When it comes to credit repair you should give yourself every advantage you can. There is a lot riding on the outcome, so don’t cut corners. You should arm yourself with a working knowledge of the laws that govern the credit bureaus, creditors, and collectors. You also need your credit reports, and credit reports are not all created equal. Choose your reports carefully; the right one will give your credit repair effort a real edge.
FACTA and Your Free Credit Reports
In 2003, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) was passed (FACTA is an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act). One of the significant provisions of FACTA is the requirement that Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion offer consumers free access to their credit reports one time per year. There are several ways to get your free reports including the government mandated website, AnnualCreditReport.com. The spirit of FACTA is admirable, and for many people who wish to make a quick examination of their credit reports it is sufficient. But for many people it is less than adequate.
Avoid Credit Repair Handicaps
If you are about to start a credit repair effort you should do everything in your power to make your job as efficient as possible. The first goal of your credit repair project is to identify all of the reporting issues on your reports. Your credit is important and you can’t afford to be working with a handicap. The problem with the free reports offered by the credit bureaus is that they are each in a unique format and unfortunately not designed for optimal clarity. You do not want to miss any potentially damaging errors on your credit report because of poorly designed reports. It’s your credit and it’s worth investing in any tool that will help you get the job done.
The Right Report
If you want to get your credit repair project off to a good start you should purchase a tri merged report. These reports are available from a wide variety of sources online and should cost less than twenty five dollars. Tri merged reports include all of the information from all three credit bureaus, and without exception these reports are designed with clarity in mind. You will be able to spot errors considerably easier than you would with your free reports. The difference is like night and day. In our experience the best designed tri merged report is offered by TrueCredit, the TransUnion website, but all three bureaus do a good job of it.
Dissect Your Reports
Once you have your tri merged report in hand it’s time to get to work. Plan on setting aside enough time do justice to the project. Consider the benefits of success and be diligent. Here are a few valuable tips that can get your credit repair effort off to a great start. Check all of the limits on your revolving accounts. It is common for creditors to underreport account limits. The impact of an underreported limit is the same as an over reported balance. This can depress your credit scores dramatically. You should also find all duplicate accounts and dispute them even if there is no derogatory information associated with the account. Duplicate accounts can skew your debt ratio and harm your scores. And examine collection accounts very carefully. Collectors are infamous for misreporting. Collectors are supposed to withdraw their accounts from your report if they sell the debt to another collector. There should never be two collection accounts reported for a single debt.
Help is Available
Credit repair can be tricky. There is nothing as rewarding as getting a job done well on your own. But if you find yourself confused, intimidated, or frustrated it is important to realize that you don’t have to do this on your own. Your credit is important and you cannot afford to do the job halfway. Professional credit repair services are very affordable and will make sure that everything gets done properly. Good luck!
Author Resource:-
Ian Webber is a financial consultant and expert in consumer law and credit repair. Ian is a graduate of the London School of Economics and The University of Chicago. Ian consults with one of the leading online credit repair services. For more info see http://www.skybluecredit.com
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