How Can I Repair My Credit Myself?

If your loan applications are turned down, take a close look at your borrowing history. Lenders use FICO scores to assess reliability. Any total less than 760 makes borrowing difficult. If you are approved anyway, the interest rate is always higher than you expected.

But what if you have been a responsible borrower before? The data stored by reporting agencies must be erroneous. Luckily, it is possible to have the mistakes deleted. You may either dispute the errors by yourself or pay a team of professional repair experts.

Few consumers have the time, patience, and expertise to successfully communicate with banks and bureaus. A professional credit repair adviser from rapidcreditfix.com will speed up the process, which may otherwise be seemingly endless. At the same time, the applicable regulations allow you to improve your own score. Here is how to do it.

1. Collect Your Records

Every year, you may request a copy of your data from each of the major agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Do not contact them individually. Instead, just go to www.annualcreditreport.com to obtain digital versions. Getting the reports online is the fastest way. Alternatively, you could request them by mail or call the organization’s toll-free number.

Now, due to the pandemic, you may do this every week (under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it is possible once a year). Steer clear of websites offering to collect reports for a fee — these are scams. Download the documents and analyze them line by line.

2. Zoom in on the Details

First, check all personal details including your name, address, etc. Credit reports may reflect lawsuits, bankruptcies, and unpaid bills. This information is shared with lenders, employers, and insurance companies. Look for any inconsistencies, outdated information, duplicates, and other errors.

For example, when consumers consolidate debts, false late payments may appear. Other common cases are dubious charge-offs, tax liens, repossessions, judgments, evictions, etc. Any event that never happened must be disputed and removed. You may even find that you are a victim of identity theft. Fraudsters may have used your information to take out loans in your name.

3. Back up Your Claims

You may not request deletion without proof. Thus, the next step is to collect as much evidence as possible. Gather bank statements and other documents showing that the entries are indeed false. Contact your lenders for any documentation if necessary. You need to build a compelling case, so the bureau will not ask for more information.

4. Send Dispute Letters

Start by informing the lender (in writing) of your intention to disprove the entries. Most institutions have a special address for disputes. Whenever a provider shares information with a bureau, it must mention your dispute request. If you are able to prove the mistake, it will not be reported again.

Next, draft and send dispute letters to all credit bureaus involved. You can find a template online on the website of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is preferable to use certified mail for this formal correspondence. This way, you will have hard evidence of the communication.

If there are multiple derogatories, do not pack them into a single case. Divide them into batches, and include 3-4 per letter. By law, every agency has 30 days to respond to any dispute request. It may either remove the mistake or demand more proof. There could be some back and forth before you achieve the desired improvement.

5. Wait for Results

After the bureau is contacted, it considers all the evidence and reaches out to your creditors to verify the claims. Within 30 days, after the investigation is over, you should receive a formal reply. If any changes are accepted, the agency will send you a copy of the corrected report free of charge.

Should I Pay for Professional Services?

A credit repair company will obtain the reports, find the errors and dispute them on your behalf. Well-established providers have teams of seasoned experts accomplished in score enhancement. As a customer, you may delegate all the tasks to your intermediary.

Professionals will also send cease and desist letters to stop collection agencies from contacting you. They offer a range of add-ons like credit monitoring tools, budgeting apps, educational resources, etc. Overall, the benefits are obvious — provided that your company is legit. Check the ratings on the BBB site to find a trusted fixer.

Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.