"Credit Repair" Is Something You Can Do on Your Own.

The term “Credit Repair” has been used a lot lately and some companies are offering it as a service, for a fee of course. However, “Credit Repair” is something you can do on your own. First thing you need to know is what is “Credit Repair”. Credit repair refers to the act of clearing derogatory entries found on your credit report from the three (3) credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and Transunion) with the goal of increasing your credit score. Your credit report contains a history of your credit usage, both good and bad. What you want to eliminate from your credit report are things like reported late payments, charge-offs, repossessions and entries from collection agencies.

The problem with credit reporting agencies is that they do not accurately report your credit. A lot of it is old and outdated and can’t be verified. Other information contained in your credit report may not be your information but that of someone else. It may contain debt owed by you that has actually been paid off and satisfied. Whatever the reason for the derogatory information being contained in your credit report it is negatively impacting your credit score.

So how do you go about having these items removed? The best way is to contact each of the credit reporting agencies and dispute all the derogatory entries found in your report. Under federal law, if you dispute an entry on your credit report the credit reporting agency has to verify the information. They have to contact the creditor and request the creditor verify the information. Often times what happens is the creditor either doesn’t respond or the information is so old they don’t have it themselves. If after 30 days of your dispute the entry is not verified it must be removed from your credit report. This in a nutshell is “Credit Repair”. If the information is verified, wait another six months to pass then request that the information be verified again. Continue requesting verification of the information until it is eventually removed. This process may take some time but it is the only way to repair your credit. This should be done even if the debt was discharged in bankruptcy. That is because although you are no longer responsible for the now discharged debt, the history of that account remains on your credit report along with all the missed payments and that is what is ruining your credit score.

To obtain a free copy of your credit report go to www.annualcreditreport.com. And to find out your credit score for free go to www.creditkarma.com. That way once the derogatory entries are removed you can keep track of your credit score and watch it improve.