It is a reality that many people are faced with the time consuming task of credit restoration. Some may have made bad decisions or suffered income loss and found themselves overextended. A lot of consumers have fallen victim to unemployment in the past year and with the economy in its current state, its been quite difficult for a lot of good citizens to get back on track.
Many people have made late payments. Some others are even facing additional fees because they can't make their monthly payments on time. The credit restoration process is not as hard as some persons may imagine it is. It does take some time and it takes making payments on time for several months consecutively.
Initially, you will have to get in your possession a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus. These three bureaus are as follows: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. It is also often suggested that you pull a credit report from these three because sometimes information is different on each and could be disputed for erroneous reporting and possibly eliminated just by submitting a simple dispute letter! Creditors are not required to report to any of the agencies, and often they will report to just one.
Having each of the three bureaus on hand will greatly aid and make repairing your credit that much easier. The F.A.C.T. Act passed allows any consumer a free copy of their report every year and can be retrieved at annualcreditreport.com. They do not ask for any kind of credit card information or any payment info. It is all confidential and give you the official FICO score.
Once you have all three credit reports with you, go over them carefully and check for any errors like accounts that are paid off but are reported as delinquent or even accounts that have never been opened by you. Sometimes this is a good way to see if you've been the victim of some kind of identity theft. Also check for accounts in which the reporting period (7 years) has expired. If you find errors in your report it is essential that you contact the credit bureau to have your file corrected or updated. All bureaus provide the convenience of disputing items online and you can do so while reviewing your credit report.
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