Bad Credit Agency

Can you really repair 'bad credit' on your own, ? How?

A friend has some late payments and some old credit card bills as well as an incorrect item on her credit. How can this be repaired. She does not have the funds for an attorney and those companies that claim to "repair bad credit" are sometimes a scam. Help me to help her.

Public Comments

1. You need to find a non-profit agency if you want outside help. You are right, some companies will rip her off. Consolidate if at all possible, and a friend of mine recently told me that she wrote to all her creditors and told them her problems, and they either lowered her payoff or lowered her rate (except for Sears, they wouldn't compromise). My brother had a doctor bill, he went to the hosp. and told them that he would pay it off if they would lower the total and they reduced 50%
2. You are the ONLY one who can repair bad credit. Pay bills on time! Pay back outstandings. Don't file bankruptcy. Don't have a lot of available credit. Be fiscally conservative. -MM
3. Yes, You sure can. I did this on my own and it didnt cost me a thing to pay somebody else. All I did was look online for all 3 credit reporting agencies(Eqifax, Experian and Transunion). I looked over my credit reports and 90% of the time all 3 reports were reporting differently, which is no surprise that they mess up all the time. I called each one telling them to fix and correct my information and then they have to by law send you another credit report telling you what they have corrected. And if you get this back again make sure you call again with the your confirmation number and keep bugging them to correct the wrong information and by law they have to investigate this item for you. Next thing to do is call the companys that you owe on the credit reports and alot of these companies will not post there phone number dont give up. Companies are all over the web and you can find customer service numbers all the time if you seach under there name. And sometimes if it does not show the phone number I have asked Equifax,Experian and Transunion for these and sometime they have the phone number somewhere on there computer because I have got and asked them for it. Make sure you then call the companies that you owe and talk to them but dont give them to much info, just say I want to work out a payment plan and this is all I have mabye $20 a month or whatever she can afford and then pay it off in full. Some companies even wave all the late fees and interest that has accrued on the account to let you in good faith pay the bill back. I have done this and I owed over $20,000 believe me it works. I told them what I was going to pay and when and they should listen, and if they threat you and call you asking for more that is against the federal law and you could sue for harrasment. Most lawyers are doing this credit fixing for free becasue they know they can get alot of money from the credit reporting agencies these days. The credit reporting agencys are playing hard ball with our credit and its about time to make a stand and make them fix there messes they have created for all us hard working Americans that just want to fix our credit scores. So call around and ask if anybody does pro-bono on this type of consumer lawsuit. Also if she has open cards that she uses and pays on or doesnt use, whatever you do do not close these if if she owes money on them because the credit score will drop drastically. Take my advice and really work the system becasue you are offered your credit reports at any time that you are denied credit and that means every time, and that can be 12 times or as many times a year as you are denied. So just be sure you tell her where to start and email with any more questions. Jean dhjba5541@aol.com
4. There are no "loopholes" or laws that credit repair companies can use to get correct information off your credit report. No credit repair company can do anything you can't do for yourself. Here are some basic steps to repair credit. First, make sure all the information on your credit report is accurate. Second, try to pay off all or any accounts that are currently in collections or make payment arrangements with the creditor to pay off the balance monthly. Third, any credit card that is over 50% of the available credit line should be paid down to under half of your total credit line. Your credit score is lowered when your available balance is over 50% of your total credit line. Finally, if you have bad or no credit and have no credit cards try to obtain two credit cards and make sure all of your monthly payments are made on time. This will help increase your credit score. If you cannot be approved for a unsecured credit card, obtain a secured credit card.
5. Don't use a credit repair company. They aren't going to do anything that you cannot do for yourself. Plus they are going to charge you an arm and a leg. And in all probability make your situation WORSE. Get a copy of all three of your credit bureau's and look at them to make sure all the info is current and accurate. If not, start writing letters disputing everything. For more help go to debtorboards.com. If you're having trouble with a collection agency, before you talk to them again go to budhibbs.com. I have been using the information on both websites to get rid of bill collectors as well as clean up my credit. Legally! Good luck!
6. To Repair credit score Your credit score is based mostly on: 1. Length of credit history 2. Payment history. 3. Ratio of credit used to available credit. 4. Number of credit inquiries you authorized. If you cancel your card, you'll be hurting your credit ratio. (#3). You want to deliberately keep your oldest credit card open, even if you never use it. You want to always pay the minimums of each loan on time every month. You want to keep your available credit high, but actually only have balances equalinig 25% or less. You want to keep your credit inquiries to a minimum. Try for no more than 3 or 4 per year for any type of loans. You do these things and your credit score will quickly soar into the 700s. ------------------------------------------------- http://www.bestcreditrates.net
7. Yes; by sending correctly worded dispute letters from a kit. Usually companies charge hundreds of dollars to simply pull your credit and send correctly worded dispute letters—this is the key…..people will tell you that you can do this yourself for free but the truth of the matter is that the credit bureaus will throw your letters away or simply reject them. There is an easy to use online kit that will deliver the results you want available for just $19.95 at the source website. A similar kit is being sold via infomercials and radio talk shows for seventy dollars more but they try to solicit you repeatedly for other services after the fact.
8. http://tune.in/credi-repair check that for tips on how to repair your bad credit rating... hope that helps you