By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-07-22 14:47:31 | Word Count: 664
It is not the end of the world if you have bad credit. If you’re serious about clearing it up and having a healthy credit score (and opening up the world that creates) then you can do it yourself. It takes a little time, a lot of persistence, and confidence in yourself, but it is a worthy goal. Good credit means you can buy the house, car or business you’ve been dreaming of. Bad credit can not only mean you won’t get a loan from anyone, but even trap you in your present job or mean you can’t get employed, period. More and more employers are using credit checks as a means of character reference, and if yours is bad, a lot of opportunities might be lost to you.
There is plenty of bad credit repair advice out there in the form of agencies who offer to consolidate or ‘repair’ your credit for you. They can’t do anything you can’t do yourself, so it’s important to ignore the bad credit repair advice, and do things the right way.
First of all get your credit report. Available free once a year from the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion), this is the only means you have of ascertaining what your credit looks like and what might be wrong with the picture.
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If there are mistakes, you can get them fixed. First of all, look for outdated items (those older than seven years), items that are absolutely not yours and you did not authorize, or mistaken charges from your creditors. Then, gather all the documentation you have that is pertinent to each items you are going to dispute, and get a sample letter such as those offered by Credit Elves. The letter will walk you through a simple form that you fill out, and tell you what attachments to make and to whom everything should be sent. You dispute the facts, and wait for an answer from your creditor and the credit-reporting agency, and hope for the best.
If your claim is denied, then follow up with the company that is denying your dispute, and try to get some satisfaction another way. Maybe you can’t prove that you’ve paid something and they are looking for some money. You might be able to get the amount negotiated down, and get a “Paid in Full” mark on your credit report instead of “Outstanding” or “In Collections.” Deal with creditors directly when you are able, or with collection agencies if it has gone to that point. After you’ve dealt with them all you can, check again with credit reporting agencies to make sure they have all the new information and that your credit report is getting taken care of. Only you can ensure that these items are getting fixed; no one else will do it for you.
You might consider getting a new line of credit for a small amount, even if you don’t really need it right now. A small credit card loan that you use to purchase even one item on (and make timely payments) goes a long way towards establishing to a potential creditor that you are now a good risk; a customer who honors his obligations and makes payments in full and on time. Don’t buy into the bad credit repair advice. Just do due diligence, and keep track of paperwork.
