| How To Repair Your Credit Yourself and Raise Your Scores for Free |
| Articles - Mortgage |
Many people are watching their credit scores drop. There are many reasons this happens, but the most obvious is due to negative information about your credit history on your credit report. The good news is that these are the easiest for you to fix yourself...for free.
 This credit information's reported to the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Federal Law gives you the right to dispute any item on your report. Negative information on these reports lowers your FICO credit scores. The credit reporting agencies ("CRA's") must investigate your dispute. If the creditor doesn't respond to the dispute within 30 days, then the CRA's must delete the negative information from your credit report. If the derogatory information showing on your credit report isn't removed by the CRA's within 30 days, you have additional rights allowing you to require proof of the claim and to re-dispute on an escalated basis. Here are the credit reporting agency addresses for mailing your dispute letters: Experian, 701 Experian Parkway, Allen, Texas 75013 Equifax, P.O. Box 105891, Atlanta, GA 30374 Trans Union, 1561 Orangethorpe Ave, Fullerton, CA 92831 You'll want to be able to prove that the CRA's received your dispute. The best way to do this is to mail your letters using US Certified Mail, return receipt requested. DON'T dispute the derogatory credit items online. The internet has many sites that can provide you with form letters for your dispute, however I don't recommend them. You'll get a better result if your dispute letter looks like a "real" letter. Unless you're a lawyer, there's no point in trying to sound like one in your dispute letter. The CRA's know the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act better than you do. They have a statutory obligation to follow them and don't need to be reminded. Your dispute letter should have these components: 1) Identify the derogatory item by name; 2) Disputed account number; 3) Your statement that the reported item's in error; 4) Why the item's in error (e.g. "paid in full" or "never late"); 5) The remedy you're seeking (e.g. "please correct this to show it was never late" or "please delete this entry"); 6) Request a description of how the CRA investigates/reinvestigates your claim and request the names/numbers of everyone involved with the reinvestigation; 7) Provide your name, address, birthdate and social security number. Provide a copy of your photo ID showing your name and address. Include copies of any paperwork you have to support your claim. Also, you might want to include a copy of your credit report, or the page showing the item you're disputing, but this isn't required. Tiny collection items can lower your score 20-40 FICO points EACH. Lower credit scores will cost you thousands of dollars or more in higher loan costs. Get started now. Fixing your credit's a process...it's not difficult. The first step to fixing your credit and raising your FICO scores is to write simple dispute letters to the credit reporting agencies. The sooner you get started, the quicker you can fix your credit. Higher FICO scores will save you money by getting you lower rates on mortgages, credit cards and car loans. You'll save a lot of money by fixing your credit, and you can do it yourself...for free. You can also escalate your disputes with the CRA's if they fail to remove the derogatory credit items. We'll show you how you can do this for free, along with sending billing error letters to credit card companies plus collection agency dispute letters in future articles. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice. Looking to find the best deal on credit repair? then visit Steve Silver's blog to find the best advice on credit repair and other real estate, mortgage and credit topics for you. |