In today's world, your credit score is more important than ever. Keeping a clean credit profile can make a huge difference in your life; as such, there is now a plethora of resources available to help you repair your credit and keep it clean for the future. However, not all of these methods are created equal.
Importance of Credit
The importance of your credit score goes way beyond the peace of mind of having good credit. A good credit score can unlock the path to a totally different life. With a blemish-free credit history, you can enjoy the best interest rates and most lucrative credit offers. With poor credit, you'll pay much more for any financed item. Furthermore, you run the risk of not being able to land a new job or an apartment because your credit history may indicate that you're unreliable and irresponsible.
Doing It Yourself
If your credit history is less than perfect, you may be able to help yourself. The first thing you should do is order your credit report from annualcreditreport.com (see Resources), which provides one free credit report per year from each of the three major bureaus. Once you have your report, circle any inaccuracies you find and submit a copy of the report, with supporting documentation to prove your case, to the credit bureau. The bureau will investigate the issue; if it agrees with you, the item will be removed from your credit file and your score should improve as a result.
Credit Repair Companies
Repairing your own credit is far from impossible, but many people lack the time and expertise necessary to do a thorough job. Credit repair companies do the same things you'd do on your own, but you'll benefit from their experience in handling disputes with the credit bureaus. With a better knowledge of the credit laws and what gets the credit card companies to act, you may have a better chance of success if you go with a credit repair company. You can then use the time saved to develop a plan to help avoid credit troubles in the future.
Credit Monitoring Services
Though credit monitoring services are synonymous with bait-and-switch trial offers, they can actually help you to repair your credit. Real-time notifications of suspicious activity on your credit accounts can help you thwart problems before they destroy your credit, and unlimited access to your credit report enables you to track your score over time. Bureau-sponsored credit monitoring programs also allow you to dispute negative items online; if you're not a member, you can still dispute items, but you'll need a current credit report to do so from the bureau in question to do so.
Reasonable Expectations
It can be very tempting to dispute every negative mark on your credit report or sign up with a credit repair service with the hope that your entire record will be wiped clean. However, this is not possible. Repairing your credit will only remove inaccurate information from your credit file. If your credit is damaged for legitimate reasons, that negative information cannot be removed. Your only recourse is to manage your credit responsibly going forward and build a solid credit history, which will diminish the impact of your previous missteps.
0 comments:
Post a Comment