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UNDERSTANDING YOUR CREDIT REPORT
There are about eleven things that look bad on your credit report.
- Credit inquiries
- Bankruptcies
- Collections
- Repossessions
- Loan defaults
- Credit rejections
- Past due and unpaid payments
- Foreclosure
- Court judgments
- Late payments
- Default on student loans
The credit bureaus keep your personal credit history for about ten years.
- Chapter 7 Bankruptcies – ten years
- Derogatory Accounts – seven years
- Closed or Inactive Accounts – ten years
STEPS TO FIX YOUR CREDIT SCORE AND CREDIT REPORT
What you need to know to fix your credit report score. If you suspect incomplete, outdated and inaccurate information you should contact the Credit Reporting Agencies as soon as possible. Anytime you suspect fraud report it to the police and to your creditors. Remember to never send original documents, make two copies, one for you and the other goes to the Credit Reporting Agencies. When you send copies of your documents remember to sign it with your full name, date being mailed, and time.
When you are ready to contact the Credit Reporting Agency get a copy of your current credit report to verify any discrepancies, you may be able to get a free credit report.
Once you forward all of your documentation that is needed to verify your discrepancy the Credit Reporting Agency will review it and decide whether or not further investigation is needed. They will also send their findings to the Creditor which will conduct their own investigation and forward their findings back to the Credit Bureau. If any updates are needed their records will reflect such changes and notify you of the updates.
After thirty days, the Credit Reporting Agency should have notified you of the end result of their investigation and will provide you a free copy of your updated credit report. When you receive your credit report please verify that all of the changes or accurate and complete.
After disputing an item on your credit report and it still doesn’t get resolved you can always submit a statement, which needs to be under-100 words, letting creditors know of the specifics of your disputed item. Just write a brief descriptive letter explaining the reasoning of your dispute. So, all current and future creditors will be able to read your statement explaining for the deficiency. |
