Credit Reports – What You Can Repair

In today’s world we are constantly faced with the need for acquiring a good credit report. We need good credit to buy a car, a home, or to get a simple line of credit for home improvements. Our credit can be damaged long term because of a short time in our life when we were unable to pay our credit debt on time.

There are several things that can affect our credit report in a negative way. Some of those things, such as bankruptcies, cannot be removed. However, there are many negative marks on our credit reports that we can have removed, and thus we can begin to repair our credit report.

There are laws in place to protect you that are often totally ignored by the credit reporting agencies. The way to fix your credit report begins with you learning exactly what it contains and making sure it is being reported correctly.

The first step in repairing your credit report is to obtain a copy of it from the three credit reporting agencies. They are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. You can easily locate these online. It is important to obtain all three reports because they often report the same accounts differently.

Once you obtain the copies of your credit report you can look for items that may be being reported incorrectly that you can dispute. One of the easiest items to dispute and have removed is late payments that are from accounts that have been closed for over 2 years.
Many people do not realize that just because a bankruptcy can remain published in your credit report for seven years, it does not mean that every other negative item is able to do it. Just because a negative item is on your report, doesn’t mean it belongs there.

The fact is, each and every item on your credit report must actually be proven to be a true and accurate statement in order for the credit bureau to continue reporting it. This means that you can challenge every single negative item on your report and it is up to them to provide the proof that it is correct.

Now this doesn’t mean you will be able to remove them right away, it only means you can challenge them. The problem is that after two years many credit reporting agencies begin to store old data and no longer have instant access to it. This means you have to wait for a response from the companies who originally reported the account. Many times if you challenge these negative items, the creditors will not bother to fight your dispute because it would require more time and money paid to their employees than it is worth to them. Anytime a creditor does not prove an item belongs on your credit report, it must be removed.

Make sure to get an updated report regularly to see that the things that you have had successfully removed don’t pop up again later.  You also need to make sure that you keep all documentation so that you can have things removed again if they do come back. The key is to stay on top of it. Get regular reports, check them, and keep all your documentation for future reference.