Top Three Questions and Answers About Credit Repair
If you have a few dings (or more than a few) on your credit report, it can be difficult to obtain any type of credit. Even if you do find someone willing to lend to you, the types of credit cards and loans that are available to you may have such high interest rates that they are unaffordable. Like many with less than perfect credit, you may be looking into credit repair to see if it can help your situation. Below are three of the most commonly asked questions about credit repair.
Can a Company REALLY Remove Negative Information from my Credit Report?
Despite the many companies that promise to do so, the fact is that negative information that is correct cannot be removed from your credit report.
Typically, items remain on a credit report for a period of seven years. In some cases, as with bankruptcies, it may remain for as long as ten years.
Unless an item is on your credit report by mistake, there is no way to have it removed. Unfortunately, many “credit repair” companies make claims that they simply cannot keep. They charge upfront fees and then do very little – if anything – to actually change your credit score or report.
A Credit Repair Company is Asking Me to Do Something Unethical. Might I Be Breaking the Law if I Go Along With It?
This question can be a bit tricky to answer. It depends on exactly what you are being asked to do. Some of the methods used by these companies are unethical, and some could be illegal. Obviously, doing something that is unethical, such as lying about whether an item on your credit report is correct, is not the way to go about raising your credit score. That being said, not all such methods would constitute breaking the law.
The best way to avoid crossing the line is to avoid taking any steps that involve having to lie about what should or should not be on your credit report.
Sure, it will take longer to bring your score up, but at least you will be going about it the right way.
Is There Any Way to Raise My Score?
Because many of the promises made by those who claim they can raise your credit score turn out to be lies, you need to figure out how you CAN raise your score. You may be disappointed to learn that there is no way to quickly cause your credit score to jump up. There are, however, steps that you can take to ensure that you get back on the right track to having healthy credit.
The first is to pull your report from all three of the major credit bureaus to make sure that there are no mistakes. Errors on credit reports are a lot more common than many people think. If there is a legitimate error on yours, simply file a grievance and the credit bureau will do an investigation. If it turns out that the item was there by mistake, it will be removed.
Another way to raise your score is to try and keep your credit card balances at no more than 30% of the available limit. For example, if your credit limit is $9,000, work to keep your balance below $3,000. The less of your available credit that you use, the higher your score will be.
Another way that you may be able to raise your score is to appeal directly to the creditor who has placed a negative item on your report. In some cases, you may be able to convince them to remove the negative item in return for paying your balance off in full. Creditors are under no obligation to do this, and the truth is that most will not. Still, it never hurts to ask, especially if you are willing and able to pay your balance off in full.
While it would be great if there were some quick and easy fix to a low credit score, the fact is that the only path to credit repair is a slow and steady one. Be diligent to make all payments on time and to avoid using all of your available credit.
It isn’t always easy, but those steps truly are the path to a good credit score that can save you thousands of dollars in interest on your future purchases.
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