How can I start to repair my credit without any agencies involved?

6 Comments

1. Sharon T says:

   February 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm

   Start making payments on time. Don’t let your balances creep up. That probably means not making new charges. Pay off smaller balances as quickly as possible so you can then attack the larger ones.

   It’s all about being responsible and communicating.
2. Gertie says:

   February 22, 2012 at 4:03 pm

   you can dispute all negative items on your report you might be able to get them deleted if the reporting party doesn’t respond.
3. Jaesha says:

   February 22, 2012 at 4:40 pm

   The first step is to request credit reports from all tree agencies. If you live in the US, you are entitled to 1 free report from each agency every year. Follow this link to get access to your reports. I believe 1 will give you instant access online and the other 2 will mail them out.

   You can then review the information and submit your disputes to each credit reporting agency. Remember even if the item is duplicated on every report, you have to submit separate disputes to each agency. I have noticed that the online dispute process did not work for me. I requested several wrong addresses be removed, that are still there, so I had to go through the written request process. To get a quick and sure response, the best thing is to do it in writing. Send it out certified mail if you can with a return receipt so that you can track the mail and delivery date. Keep copies of your disputes.

   Try to submit any support information you can with your dispute. If you have paid an item, send a copy of the payment, or letter from creditor stating an item has been paid or cleared, etc. This will make the process go faster.

   The agency has limited time in which to research the item with the creditor. If the creditor does not respond, then the item will be removed. If the creditor does respond, the item will stay, but you can still keep trying until you have the result you want as I’ve heard this works as well. Most of the items I disputed were outdated items that should have dropped off, but didn’t, or were just simply incorrect information.

   Since you can only get access to your reports for free for 1 year, while you go through this process you might want to consider signing up for a service where you can access all three reports 24/7, so that you can monitor them for the changes as you request them.

   I included source links to the free govt website where you can get your initial reports, other sites that will show you how to dispute items on your credit report (note that the FTC link I added for this is down, probably due to maintenance because it’s late, but the link is valid), and additional links to services you can subscribe to in order to continue monitoring your reports. And, a link to a basic dispute form.

   Companies to monitor your credit (I’m sure there are more, but these will give you some ideas of services and fees to compare):
   1. Truecredit – Through Transunion
   2. Equifax Credit Watch
   3. Experian Triple Alert
   4. IDENTITY GUARD – Wachovia bank
   5. Privacy Assist – Bank of America

   Good Luck! I’m familiar with this process. Let me know if you have any other questions. ~J~
4. lnbjameson says:

   February 22, 2012 at 5:28 pm

   Step 1. Make certain that all your bills are paid on time. Payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score.

   Step 2. Don’t make additional charges. Your credit/debt ratio is part of the Amount You Owe part of your credit score, another 30%.

   The article below is entitled: What can I do to raise my credit score? Read it.
5. Scott B says:

   February 22, 2012 at 6:05 pm

   Start by getting a copy of all 3 credit reports, then send in written disputes to all the credit reporting agencies for the things you want to remove. If all goes well you will knock a few of them off. That is how you start. From there it gets a little more detailed.
6. allcredits@ymail.com says:

   February 22, 2012 at 6:49 pm

   Buy the credit secrets bible. The credit secrets bible is a home study course and it will show you in plain English how you can repair and improve your credit score.