Helpful Advice About Credit Counseling Service

If your credit rating is poor, do not panic there’s a credit counseling service near you. There are a lot of things you can do to fix your credit. There are many companies that claim to “fix” your credit, but you can do the same thing for free. If you follow our tips you will be well on your way to repairing your credit.

Pay every bill and pay it on time. If you don’t have the money, lean on friends and family to help if you can. It takes a long time to recover from even one late or missed payment. Above all of your bills, keep your credit cards and loans paid and on time.

Incorporate a set amount of money from your monthly budget that will go directly to repair of your credit file. Setting aside savings from your monthly income is important, however, designating some of that extra income to the repair of your credit is equally as important. Find a balance of savings and repair that makes you comfortable and allows for saving as well.

When you find errors on your credit report, dispute them to the reporting agency. About 75% of all credit reports contain some sort of error. It may be an item that should have dropped off your report. It may have been an account that was paid in full but is still showing as outstanding. Clear these items off to give your score a boost.

Pay attention to the dates of last activity on your report. Disreputable collection agencies will try to restart the last activity date from when they purchased your debt. This is not a legal practice, however if you don’t notice it, they can get away with it. Report items like this to the credit reporting agency and have it corrected.

Report good information to credit repot agencies to help increase your score. If you have a job that is not listed, have it added to show job stability and increased income. If you owe taxes and have paid them on time, have that information added as well, to show that you do have the ability to pay debts.

Do not fall for the false claims many have about their ability to fix your credit. The claim that they can remove accurate debts from your credit report is false. If the information is correct, it will remain as part of your report, in most cases, for seven years. But, you should remain mindful of the fact that errors can be deleted from your report.

An important tip to consider when working to repair your credit is that you should always check for deals and offers with credit monitoring offers. While these programs are usually affordable on their own, it is important to save as much money as you can when trying to repair your credit.

When contacting a company to obtain aid in fixing your credit, do not hire one that offers to help you by creating a false credit identity through an Employer Identification Number as a way to sidestep using your Social Security number. Not only is this illegal advice, you will be committing fraud and you might end up in legal hot water.

To maintain good credit or repair a credit problem, the wise consumer limits him or herself to one credit card. Once superfluous credit cards are paid off the consumer has little reason to hang onto them. They are merely a temptation. Worse yet, they require attention and possibly even maintenance payments. Once the consumer commits to one card there is little reason for them to retain others.

If you are trying to repair your credit score, check your credit report to make sure all of your positive credit is being reported. Credit report disputes aren’t just for wrongly-noted negative marks. If you have a loan or account in good standing that isn’t on your report, be sure to contact the holder of the loan to request that they report it.

Before you start on your journey to credit repair, read your rights in the “Fair Credit Reporting Act.” This way, you are less likely to fall for scams. With more knowledge, you will know how to protect yourself. The more protected you are, the more likely you will be able to raise your credit score.

If you are having a hard time paying all your credit card bills on time, you may want to look into a credit consolidating company. They can combine all your credit card debts to one bill. This way you will have one payment that you can focus on making and you don’t have payments spread out everywhere.

You should know you are eligible to receive your credit report for free each year from all three of the major credit reporting bureaus. You should be sure to take advantage of this and check all three of them. This way you will know what is negative on your credit report.

When you review your credit report you will see items that are up to seven years old. You can request that anything older than two years old be removed from your credit report. In some cases, the credit reporting agency will tell you what you need to do to have this information removed.

When you’re trying to repair your credit by disputing negative items, make sure to keep records of everything you do. Keep copies of every letter, dispute, and support document you send out. Send important correspondence like disputes by certified mail so that you know your mail was delivered and so you can prove you sent something. You may not need all this documentation if things go smoothly, but if things don’t go as planned, you may be grateful that you kept spotless records.

As you can see, by following our helpful tips you will be able to do exactly what credit repair companies do. Your credit rating does not have to stay in the poor range forever; you now have the knowledge to drag yourself out of the poor credit world and into the good credit world.