It's About Bankruptcy » loans http://itsaboutbankruptcy.com If you are suffering from the weight of insurmountable debt then we hope to help you find some answers straight answers Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:30:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Why Your Credit Score Is So Important To Your Ability To Borrow http://itsaboutbankruptcy.com/bankruptcy/why-your-credit-score-is-so-important-to-your-ability-to-borrow.html http://itsaboutbankruptcy.com/bankruptcy/why-your-credit-score-is-so-important-to-your-ability-to-borrow.html#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:14:12 +0000 Benjamin Cohen http://itsaboutbankruptcy.com/bankruptcy/why-your-credit-score-is-so-important-to-your-ability-to-borrow.html Continue reading →]]> You can repair your credit information if you have the know-how and the tenacity. Often, it involves calling your lenders, creditors and collection agencies to barter and negotiate with them. You may have to send them a letter or hassle them every single month until an item is removed, but you can often get lesser items off your report. Things like charge-offs, collections accounts, settlements and late payments can all be negotiated. Sometimes, people hire a credit counselor or debt relief company to manage these negotiations for them. If you have a bankruptcy, foreclosure, lien or judgment against you, then this negative credit information will be on your account for 7-10 years without much you can do. But for the rest, you may want to micromanage a little to see what you can get.

Bad Credit

Once you have your credit information, you should focus on improving credit scores. Check out your free credit score reports from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Credit reporting is voluntary, so the files may all be slightly different. Once you have this credit info, examine your reports for errors. Roughly one-third of credit reports contain serious errors because the credit bureau doesn’t verify the information your creditors send to them. Therefore, keeping clear credit is your responsibility. Some of the items may come off through a dispute, where you send a letter or a photocopy of your credit report with circles around the mistakes and supporting documents to validate your dispute. As for the legitimate blemishes, they’ll be on your credit for up to seven years and will likely only be fixed through consistent on-time bill payment. You can phase out the use of unneeded credit card accounts but do not close them. Simply stop using them and pay then off. Lastly, a secured credit card can help you re-establish regular on-time payment history again.

Credit Help

To file a dispute about your credit information, you can compose a dispute letter to all three three major credit bureaus, which are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. On the letter, include the date, your name, address, phone number and social security number. Just write “The following data is incorrect and should be updated,” then list each inaccuracy, explaining why it’s wrong and what it should be updated with. Attach a marked copy of your credit score report and include any communication, account records or statements that can help verify your version of the truth. Mail is the best way to dispute with Equifax and TransUnion, while Experian only allows online disputes. The credit bureaus then have 30 days to investigate and repair your credit info. Once it’s done, they will send you a letter containing what was or was not changed. If you’re not satisfied with the results, then you can try to resubmit with different documentation or go directly to the creditor to resolve.

To get more credit information, you can check out any financial internet sites. Here you can look up info on popular credit cards, like the Chevron credit card, learn how to plan to buy a house or a car, learn about overcoming challenges and poor credit scores, and get tools on planning for retirement. You can download money management worksheets and check out online finance calculators, as well as gain access to registered credit experts.

Credit Repair

 

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