subject: How to Improve Your Credit Score! [print this page] Should you hire a credit repair company or repair credit on your own? If you would like to learn which option is best for you, then read on. We will be looking at when you should hire a credit repair company and easy things you can do should you decide to repair credit on your own.Is hiring a credit restoration company right for you?I have always been a big believer in do it yourself credit repair. That being said, there are situations where people should hire a credit restoration company. If your time is tight, working with a credit repair company may make sense for you. Likewise, if you know that you will not follow through with a comprehensive plan, then seeking professional help can be a good idea.Easy Steps to Get StartedReview Your Report - The first thing you will need to do is get a current copy of your credit report. You can do this online in many places. You can get a free report once a year at annualcreditreport.com.com. Once you have your report, take the time to do a careful review. Pay special attention to errors and negative information that needs attention.Dispute Errors-Next, you will want to begin disputing the errors and questionable items that you identified in step one. Start with the items that are hurting your credit the most. Some examples of these are old accounts that creditors might have difficulty finding records of and accounts that were once delinquent but are now paid in full. It is important to remember to only dispute three or four items at a time. Disputing too many things at once can cause your dispute to be disregarded as frivolous. NEVER tell the credit bureaus that you are attempting to repair your credit!Make a plan to get out of debt - Next, you will want to develop a plan to get out of debt. Start with your revolving debt because this impacts your score the most. It is usually good to work with a snowball effect. Select your smallest account and put all of your excess money into paying off that account. Once that is paid in full, but all of the money you were putting into that account into the next account. You will need to continue the process until you are debt free.
