The current economic conditions are causing many people to struggle with low credit scores and bad credit reports. With the problems that the banks are having and other economic disasters the rules of the past are becoming obsolete and many people do not know what to do about credit difficulties and poor credit.
Credit scores are a numerical rating that supposedly tells of a person?s creditworthiness. But many people do not even realize what a credit score is composed of. It is not common knowledge that the debt to credit ratio is very important or that inquiries will quickly reduce your score. The fact is that if you are shopping for credit you are considered a high risk and if you have credit and actually use it you are also considered a high risk. In order to maximize your credit scores you need to keep your debt at about 15 to no more than 35% of your available credit and stop any inquiries into your report.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act or the FCRA was enacted to protect consumers from inaccurate reporting on their credit. Under the FCRA you have the right to receive one free report from each of the main credit reporting agencies every single year. You should take advantage of this and get a free report every year so that you can track your credit and make sure that it is being reported accurately.
One reason is because it is estimated that as many as 75% or more of all credit report contain mistakes and inaccuracies. These mistakes can cause you many difficulties if they come up when you are trying to get credit. You can avoid many of these problems if you get your report every year and check it out for mistakes and inaccuracies.
As per the FCRA you also have the right to dispute mistakes or inaccuracies on your credit report. After the credit bureaus receive your dispute they have 30 to 45 days to prove that what they are reporting is truthful and accurate. It has been estimated that as many as 45% of the disputes received are not verified within the time frame. If the reporting is not verified within the time frame it must be deleted from the report. As a consumer you can use that fact to your advantage is you take the time to issue the dispute.
Besides making sure that your credit report is clear of mistakes and inaccuracies every year there are also other things that you can do to improve your credit score. Debt to credit ratio is very important so you can either get your credit limits increased or pay down your debt so that your debt does not exceed 15 to 35% of your available credit. Also you should avoid all inquiries into your report. Do not shop for credit unless you are sure that you will get it and then have the creditor combine the inquiry into the loan so that you do not show any inquiries.
You can work to repair and improve your credit on your own or you can hire a professional that specializes in credit repair. If you do that make sure that you are getting a company that is reputable with a good track record. Do not lose money to a scammer because it will just cause you more problems in the future.
Credit repair can be accomplished. It is not a myth. Congress passed the FCRA to allow consumers to defend themselves against inaccuracies and discrepancies on a credit report so take advantage of that fact and do everything you can to improve your credit report.
