Many people have credit issues these days–and there are many companies trying to capitalize on that fact by offering paid services that “fix” individuals credit reports. However, you can fix your own credit report completely free.
Step 1
Obtain a copy of your credit report. Visit the website Annualcreditreport and request a free copy of your credit report. Everyone is entitled to one free copy of his credit report from the three major credit bureaus each year. Simply follow the steps on the website to obtain your free credit report so you can verify the charges and find out exactly what debts you owe.
Step 2
Verify the debts on your credit report. Look over your credit report and ensure that everything listed on it actually belongs to you. Even credit bureaus or creditors make mistakes, and this can result in wrong information being placed on your credit report. If anything is present that you know doesn’t belong to you, you need to write a dispute letter to each of the three credit bureaus. It will need to include what transaction you’re disputing, the amount, your name, Social Security number and any proof you may have that those transactions do not belong to you.
Step 3
Create a plan for paying off other debts. You will need to start paying on your other debts as soon as you receive your free credit report. One great method of paying down debt is the snowball method. This involves listing your debts out in order from smallest to largest and paying at least the minimum payment on each one.
For the first or smallest debt, you pay as much as you possibly can each month. When the debt is gone, all the money that you were paying on that one should be transferred to pay the second smallest debt down. This snowball method is a great plan for paying off your debts and fixing your credit report.
Step 4
Call your creditors. There is a chance that if you call your creditors, you can get your debt reduced when you promise to pay it all off. Contrary to popular belief, creditors do want to work with customers to get the debts paid off because bankruptcy could keep them from collecting anything on the debt. Ask if there is a smaller settlement amount so that you can find out whether you can pay less and eliminate the debt.
Step 5
Alert credit bureaus to paid debts. When you’ve completely paid down a debt, it’s important to alert each credit bureau. You can’t rely on creditors to alert the credit bureaus for you, so it’s important that you do it yourself. Include a letter telling the bureaus which debt has been completely paid off and include receipts of payments and other relevant info. Using the above information can help you fix your credit report for free rather than paying some company to do it for you.
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