Credit Repair - Self Help

Credit repair is not a difficult task, there is no rocket science that need be applied to credit repair. It is all pretty systematic. There are some things that you can do wrong though that will hinder your credit repair efforts.

The biggest mistake people make is that of not disputing with the credit bureaus first. The biggest benefit of this is that 10-20% of items disputed will fall off immediately. It is best to knock things out of your way right off the get go. It shows you some success and gives you confidence in your credit repair efforts. Another reason you want to do this first is that you cannot bring suit against any of the creditors without first disputing with the credit bureaus.

A really costly mistake that people make is failing to document all of your credit repair efforts. You should be keeping notes and dates of all your credit repair dealings. Write down names of anyone you spoke to, keep copies of any and all correspondence. All written correspondence should be by certified mail return receipt, keep all these receipts. Keeping good data is very essential especially when you are trying to prove a creditor has violated the law.

Some say that disputing online is a mistake. Depends on the circumstance. It is always best to file written disputes but there are some times when disputing online is ok. I believe that the first round of disputes can be done safely online, more so because you will be disputing a lot of items and are just looking for the obvious ones to fall off. When it comes to specific accounts you are concentrating on then written disputes are the best so that you can document your efforts better.

Keep it real. If your credit is horrible, there is no quick fix. No matter what anyone tells you, the credit repair process is a lengthy process. You must be patient, once you see some success it becomes easier and easier. Time will pass and the next thing you will know, you will have a clean credit report.

This next point goes right in with my last point. Don’t give up. Sometimes you can reach a stalemate with a creditor and get frustrated. Search the internet for other people that have dealt with this certain creditor and apply different tactics. I once found out that people were sending a certain creditor emails to the top of management and getting immediate results. Not everything is going to be cookie cutter. Ideally you should not be spending more than an hour a day on your credit repair efforts.