Credit Expert Blog

This article is about credit repair for people who have experienced bad credit.

Only those who have traveled the road to poor or bad credit know that to turn around and erase their tracks is not only difficult, it is painful. The act of acknowledging the problem is much like opening the lid on expired milk. It is sour, it is unpleasant and once it is open the effects will linger; however, it needs to be addressed.

Unlike many actions in life, those that affect one’s credit are like fresh footprints in wet cement. Quickly impressed in this cement are choices to open credit, allow credit to get out of hand, bankruptcies, tax liens and the like and even more quickly do these decision dry and become permanent.

Each of these credit footprints have the capability of determining a consumer’s overall worth.

Be responsible for your credit repair, a credit history is easier to protect than it is to repair

The more impressions on the surface, the less valuable, impressionable and desirable a consumer becomes. Once a credit score reaches this level, a consumer is faced with the decision to allow the deterioration to overwhelm them or implement a strict and thorough method of credit redemption. Below are steps consumers can follow if they are unsure how to repair credit.

The first step to credit repair is assessment of the damage

A home cannot be rebuilt after a fire without first determining the extent of the fire’s impact. Credit repair should be regarded in the same matter. A consumer must understand what is on their credit report and what is currently being reflected to companies that are inquiring about their credit status.

Everyone is entitled to a free credit report annually through Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Begin here to receive a report card on where credit stands. For active repair monitoring, it is best to enroll in a credit report membership where a credit report can be reviewed an unlimited amount of times per year with a low monthly fee, averaging between $15.00 and $25.00. This allows items that are addressed and paid to be monitored on a report.

Be proactive for your credit repair and know what your credit report says, then approach it one bite and at a time

No matter how minor an impression may be, if it holds the potential to damage a credit rating, it is a problem and it needs to be addressed. When facing a massive credit repair effort, targeting the smaller credit blemishes on a report can be an effective and encouraging place to start.

Begin with the smallest debts owed and begin contacting the companies for opportunities to satisfy the amount owed. Once paid, a consumer who has an active credit reporting membership can submit a dispute to the credit-reporting agency online and notify them that it has been resolved.

Step two for credit repair

The credit reporting agency will then due its due diligence to investigate the disputed credit blemish and update a consumer credit report, Often times,  debts that are satisfied after they have become negligent are not updated in a timely matter, at least, not nearly as timely as the report was made to indicate that an account was past due. Reporting the satisfied debt to a credit-reporting agency will expedite those results on a report.

Approach larger credit issues with a request for a payment plan. The gesture to repay will reopen the account on a report and begin the process of repair.

Long road to credit repair

Remember: satisfied debts do not mean a credit score will begin to rise. This can be discouraging and this is where credit repair is painful. Rewards are not given for repairing problems of the past; however, the need to be addressed so that when reviewed in the future, a credit report reflects these problems as resolved. This is the first part of credit report redemption.

The second three to repairing damaged credit to obtain credit

If an active line of credit is not on a report, there is no opportunity to prove a consumer’s ability to be trusted with a line of credit. There are cards available to consumers who do not have active credit and need a card to obtain credit. These cards required a consumer to pay before the card can be used.

Depending on the risk that is assess by reviewing a credit report, these credit repair credit cards can request $50.00, $100.00 or $200.00 prior to the use of the card. Once paid, this amount is the line of credit on the card.

This card should be handled with the utmost care. Do not use the card for frivolous purchases. Use the card solely as a mean to show that charges are made and charges are paid and paid on time. This is the second part of credit card redemption. The bonus to this aspect of the repair is that it will eventually repair credit rating.

Redeem credit by proving it can be used and repaid in a timely matter

Finally, limit the number of credit inquiries on a report. Trying to lease a car, then sign up for a credit card, then sign up for a store credit card, and then apply for a home loan will deflate a credit score faster than a balloon in a needle factory.

Approach lines of credit not as if an all one can eat buffet but rather like a bar tab. It will add up while one’s attention is elsewhere and once the damage is done, the bill has to be acknowledged.

Credit repair is not fast and it is not easy, but it is possible and with the techniques above a discouraged credit history holder can become empowered and begin the path to repair credit report history.