Guide to Repairing Your Bad Credit

When it comes time to pull your credit report, many of us find ourselves disappointed at the results. The average credit score in the United States is 600, though many of us find ourselves well below that. Even though you have bad credit now, there are plenty of steps you can take in order to repair your credit and get above that nasty average that most Americans have. With this bad credit repair guide, we will take you through the four essential steps to repairing that credit score.

Know Your Report
You cannot repair your credit if you do not know what is on your credit report. The first step in this bad credit repair guide is to actually obtain your credit report from the three main credit reporting agencies. These agencies include Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. By law, you can obtain your credit report for free each year from these three agencies. So take advantage of that fact and obtain yours today.

Analyze Your Report
Take a look at your credit report and ensure it is accurate. Make sure that any old debts you have paid or that are over ten years old are no longer on your credit report. Another important thing is to know what each and every negative item on your report is. If you do not recall the creditor, contact them for information regarding what the debt is and how it originated. By law they have to provide you this information. If they refuse to provide any information in regards to this debt, you can request it to be taken off for being illegitimate. Take a look at the dispute information guide provided by the three main credit reporting agencies prior to mailing in your dispute.

Contact Creditors
When you owe money, the worst thing you can do is ignore the creditor. By simply calling them and acknowledging the debt you can set up payment plans and get the negative information off your credit report. Many creditors will not report things to the credit agencies as long as you are in constant contact with them. Be sure to work out payment plans, but do not be afraid to let your creditors know that you cannot afford their outrageous amounts. Creditors want their money, bottom line. So they should be willing to work with you no matter what.

Everything Should Be In Writing
No matter what, everything should be in writing between you and your creditors. If you work out payment settlements and payment plans, they have to submit this to you in writing or you are allowed to deny it. It is best to have these things in writing so that if the creditor does try to place something negative on your credit report, you have the paperwork to back up your side of the story. Verbal communication means nothing in court nor to the three agencies you're trying to improve your FICO score with.

Hopefully this bad credit repair guide will help you get on the right track to working things out with your creditors and getting the positive credit score you desire.