Here is How to Repair Your Credit Report

ElitePersonalFinance
Last Update: February 12, 2021 Credit Report

I would say start with checking your credit standing, but since you are reading this article, I am sure you’ve done your homework and assessed it, and the results are not that amusing. So, let’s get to business.

Request Your Credit Reports

If you are in the United States, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) entitles you to a free credit report from leading credit bureaus in the country. It is also worthwhile to pick copies from the credit reporting companies. This is important because you do not know what has been submitted out there.

The basis of collecting reports from several companies is to have different versions of the story.

Carefully Analyze Your Credit Reports

Keep in mind that credit reports are not auto-generated but are written and submitted by humans. This should give you the benefit of the doubt that whatever is in that report is true or completely accurate.

Carefully go through your credit reports to ensure that their information is accurate and up to date. You should check out for address, types of accounts, whether revolving, installment, or join, collections, financial obligations records, consumer statements, and credit inquiries.

These are the areas you should pay close attention to when examining your credit reports. It is often advisable that you audit your own credit report. Still, I understand this can be boring to some people, so if you feel you can’t read your credit reports to the end, I suggest you find somebody who can demystify the info into notable points you can easily offer. Either way, ensure you are familiar with the content of your report.

  • Review your payments

Payments cover a larger percentage of your credit report since credit is all about borrowing and paying. Since you only borrow a limited number of times, only repaying your debt remains to be everybody’s interest.

If there are missing payments, make sure to complain to your credit company since a single missing amount can cause a serious setback on your credit score.

However, be sure to talk to your lender before throwing turn trams. Sometimes the report must have just been hurried off, or you may have made a payment soon, and you expect it to reflect your credit report.

  • Depth of credit

This is the length of time you’ve been using credit.

Older credit accounts help argue your case to correct your credit, mostly if the older account was good or excellent.

You should carefully review your old credit account before closing it because it is your biggest bargaining chip.

  • Recent credit accounts

New credit accounts are considered risky, and they can lower your credit score in the first place. However, the consistent payment in the accounts will indicate responsibility and build confidence in your creditors.

Ensure that your recent credit accounts appear on your report- Although they may bear some degree of negative impact, the ultimate goal is to fix your credit, and it will help a great deal.

  • Amount of credit

It is hard for a credit company to post an inaccurate credit amount on your report. However, the amount carried forward may be inaccurate for revolving credit accounts, especially if you make irregular payments.

Dispute All Conflicting Items

After carefully auditing your reports and noted down all conflicting data, it is time to lodge complaints. The idea that complaints may hurt your credit score is a misconception.

There are many ways to file complaints regarding your credit reports. You can call the number listed on your credit report and file your complaint and two. You can file your complaint online by visiting the credit bureaus.

It is not necessary to file complaints with all credit bureaus as only one is enough. The credit reference bureau will forward your complaint to your credit company, and they will be required to reply within 30 days of the complaint. If they respond with corrections, the credit company has to post the corrections to all bureaus they submitted the inaccurate report.

If you and your credit provider cannot resolve a dispute say have failed to reconcile a missing payment, you are allowed to attach a statement against the item on your report. For example, you may indicate, “I never missed any payment with company X.” This statement will be available for 2 years and is accessible to anybody who accessed your credit report.

Reference bureaus allow 30 days for credit companies to respond to complaints. If there is no response after 30 days, the reference bureau will delete the inaccurate record and inform you and other bureaus. If you still feel some information is missing or inaccurate after the correction, you may have to visit your credit company in person and settle the deal personally.

For late payments, you may consider visiting your credit provider and explain yourself. These guys are humans like you and me and will consider going easy on you if you take the initiative to explain why you missed a payment or submitted your payment late.

Get New Credit Report

Be sure to wait for 2 to 3 weeks before requesting a new credit report after the corrections have been posted. In other cases, credit companies will acknowledge that the data is accurate but request more time to fix the discrepancy.

A purchasing credit score is also another option of seeing that your credit score improves. I hope these four steps to improving your credit score work for you.

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