Answers to the Question: How Can I Repair My Credit Now?
Because of todays unemployment situation, many people who previously had good to excellent credit have found themselves struggling to make ends meet each month. Because of that these same good, hard working folks have found themselves with missing or late payments and these have negatively affected their credit score. People often ask me, How can I repair my credit now without spending a lot of money on a credit repair expert? Certainly one can do their own credit repair, but it is not easy and requires that the person understand the underlying basic concepts behind credit reporting and credit scoring.
There are three credit reporting agencies and these are: Experian (www.experian.com), Transunion (www.transunion.com), and Equifax (www.equifax.com). The three major credit reporting agencies issue credit reports on individuals and companies and these reports contain some important information that helps them to determine your credit score. How much debt a person or company has is sometimes just as important as how little debt they have. In order to have a high credit score you need to have some monthly payments on secured or unsecured debt with which to build a payment history with. If you have too much debt, or if your balances are too high in relation to your credit limit then you could be considered a risk and consequently have lowered credit scores.
Credit scores can range from around 400 to over 800. It is very rare to see a credit score over 800 and scores of 700 to 720 are considered A credit for most creditors. Scores between 620 to 700 are considered B credit, and anything under that is considered subprime. Most companies will not loan to people with scores under 500. Scores are calculated by the credit reporting agencies based on complex mathematical algorithms and programs that were instituted by Fair Isaac & Company (FICO). When you get a credit score it is referred to as a FICO score.
But how can I repair my credit now? you may insist. You need to first request a free copy of your credit report from any or all of the three agencies previously mentioned, or you can pay a small fee for a tri-bureau report with FICO scores from all three agencies in one report. When you get the report it may take a while to figure out how to read it but with a little patience you will be able to see any positive or negative items which have been posted there. If you see any negative items that are not correct, you can dispute them online or in writing to the credit agencies. Once you dispute an item the credit agency will report the dispute to the affected creditor which they call an investigation and the creditor has a certain number of days (usually 30) by which they have to respond with proof that the negative item is in fact valid. If they do not respond, the credit reporting agency has to remove the item from your report and your score will rise.
So the answer to the question, How can I repair my credit now? is relatively simple but does take some time and energy on your part as well as persistence. You should also give serious consideration to utilizing the services of a credit repair professional. They know exactly how to do it right and can help save you a lot of time and aggravation.