Top 5 Credit Repair Tips to Increase Your Credit Scores
Having good credit is very important in today’s culture. We now live in a world where credit determines how much interest you’ll pay on your house, car, boat etc. Your credit scores are used by landlords, employers and insurance companies to determine whether or not you get an apartment, a job and what your insurance rates will be. It can also mean the difference between having to pay no deposit for a cell phone (or other utility) and having to deposit $500 or more.
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.
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