Credit Repair with High Impact

Recent economic troubles throughout the world have left many people struggling with bad credit reports and low credit scores. Recent problems in all of the financial sectors have changed many of the rules of the past and some of the old rules are now obsolete. This has left many people not knowing what to do about bad credit and poor credit.

A credit score is a numerical rating that relates to a person’s creditworthiness. However important these scores are, many people are not even aware of what a credit score is composed of. Not many people realize how important debt to credit ratio is or that inquiries into your report can quickly drop your score. The fact is that if you have credit and actually use it you are considered a high risk and if you shop for credit you are also considered a high risk. To maximize your credit score you need to keep your debt at 15 to 35% of your available credit and do not allow anyone to inquire into your credit.

Congress enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act or the FCRA in order to protect consumers from untruthful and inaccurate reporting on their credit. Under this law you have the right to receive one free credit report from each of the major credit bureaus each year. Taking advantage of this is a wise thing to do so that you can track your credit and make sure that it is being reported accurately.

It is estimated that as many as 75% of all credit reports or even more than that contain mistakes and inaccuracies. These mistakes can cost you when you are trying to get credit so if you get a report every year and make sure that it is clean you can avoid many of these problems.

The FCRA has also given you a right as a consumer to dispute mistakes and inaccuracies and get them removed from your report. After a dispute is issued the credit bureaus have 30 to 45 days to prove that the information they are reporting is accurate. If it is not verified within the time frame it must be deleted from the report. As many as 45% of all the disputes that are received are not verified within the time frame and a smart consumer can take advantage of that fact.

There are also other things that you can do to improve your credit score and credit rating. Since the debt to credit ratio is so important you can get your credit limits increased or you can pay down your balances so that your debt does not exceed 15 to 35% or your available credit. You should also completely avoid any inquiries into your credit. If you must shop for credit be very selective and only shop where you know you will get the credit and then have the creditor combine the inquiry into the loan reporting. That way you will not be showing inquiries.

You can do the work necessary to repair your credit on your own or you can employ a professional that specializes in credit repair. Either way can be quite effective but if you decide to hire a professional just make sure that it is a reputable company with a good track record. Unfortunately there are some scammers out there so do your homework and find a reliable company that has been around long-term.

Credit repair is possible. It is not a myth. The FCRA was passed for that very reason, to allow consumer to defend themselves against inaccuracies and discrepancies on their credit reports. You can take advantage of that fact and repair your credit so that it looks as good as possible.