Home Credit Improvement

If you watch TV long enough, you will discover that there are multitudes of private companies that will repair your credit for a "nominal" fee. Some of them promise to virtually wipe the slate clean, so to speak. There's your first lesson: if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. This seems like common sense. However, think of all the scams you hear about. Savvy techno-thieves are constantly devising ingenious new ways to steal your personal information, which they then use to defraud you and others, and steal your money. Please note, that is not to slight credit repair companies. It is simply a warning to do your homework before deciding to allow one of these companies access to your personal information. It would also be wise to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into, and that you are not tying yourself up financially so that you are left destitute. Repairing your own credit can save you hundreds, perhaps even thousands of dollars, and allow you to still be able to put food on the table.

While you will save yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars by repairing your credit yourself, you should be aware that you will most likely have to invest a considerable amount of time into this endeavor. However, if you don't happen to have a thousand dollars or so lying around to pay someone else to get you out of the mess you made because you couldn't (or just didn't) pay your bills, then perhaps you will be willing to spend the necessary time to get your financial future back on track. You should also...here comes the shocker...be prepared to give all your current information, including name changes, current address and employer to your creditors. Just by voluntarily getting back in touch with your creditors, and updating them on your current whereabouts, you will begin to build some credibility with them. Tell them that you are repairing your credit and that you want to establish a payment plan with them. (Payment plans will be discussed later.)

The first thing you should do is order a copy of your credit report from the three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. You can do this by going to AnnualCreditReport.com (not to be confused with the much-advertised FreeCreditReport.com, which is a site in conjunction with a credit monitoring service called CreditAdvantage.) The Fair Credit Reporting Act, passed in 2004, made it much more feasible for the average person to understand their own credit history, and use it to their advantage. Everyone who has an established credit history is now entitled by law to obtain copy of their credit report each year. You are not required to purchase anything at AnnualCreditReport.com although you will have to sort your way through a maze of offers and advertisements for different types of credit monitoring and repair. Somewhere close to the bottom, probably almost unnoticeable, will be a link that lets you skip all the junk and go straight to the application for the free annual credit report.

Of course there are the credit monitoring sites, some of whom do provide very credible and valuable services. One such site is CreditKeeper, which will do basic monitoring for $9.95 a month. This service does include a lot of extras. You get an updated credit report and score each month, you can get alerts to any changes to your credit report by email, and there are all sorts of nifty little tools like mortgage and credit calculators, tips and advice and a multitude of other helpful member benefits.

Whichever route you take, you will have to provide personal information to prove that you are the person for whom the credit report is being obtained. This information includes, of course, your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth, to name a few. You will also be required to provide more obscure data such as old phone numbers or addresses, or former jobs or information about former spouses. Once you have satisfied the requirements to access the report, you will be directed to a link where you can view and print your credit reports, one from each of the three major bureaus, although they are generally listed column-fashion, in side-by-side comparison. Be sure to write down any pertinent information like your user name for the site and your password, as well as any confirmation number or order number or the like.

There will be lists from all three reports of variations of your name, for instance with and without your middle initial, and any diminutive versions of your name (such as James to Jimmy). If you are a Junior or Senior, you may find information from your father or son incorrectly attached to your report. You may even find that your ex-spouse is still listed as being currently married to you. If you are a woman, you will find variations of all of your names, depending on how many times you have been married. of different addresses where you have lived, or established mail service. There may even be instances where the address is not spelled right, or is just incorrect because you have not actually lived there or have never been associated with the address in any way. Checking your name and addresses is one way to prevent and find incidents of identity theft. You will find your last known place of employment listed as well. Keep in mind that it is possible you will find inaccuracies, especially in regard to current employment and addresses.