1. If you spend more than 50% of your credit limit every month, this indicates to the Credit Bureau that you do NOT have enough cash on hand to meet your monthly expenses. This will identify you as a high credit risk and will actually reduce your credit score by 60 - 70 points overnight (Fair
Isaac).
2. If you miss 1 or 2 payments on your credit card debt, the issuing company will skyrocket your interest rate to a whopping 27% -
30%!
3. Out of a random sample of 3 million American consumers (included in Experian's National Score Index), 51% of them have at least 2 credit cards and 14% of them have 10 or more credit cards.
Why Correcting Your
Credit Report is Beneficial
Most Americans want to own a home, buy a new automobile at some
point and apply for a new job sometime in the future.
Unfortunately, many of these same people will never get to enjoy
these simple luxuries in life because of their substandard
credit report and the credit score that goes along with it. That
said, there are plenty of people out there who have a less than
appealing credit score simply because their credit report does
not accurately reflect what their score should really be. In
other words, they’re using a credit report that needs to be
corrected—and needs to be corrected immediately if they want to
turn their financial well being around immediately. If you are
one of these people, you might think that correcting your credit
report is complicated. However, the truth is that you can
correct it on your own (or, to seek help with the correction,
see the list of companies who offer to help you correct your
problem at the bottom). Start learning about how you can correct
your credit report immediately and get started now.
Getting A Copy of Your Free Credit Report
Video: How to Get Your FREE Credit Report
Getting a copy of your credit report is the first step to
managing it and determining whether or not you need to have
corrections made
Step One: Looking For Inaccuracies in Your Credit
Report
The simple truth is that many Americans do not even take the
time to check their credit report. Several years ago, the
federal government mandated that Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion offer consumers in America a 100% free credit report
every year. Take advantage of this and check your credit report
for any glaring inaccuracies, noting the different expiration
dates that exist for each one of the items listed on your credit
report. When it comes to negative records on your credit report,
be sure to check each one thoroughly to be sure they are
accurate. Here are just a few of the rules that exist for
certain items on your credit report:
Bankruptcy filing records: All bankruptcy records should
expire from your credit report ten years after the date you
filed for bankruptcy. Another form of bankruptcy disappears in
seven years. If you feel these should have expired on your
credit report, make a note of that.
Charge-off records: Anytime you fail to make a payment on
something and a creditor reports it to the credit bureaus, this
delinquency remains on your credit report for seven years.
Collection records: Seven years after a creditor sold your
account to a collections agency, that record should expire from
your credit report.
Closed accounts: Any closed negative accounts, which include
late payment records, expire after seven years. However, closed
positive accounts can remain on your credit report for longer
than seven years.
Foreclosure records: Like the aforementioned types of records, foreclosure
records will remain on your credit report for seven years.
Inquires: Anytime someone like an employer or a creditor
checks your credit report, this is noted on your credit report
for about one or two years.
Judgments: Your credit report will reflect decisions on child
support and civil and small claims judgments for seven years
after the filing date.
Late payments: Every late payment noted on your credit report
stays there for seven years, but only those that extend beyond
30 days actually have a negative impact on your credit score.
Repossession records: Any vehicle or property repossession
records on your credit report will expire after seven years.
Tax liens: If tax liens are left unpaid, they can be left on
your credit report indefinitely. However, once the lien is paid
(regardless of whether it is for a city, country, state or
federal tax lien) it will only remain there for seven years.
Step Two: Disputing An Inaccuracy on Your Credit Report
Once you’ve gone through your credit report and noted any
inaccuracies, it’s time to sit down and figure out exactly how
to get rid of them. Interestingly enough, this process begins
with a letter. The purpose of the letter is to alert the credit
bureaus to the fact that inaccuracies currently exist on your
credit report. The letter lets them know that you’re disputing
something on your credit report and essentially allows them to
open an investigation into your credit report in order to
correct the inaccuracy. Putting together the letter will also
allow you to remain organized and also gives you something to
file away for later reference as the investigation continues.
For those interested in learning exactly how to write a dispute
letter,
check out this site
that offers an example of how to write your dispute letter.
Remember, how you sell your case is just as important as having
done the research to back up the inaccuracies so put time and
thought into how you present yourself in your letter.
Step Three: Filing Your Dispute With The Credit Bureaus
Once you’ve found any inaccuracies in your credit report and
written a letter outlining the discrepancies, it’s time to go
ahead and actually file your dispute by sending it directly to
all three of the major credit bureaus. At the present time, both
Equifax and TransUnion accept physical letters, but Experian
requires that all disputes be made online. Prepare your letter
and send in to the credit bureaus at the addresses listed below.
Step Four: Tracking The Results of Your Dispute
The good thing about filing a dispute about the accuracy of your
credit report is that you don’t have to wait forever to get the
results of the pending investigation. By law, all three credit
bureaus are required to look into your claims and correct your
credit report. They will then mail you a letter briefing you on
what they are able to correct. If they are not able to correct
something on your credit report for some reason, you do have the
option of resubmitting corrections with updated documentation.
However, you also may want to look into working with a company
that specialized in correcting credit reports in order to make
the most of your dispute.
What Your Credit Score Is
Video: Understanding Your FICO Score
Finding A Company To Fix Your Report
If you’ve tried filing a dispute with the credit bureaus but
struggled to get corrections made or if you’re simply confused
by the whole process and don’t understand exactly how to fix
your credit report, don’t worry. There are plenty of companies
out there willing to help you correct your credit report. The
investment you make in them is well worth the better credit
score you will have when the credit bureaus correct your credit
report.
To File a Dispute with a Credit Bureau:
TransUnion 2 Baldwin Place P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022
Equifax P.O. Box 740256 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Dispute Online
Most Americans want to own a home, buy a new automobile at some
point and apply for a new job sometime in the future.
Unfortunately, many of these same people will never get to enjoy
these simple luxuries in life because of their substandard
credit report and the credit score that goes along with it. That
said, there are plenty of people out there who have a less than
appealing credit score simply because their credit report does
not accurately reflect what their score should really be. In
other words, they’re using a credit report that needs to be
corrected—and needs to be corrected immediately if they want to
turn their financial well being around immediately. If you are
one of these people, you might think that correcting your credit
report is complicated. However, the truth is that you can
correct it on your own (or, to seek help with the correction,
see the list of companies who offer to help you correct your
problem at the bottom). Start learning about how you can correct
your credit report immediately and get started now.
