Your credit report needs to be cleaned up, but first you need to get a copy of it. If you tried to get credit from a company and were turned down, you can get a copy. You can also get free copies of your credit report once a year, and the best way to do that is by using the internet, which is a great little invention. In less than five minutes, you'll be able to look at that report.
Print it, and let's get started.
Visit www.equifax.com.
www.experian.com
www.transunion.com
Start by circling anything you think is wrong or missing. You can ask the creditor or the credit reporting agency to change information that is wrong. File a complaint with the agency based on the report that had the mistake. Once the dispute is filed, the agency will contact your creditor to start the investigation. The whole process takes about 30 days, and your credit report will be changed if the error you said was wrong was, in fact, wrong. If you have the same mistakes on all three reports, you will need to contact each agency separately. There is no cost to point out mistakes. Also, if the report has really old information, try to get it taken off.
Some people may have had hard times and not been able to pay their bills on time. They could have lost their job or been sick. In this case, each of their reports could include a personal statement. In 100 words or less, they should explain why they were late and why in their personal statement. This explanation will also be shown to anyone who pulls the report.
If some of your payments to creditors have always been late, call those creditors. Maybe you can work out a different payment plan that will allow you to pay on time. Most people also don't know that if they don't pay a doctor or medical bill, or a utility, cable, or phone bill, and it goes to a collection agency, that agency can also report to the credit bureau. So keep an eye out for these on your report and also try to negotiate with them.
Many creditors know how hard it can be to get money and are willing to help. You could ask for a payment plan with no extra interest or a lower interest rate when you're negotiating. You could ask for late fees to be waived, for the loan to be extended, or maybe even for the amount you owe on the loan to be lowered. If you agree to something, write it down and ask how it will affect your credit report in the future.
Slowly but surely, these steps will fix the problem and help you build a better credit report. If you want to buy a house in the future, get copies of your credit report now and start cleaning them up. This could help you get a good interest rate on other credit and a mortgage in the future.
As you clear up these reports and talk to your creditors, you'll learn from any credit mistakes you've made in the past and be able to avoid problems in the future. Every year, get these free reports and keep an eye on them.
