Ways to Repair Your Credit by Yourself

 

Financial crises are common, and a lot of people will experience it at some time in their lives. The debt problem may be caused by unexpected illness, job loss or maybe overspending.

 

One really good reason why you should repair your credit yourself: a credit report contains sensitive information, like your credit card numbers, bank accounts, creditor names and such. These things can easily be used by con men and fraudulent "credit repair companies" for their personal gain, leaving your credit in worse shape than before. You might even be dragged into activities like credit card fraud or identity theft, without you even knowing it.

 

If you’re planning to repair your credit yourself, here are some ways that might help you go about this task.

 

1.  Sound budgeting

 

The first step you should do in face of financial crisis is to assess your financial situation. Read earlier chapters about budgeting if you haven’t already to help identify expenses, priorities, etc.

 

2. Get your free credit report if you haven’t already this year

 

Take advantage of a free copy and evaluation of your credit report from consumer reporting companies like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They are required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. Otherwise, a consumer reporting company may charge you up to $9.50 for another copy of your report within a 12-month period.

 

3.  Clear up any mistakes on your report

 

Dispute mistakes, outdated items or anything you consider a discrepancy in your report. It is your right. Under the FCRA, both the consumer reporting company and the information provider are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report.

 

4.  Make contact with some of your creditors

 

Ask your creditors to remove late payment entries after you have made timely payments for a period of time. Explain why you had difficulty making your payments on time. Tell them that the problem is fixed and you'll make your payments on time from now on.

 

At the same time, see if you can negotiate a better interest rate.  Your creditors are often more interested in getting the principal on the loan paid back than making a few extra points interest, and if they understand that you’re in a bad situation, they might be willing to work with you.

 

Once an individual finds out that he is having financial difficulties, he should talk to his creditors and inform them of his financial situation so that they will be able to work out a