Quick Credit Repair
common mistakes affecting your credit report
Quick Credit Repair is fixing the common mistakes on your credit report and the most often action taken in credit repair.
Many small inaccuracies can dramatically change your score to your detriment.
Nowadays one can easily see that banks and other financial institutions make their money by way of interest and fees passed on to their customers.
Inaccurate information that negatively affects your credit and subsequently your score results in banks and other institutions raising your interest rate (seemingly upon whim).
Correcting these will make your credit repair fast.
It is not in their interest nor is it their "job" though it is their responsibility to ensure your information is accurate.
They may not be deliberately taking action to affect your score negatively but through human error in their recording information properly, lies the fault.
No one will be as scrupulous to details as you yourself would be with your own information.
This is the primary reason I believe credit repair should be done yourself along with the advantage of getting a good picture of your credit health.
quick credit repair actions
The first order of business in quick credit repair is to order your free credit reports.
If this is your first attempt at examining your situation ordering all three is highly recommended.
They should all be fairly close to the same information.
The differences that may be are that one bureau will have more information than another and others may have inaccuracies that the some will not have.
If you truly want to make this a quick credit repair....
Take time to gather all your personal information about each of the accounts.
This will streamline the process and keep you organized. Make this a file for your personal records that you maintain yearly.
This information should be a list of each of the accounts,
The account numbers associated with this account.
Any possible change to the account number ( this may happen as a result of any negotiation for a lower interest rate or an account modification such as a change to a rewards program).
The date the account was opened. If it was paid off and not in use.
The date the last payment was made.
Check the account numbers carefully. You could even have another person's records applied to you.
One common mistake seen, is the final payment not recorded as paid. This one is an important quick credit repair step especially if the last payment was a large one.
Not having that final payment recorded can make your history appear as if you are using more of your credit than you actually are.
If you are able to obtain the documentation this will be easy to clear up.
Even if not, at times the financial institution will have the payment recorded but just didn't forward the information to the bureau.
You may notice the other two bureau's correctly identifying the account as paid.
Take note of any possible changes to the bank or institutions name.
Many times, they may use the old name they are associated with that is more widely recognized, but a legal name change or corporate merge could make them unrecognizable on a credit bureau statement.
Just identifying your lenders and the account associated with them can be a difficult task!
An important piece of information especially important when looking for quick credit repair is that you want the correct credit limit listed.
Some banks may even try to omit that information.
If it is not recorded you need to hound that institution like a dog!!!!
A big piece of the credit score pie is the use of credit. If your limit isn't listed, your score will be lower.
The current balance is the next bit of information that is usually off but only because they are generally behind a month or even two depending on what time of the month the institution updates their files and sends them off to the bureaus to record.
These two pieces of information (the credit limit and the balance) are very important to credit repair as they reflect the amount of credit still at your disposal and whether you are judged to be wise with your use of credit (though most banks do not want you to be wise).
In the instance of applying for a mortgage you will want to have the statements with the updated information on hand.
Another common mistake and important in quick credit repair is an alleged late payment. Identify the time frame and check to see if you have paperwork that can dispute this.
If you do have the paperwork a dispute letter can be sent and the negative item must be removed.
Even if you do not have the documentation and truly believe it did not happen it can be disputed.
Your credit file rights state that if you inform both the financial institution and the credit bureau involved that they must re-investigate.
Then provide an answer to that investigation to you in writing within 30 days. If they do not have verifiable documentation that a late charge was incurred they must remove it from your records.
Other situations that are common and are important to quick credit repair are....
If that account is just sitting there and not being used it makes you look better. It's credit at your disposal but not being used. Older accounts should be used occasionally so as to not get closed. Inactivity is what can trigger a closing by the lender.
Sometimes it will be marked closed by the creditor (usually they were bought out and old accounts closed) You cannot dispute that.
If you have in your possession a credit card with a current expiration date it is certainly a disputable item. Even if you don't and you didn't close it and the report makes it appear that you closed it that item should be disputed.
Items belonging to a former spouse
Items in bankruptcy (your lawyer should be on this one )and the items that are in a bankruptcy are usually listed in the bankruptcy papers. Easily disputed.
Very important in quick credit repair is an account paid before collection actions were taken or a charge off occurred. This is important as it shows your willingness to pay as agreed.
At this point you should have a good idea of the work before you.
On your list of accounts that you prepared, mistakes should be highlighted and corrections taken note of.
Each creditor's customer service number should also be listed and which credit bureau has the misinformation recorded.
Next you will want to make copies of all necessary information.
You will need a copy of the portion of the credit report with the error circled and any supporting information such as a monthly statement.
In these turbulent financial times you will want to call each of the institutions involved and follow up with a dispute letter (letter to the credit bureau only).
If needed you may need to send a follow up letter if you have not received a response in a timely manner.
Here is more help on the dispute letter.
With work and much vigilance you can make your credit repair quick!!
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