subject: Easy Credit Repair Steps You Can Take Right Now! [print this page] Whatever your background or record, you can take some simple and quick steps to begin your own credit repair. It costs nothing and you can begin right away - but the results can be tremendous!
To start, you'll need to get a copy of your credit reports and actually go through them. There are three separate credit reporting bureaus and each one will have a slightly different report.
By law, consumers are entitled to one free credit report from each of the these agencies, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. You can get one from each agency, each year.
The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, has set up a website where you can order them: annualcreditreport.com. Be careful of any other website that claims to offer you free reports - this is the "official" site, and any others have strings attached.
You can begin your credit repair efforts once you have your reports in hand. You will want to go through them carefully, line by line.
The reports will either include a "dispute" form, or give you a web address where you can download them. This is where you will begin fixing your credit score.
Make a note of every outdated, inaccurate, or incorrect entry - you will be disputing these. Fill out a dispute form and provide corrected information, or why it is inaccurate, such as debts that have already been paid but are still listed.
By federal law, the credit reporting bureaus have up to 30 days to verify each dispute. If they don't do so, or don't do it within the 30 days, they must remove those entries from your credit report.
This simple step can remove many of the negative strikes against you, and they will no longer count towards lowering your credit score. In many cases, this can lift your score by up to hundreds of points!
