How to repair and fix your own credit

In these tough times having a good credit score goes a long waaaay. Why? Because credit is scarce and if you are broke at least you have a good name and your credit standing is good. Also instead of having to file for bankruptcy because you bought your house on the peek of the real state craze, you could have a real bargain buying a house now.

I must say that after your identity your credit score is the single most important thing (don’t tell that to your wife! or husband.). Even if you are filth rich you should take care of your credit, and if your not filth rich, the more reasons you have to take care of your credit. WITHOUT CREDIT YOU ARE NOBODY ON THIS COUNTRY! You cannot by a house or a car, you cannot have credit cards, and now a lot of companies are requiring credit check for a J-O-B! I know is ridiculous but is true.

Credit has become a very important part of people’s lives especially when it comes to their financial transactions, big or small as well and in influencing their future plans.  There are many cases of credit problems that individuals encounter and the reasons are varied and the solutions are may not be very apparent to them as of yet.  However, at some point, people should be able to realize the true value of their credit and how they can rectify the problems surrounding it before they get into further financial trouble that may not be very easy to get out of.
One of the most imminent credit problems is excessive debt.  There are so many people all around the world who are having trouble keeping up with their expenses which in turn drives them toward borrowing too much money in order to afford a living.  Fixing credit in this case will take a lot of cutting corners especially with unnecessary expenditures as well as paying back all the debt incurred in the soonest possible time.  
If you are experiencing such difficulty, you might want to consult a debt expert or a credit consultant in order to help you in determining possible measures to avoid further damage to your credit.  Credit counsellors are responsible for providing advice regarding debt management and how to recover from bad credit history.  They are financial experts who can pin point the root cause of your problems and suggest different options that will help in fixing credit problems as well as to avoid your becoming bankrupt.  

You can also do your own steps in cleaning up your credit report, since you know your finances better than anyone else.  If you want to pursue trying to make amends in your credit, you must be able to determine the root cause of your troubles.  Assess your current employment situation as it may be what is driving you to borrow too much.  Unemployment is one of the leading causes of financial problems since there is absolutely no money coming in while expenses keeps on coming relentlessly.  
If you happen to be unemployed and do not have any other prospects on finding a job really soon, you might want to consider taking out a personal loan.  This might seem like a risky move considering your existing predicament but it will provide an immediate solution to your cash flow issues most especially your debt situation as you can use the loan proceeds to pay off your debts.    Although securing personal loans may not be as easy as it can be if you have stellar credit, it is still possible since there are creditors willing to loan out money to people with bad credit history, at certain terms and significantly higher interest rates.  
Fixing credit problems might prove to be a daunting task for you as well as for many others but the value of good credit is worth all the hassle it takes to repair it.   There are several options you can explore and you have to choose the one that helps your finances the best way possible.

Before you can start fixing your own credit, is a good idea to stop hurting it. but how? is there one thing that I can do to stop hurting my credit? yes, there are many but here is some quick tips, in how to avoid common pitfalls in your way to credit recovery.

1. Pay your bills on time. This is credit repair 101, but a lot of people continue their bad credit practices even though they are fixing their credit. you have to re-educate yourself first, before you think about credit repair. You have to change your ways, learn how to control your spending, use your credit cards wisely and start budgeting. Otherwise what is the use to fix your credit today if you going to do everything again in 6 months from now?

2. stop asking for credit, shopping for loans and thinking that the more the merrier. This is one advised that I like to stress over and over again. I don't what is with people, but they love to have 10 different credit cards, why? Credit card companies will see you as a higher risk, when you carry loads of credit cards, and imagine losing your wallet? what a nightmare! the more you apply for credit, the more you are lowering your credit worthiness, stop applying for credit! if you were denied credit in the last store, the next store or credit card will be the same! although credit inquires aren't that big of a deal in the big picture, it's still a drag on your credit report and will take 2 years to come off of it completely.

3. Canceling old accounts - That is definately a no no if you want to fix your credit and improve your credit report. how? these are the foundation of a good credit report, a 10 year $500 limit credit card has more value than a 5 month $10k credit card, and even if you have late payments on that old account it will be easier to repair that over time if you start paying your bill on time, creditors tend to look away when you are trying to fix your credit and they receive dispute letters from the credit bureau if you are making your payments on time.

4. Consolidating Debt - That is a wolf in sheep's clothing. when fixing your credit, you should reconsider debt consolidation, some people might think is the easier way, and it might even be right to some people, but creditors will look debt consolidation as your inability to pay your bills, it can make your credit score drop, and is better to have different accounts spread throughout your credit report, even if you are making the minimum payment.

5. have different types of loans and credit cards: credit cards are consider revolving credit, you either pay in full each month or make partial payments towards your outstanding balance. Credit cards will charge interest on your balance, and other types of revolving credits are department stores, gas and oil companies.
Installments are the other type of credit, you sign a contract to repay a fixed amount of debt in equal payments over a period of time. (car loans, mortgages, big purchase like appliances or furniture and personal loans from banks).
And those are the two big ones that you will see on your credit report. 

On your quest to fix your credit, is important to know what makes a stellar credit report.

- No more than 12 accounts, open or closed on your report
- Not many changes of addresses (although moving around are frown upon my credit rating agencies, this one won't matter if you are doing good on the other points)
- steady employment ( this is a biggie)
- Making payments on time
- no overdue, defaults, charge offs, foreclosures, late fees and judgements against you.
- low balance and a credit score at list of 680.
now on how to fix my credit case study, I sent my first letter to the credit bureau, challenging John's credit card account. John credit card has late payment's as far as 120 days late and the account was sent to a collection agency and later charged off.

Here is a sample of the letter sent to the credit bureau.
John Hopkins
1010 Main street
Boston, MA, 02121
Experian
Address
Anytown, State 12548
Date
Dear Credit Bureau,
This letter is a formal complaint that you are reporting inaccurate credit information.
In accordance with the Fair credit reporting act, I am writing due to an error in my credit report. I don't recall a late payment on August/2008 on this account. Please investigate the account and verify or remove the information within 30 days.
optional With the proof I'm attaching to this letter, I'm sure you'll agree it needs to be removed ASAP.
The following information therefore needs to be verified and deleted from the report as soon as possible:
CREDITOR AGENCY, acct. 123-34567-ABC
Please delete the above information as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
John Hopkins
SSN# 452-21-2548
Now is waiting game, waiting the credit bureau to see if they will remove this information, please make sure to follow how to fix my own credit for tips in how to repair your credit.

Quick tips in how to fix your credit.

You are tired to be turned away by dealers, credit card companies and even mortgage companies. Your bad credit has taken it’s toll on you, and the last straw was the last interview that you had. After 3 hours trying to impress managers and after numerous stupid test that doesn’t have nothing to do with your ability to do the job, the recruiter tells you…congratulations you got the job, we just need a quick credit check and you can start Monday! Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place! Your bad credit has finally caught up to you my friend, you are tired and you just want to know the best way to clean up your credit report.

TIP 1
The best way to fix your own credit is to stop damaging your own credit. Halt all credit application, ignore all those credit offers, you know that you are going to be denied anyway, for every inquire on your credit report, your score drop 2-3 points.
TIP 2
Request your credit report and through look for negative items, mark everything that you don’t “recall” is good to have a selective mind sometimes my friends! You can request your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com and go ahead and spent an extra 7 bucks for your credit score.
TIP 3
Dispute every single negative item that you think that it might be incorrect. Click on the link to access a credit dispute letter, or just google it, there is tons out there. Send the dispute letters and if the credit bureaus don’t reply to you within 30 days they have to remove the negative item by FCRA act they must remove it. Repeat it and repeat it again, even if the credit bureau verify the negative item. You need to be persistent in this step
TIP 4
The Best way to fix your own credit is to be very persistent. My experience with the credit bureau is that the more persistent you are the more they will listen to you, they’ve been collecting your credit information for years and you can bet that there is a lot of mistakes on their reports and that my friend is keeping you from that better rate on a credit card and keeping you from buying your own house.
Please refer to fixing my credit step by step for a more detail plan in fixing your own credit.

Should you fix your credit with the original creditor?

I find it very time consuming to dispute any inaccurate information with the original creditor. Credit card companies go extra miles to make it difficult for you to repair your credit directly through them. Besides, why do it thru your creditor and wait them to contact the Credit bureau when you can most effectively fix your credit directly with the bureau?

When you try to fix your credit disputing information directly to the original creditor, they will do an investigation first not verification, and just as the credit bureaus, original creditors can tell you that your request is frivolous and just disregard your request.
The process through the credit bureau is direct and will save you many hassles if the credit bureau does not answer your requests in the specific timelines you can sue them, unlike the original creditor, and why in the heck to do you want to do the process two times anyways. Fix your credit thought the Bureaus, and to make sure the debt does not show again on your report, work something out with the Original creditor.  Here is step by step guide to fix your credit