer free and low cost counseling to determine your needs and develop personalized plans.

With these three options for getting free credit repair help, there is no excuse not to take the plunge and start working on improving your own credit scores. The sooner you start, the sooner you will reap the benefits of good credit.

Credit Rating Repair: Evaluate Your Debts

The first step to credit rating repair is always an honest evaluation of your debts. Look at both your current month-to-month expenses as well as any larger bills that may or may not be past due. Of course, you’ll also want to include any credit card debt, loans, or other lines of credit.

Finally, you will want to pull your credit report as well. Sit down with all of this information and make a note of:

• Currently open accounts that are 60 or 90 days past due
• Currently open accounts that are 30 days past due
• Recent charge-offs
• Recent collections accounts
• Old charge-offs & collections
• Any incorrect information on your credit report

Evaluate your current income expenses, then decide if there are any places where you could cut back in order to take care of one or two outstanding bills – prioritize by the ones that are currently open, but have some past-due amount.

Keep in mind that credit scores are skewed to be negative, and as this chart shows, it can be an uphill climb for anyone who is looking to improve their credit scores.

Credit Rating Repair: Working with Current Creditors

Getting back to your credit rating repair, the reason you want to start with accounts that are still open is that you want to prevent these open accounts from being charged off and sent to collections or sold off to debt collectors. A collections account causes a major hit to your credit and can make credit rating repair that much more difficult.

Call up your current creditors one at a time and discuss ways for you to make payments that will satisfy the debt. Remember that creditors want to be paid, so it is in their best interests to work with you – don’t let them push you into promising to pay more than you can afford.

If you’ve been a customer for many years, some creditors may even be willing to update your accounts as current on your credit report once you’ve entered into payment arrangements. Note: You do NOT want to close these accounts if at all possible. Keeping them open will greatly improve your credit scores as the bill is paid off. Once they are closed, it is a negative hit to your account, especially if you pay them off over time.

Credit Rating Repair: Getting Rid of Collections

If there are recent collections on your account – just a few months old – you may be able to talk to the original creditor and work things out. Try to satisfy the debt with the creditor rather than any debt collection agency, since working with the original creditor can prevent debt collection agencies from adding a collection account to your credit report.

For older collections accounts, you have a choice to make. You can either:

Wait for the collection account to drop from your credit report naturally – usually takes about 7 years from the date of the first delinquency

Or…

You can see if there are any errors listed on the collection account and try to get it removed based on those errors. If the information there is both accurate and current, however, you will not be able to have the collection account removed.

If the debts are time-barred and you don’t have a lot of money, your best option may just be to wait for them to fall off of your credit report over time.

Credit Rating Repair: Credit Report Monitoring

If you manage to get your open accounts listed as ‘current’ and you are able to successfully remove or satisfy some or all of your collection accounts, you should find that your credit rating repair is coming along nicely. Continue to pay balances on your open accounts and put as much of your extra cash towards satisfying the debts that have the highest interest rates.

As you pay off one loan or credit card, you will need to add the money you used to pay down that debt to paying off any remaining obligations. This creates a snowball effect, where each subsequent bill gets paid off that must faster.

To make sure that your credit rating repair efforts are having an effect, you need to monitor your credit report on a monthly basis. Each month you want to check for any errors such as an incorrectly-listed late payment, and file any necessary disputes. You will also want to verify that the creditor puts “paid in full” on every account that you pay off.

Once you start actively working on your credit rating repair, you’ll find that much of the work becomes second nature to you. But you have to take the first step – if you are worried that you can’t keep up with all the tasks on your own, there are plenty of reputable credit repair agencies that can assist you.

The important thing is that you take action and work to repair your credit and restore your financial freedom.

Owning your own home has always been associated with living the American Dream – you find a job, start a family, then raise that family in a two-story house with a white picket fence. Problem is that nowadays more and more people are finding it harder and harder to live the American Dream.
Over the past three years, unemployment and tightened lending policies by banks have made it more difficult to purchase a home. Although it’s more difficult, there is still hope. You can still qualify for a home loan if you remember these important things:

Make Sure Your Credit Score is as High as Possible

When applying for a home loan, your credit history and credit score are a big deal. Typically consumers with a credit score above 750 will qualify for most loans as long as their income is able to support the payments on the loan. Credit scores between 600 and 750 can still qualify, but sometimes at a higher interest rate. If there are negative items on your credit report, you should look into getting them removed and repairing your credit before you start the process to qualify for a home loan.

Keep a Steady Employment History

Most loan programs require a steady employment history of between 6 months and 2 years. If you are thinking about changing jobs or starting your own business, you may want to wait until your home purchase is finalized before making the move. Once your loan closes, you can change careers without having it affect your loan.

Get Your Debt to Income Ratio Under Control

Mortgage lenders look carefully at your debt to income ratio. This ratio simply portrays the amount of debt payment obligations you have each month in comparison to your gross monthly income. A common guideline for debt to income ratios is 33/38. The first number means that no more than 33% of your monthly gross income should go to paying your mortgage payment. The second number means that no more than 38% of your monthly gross income should be spent on all of your debt payments combined (this includes your mortgage, credit cards, auto loans, etc.). If you need to lower your debt to income ratio, you may want to consider downgrading your car and buying something less expensive – at least while you are trying to qualify for a home loan. In addition, you may want to consider paying off your credit cards.

An FHA Loan May Be Your Best Shot at Qualifying for a Mortgage

If you don’t succeed at qualifying for a mortgage initially, there are additional means you can employ in order to qualify for a home loan. A common alternative to conventional home loans is an FHA loan provided by the Federal Housing Administration. Below are the basic requirements the FHA lists on its website:

- Two years of constant employment at without a decrease in income.
- A minimum credit score of 640.
- At least two years since a bankruptcy.
- At least three years since a foreclosure.
- A debt to income ratio of approximately 30%.

For additional details on qualifying for an FHA loan, click here.

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

There are many resources available to consumers looking to qualify for a home loan. If you don’t get a positive response from the first place you look, keep trying. Also, plan ahead in order to make sure that you are the best candidate you can be by the time you show up at the bank asking for a loan.

When you finally get to that point, then you’re ready. But, until you get there, you’re probably not going to take action. If you’re not there yet, you might as well stop reading this.

But, if you are ready, then it’s time to start on your journey to financial peace and good credit. And once you get there, never go back. You work just as hard as the next guy. So, why should you have to pay more on a loan than he does? Don’t you think you’ve paid the banks enough money? The banks have plenty of money. Quit paying them more than you have to!

If you are sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck and always begging the lenders to give you crappy loans then I want you to say this out loud right now:

“I’m done. I’m done living like a broke fool and I’m taking a stand RIGHT NOW. I will not let the banks make me their slave any longer.” Then, you’re going to take action, RIGHT NOW. Here’s what you’re going to do:

1. Get your credit repaired. Call Lexington Law Firm at 800-220-0084 and get it repaired NOW. Let the professionals clean up your credit for you. It’s very affordable.

2. Never let your credit get that bad again. Learn how the credit game works and promise yourself that you will never find yourself in that hole again.

3. Live below your means. That doesn’t sound fun, does it? Well, neither does being broke and being a slave to your lenders. Start living on a budget. Control your money so that it doesn’t control you. You know which spending habits you need to change. Change them. It’s time RIGHT NOW.

>4. Pay off your debts and start saving money. If you’re not sure how, check out Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace.

5. Help your family and friends. Help them realize what’s going on. Show them that they don’t have to be miserable and live like everyone else. They can break free from their chains too. Show them how.

Dave Ramsey, one of my favorite financial experts, says it like this: “If you want to be rich, look around and see what rich people are doing and do rich people stuff.” Rich people don’t pay high interest fees. If you keep doing what poor people do, you’re going to stay poor. You don’t have to. Take action and take advantage of all that life has to offer!

Which side of the fence do you want to be on? Do you want to go through life with good credit or bad credit? The decision really is up to you. Below are some top credit repair tips for consumers with credit problems.

1. Become familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Right off the bat, let’s start with one of the best tips I could ever give you. It doesn’t sound like much fun especially when you see it on paper, but it really is very important and it won’t take that long. I’m not saying you need to read all of the technical legalese from top to bottom, but get familiar with what the FCRA is all about.

2. Any information can be disputed on your credit report.

I don’t know how else to put this: ANYTHING on your credit report can be disputed – personal information, public records, accounts, inquiries…ANYTHING!

3. Credit repair is a process.

If you have 20 negative accounts reporting on each credit report, do NOT dispute every single account. Credit repair is a process, not a one time deal. The credit bureaus are more likely to label your dispute as frivolous if you trying disputing that many items. Dispute no more than 3-5 accounts at a time.

4. Keep your dispute letters simple.

Unfortunately, many amateurs on the net are giving people long, drawn out, unnecessary “sample letters”. Sample letters are fine, but it’s unnecessary to mention laws, procedures, court rulings, or threaten law suits, etc. The credit bureaus know the law. There is no need to be condescending or act like you are a professional. That won’t get you very far.

Simply dispute the accounts you would like to have removed or updated. If your letter is confusing, it will more than likely get returned or thrown away. There is also no need to tell them your life story or why you were late or why it should be removed. They do NOT care. Keep it short and simple!

5. Procedural Request – Ask for Method of Verification.

So, after you’re first dispute you got a few accounts deleted – that’s great! But, what about the ones that came back as “verified”?

Send them a procedural request. If you request it, the credit bureaus are obligated by law to provide you with the method the creditors used to verify the information that they are reporting on your credit report. By requesting this information, you are forcing the credit bureaus to actually provide you with what they received from the creditor as valid proof. If the creditor replied to your dispute stating that the account should remain on your credit report, they need to have proof. The creditor rarely provides the credit bureaus with this information. So, when you do this you are putting pressure on them to either “prove it or remove it”.

Keep records of everything the credit bureaus and your creditors send you in case you should ever after to sue them for violating your federal rights.

1. Pay your bills on time. Sounds simple, but this is the best way to keep your scores high. Delinquent payments and collections have a severe impact on a score.

2. Keep credit card balances low. Large balances will have a negative impact on your score. I generally recommend keeping balances below 30% of your credit limit.

3. Don’t open too many new accounts too quickly. Especially if you’re relatively new to credit. This will create too many inquiries which hurts your score.

4. Make sure the information in your credit report is correct. If it’s not, dispute it with the credit agencies and/or with the creditor directly.

5. It’s OK to check your own credit. Be sure to monitor your credit on a regular basis and be ready to dispute any derogatory information on your reports!