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If you have dings on your credit report, you have probably considered looking into credit repair. There are many companies that promise that they can fix your credit and offer a variety of methods of credit repair. But there are some things that you should know before you attempt to work with any such company to fix your credit.

False Promises

Most of the advertisements that you see in magazine and on television are full of false promises about what the company can do.

It is important that you understand that there is no way to remove information from your credit report that is correct. If you had late payments, bankruptcies and other such blemishes, you must wait between seven and ten years for those items to drop off of your credit report. In spite of their claims, no company has a way of removing such items.

That being said, if you want to try out some of the various methods of credit repair, it is best to do it yourself. There is no reason to pay someone because you think that they have special access to your credit report.

What You CAN Do

While the companies promising to turn your bad credit into good credit are usually blowing hot air, there are some techniques that you can try that may help with credit repair.

As mentioned above, legitimate entries cannot be removed from your credit report, but there is an exception to that rule. While neither you nor a credit repair company has any way of removing such items, there is someone who can: The business or the collection agency who reported the late payment or collection.

There have been consumers who have had some measure of success in convincing various agencies to remove a negative item from their report. Typically, this would be done as part of a deal in which you agree to pay the amount owed and they agree to remove the item from the report.

Keep in mind that the agency is under no such obligation to do this. It would be done either as a courtesy or as part of a settlement offer in which you agree to pay in full with the condition that the item be removed.

If they do not agree, you still need to pay the money that is owed. If you do not, it is likely that your credit will get even worse as their collection efforts increase. Still, this method is worth a try, especially if you are in a position to make a full payment.

Another technique involves formally questioning the validity of a collection item. If you know the debt is yours, then it would be unethical to dispute it. However, incorrect items show up all the time on credit reports. What’s more, most collection agencies will not have the necessary documentation needed to prove that a debt is yours.

Once you file the dispute, the collection agency will have 30 days to produce documentation proving the debt is, in fact, yours. If they cannot do that then the item will be dropped from your credit report.

Credit repair involving items that have been incorrectly reported to your credit report are another matter entirely. Some are surprised to learn that many errors are made, especially if you happen to have a common name.

Even if you have a very uncommon name, it is not unusual for there to be at least one error on your credit report. This is why it is so important that you take the time to thoroughly inspect your reports from all three major credit bureaus at least once per year.

If you see an items that is not yours, the first step is to write a letter to the credit bureau disputing the item. There are also online forms that you can use, but be sure that you are using the form provided by the actual credit bureau and not a third party.

Once you file your dispute, the agency will call the party that reported the item and request proof that it belongs to you. Since no such proof will exist in this case, the item will be removed.

While there is no way to quickly repair your credit, the good news is that over time you can rebuild your credit by making on time payments and using credit wisely. It will take some time, but it is never too soon to start working on credit repair.

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