How to Repair Credit History Report

Your credit report is a prominent factor in a creditor's decision to approve or deny a loan or credit card. The report is a history of your credit activity and your credit rating is based on the report. It is possible to improve a credit report containing negative entries. It may take up to a year of responsible behavior to see positive results.

Instructions

1

Obtain a free credit report. The three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, must provide you with a free report once a year. You can obtain all three from AnnualCreditReport.com.

2

Ensure that the information in your report is accurate. Errors could range from a misspelled name to records of debts that you did not incur. The FTC advises that you write to the credit reporting agency to dispute any inaccurate entries. Send your letter with copies of supporting documents, if available. The bureau will investigate the issue within 30 days. Your credit score may improve after the inaccurate entries have been adjusted or removed.

3

Pay bills on time. Late payments will show up on your credit report, lower your credit score and reduce your appeal to potential creditors and employers. However, if you begin to make payments when they are due, your score will improve with time.

4

Make delinquent accounts current. By law, creditors must report accounts that are 30 days past the payment date. If you are having difficulty making the payments, call the creditor and arrange for lower payments or a more convenient payment date.

5

Avoid closing lines of credit in an effort to improve your score. Closing accounts will reduce the amount of credit available to you and your credit-debt ratio will be higher, which can hurt your score.

6

Keep old lines of credit. Older credit lines give you an older credit history. Closing an old credit line, even if you do not use it, will shorten your credit history and make your debts look worse.

7

Avoid opening several new lines of credit in a short period of time. Doing so will lower your credit score and creditors may interpret it as a desperate need for money.