First Step In Credit Repair

Obtaining Your Credit Report - The First Step

in Credit Repair.

Your credit rating is one of the most important things in determining

your economic status. With a good credit rating, you will have no

problems obtaining loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc. . . But if you've

missed payments with a creditor in the past, your creditor will report

this to a credit reporting agency, which will make a note of it on your

credit report. Once you have a bad credit rating, many doors will be

closed to you: you'll be unable to obtain most kinds of loans, and

without a credit card you won't be able to shop online, or rent a car.

For these reasons it is important that you attempt credit repair as soon

as possible.

The first step in credit repair is to obtain your credit report from your

credit reporting agency. There are only a handful of credit reporting

agencies in Canada and the US. You can determine which one holds

your credit report when you are turned down for credit: your decided

credit card application, for example, will indicate which agency

provided the report.

It is always your right to obtain your credit report free of charge. To do

you can visit the agency website and download an application, and

then mail it, along with photocopied ID, to the agency. You should

receive your credit report though the mail in a timely fashion. Credit

reporting agencies also allow you to obtain your credit history instantly

online, though a fee is charges for this.

Whatever route you choose, in terms of credit repair it's essential that

you examine your credit report closely once you get it. You should be

looking for any inaccuracies in your report. If you find any, you have

the right to request an investigation in writing from the agency. Once

you have requested that a particular item in your credit history be

investigated, the agency must respond within 30 days providing

documentation of the entry in question. If they fail to do so, the entry

must be removed from your credit report.

When requesting that something on your credit report be investigated,

you should send any supporting documentation if you have it. Although

it is not common, in some cases the agencies make outright mistakes,

or confuse your information with another customer with the same

name. If an entry in your credit history is being investigated, you may

also request that the agency mark the entry in question as "under

investigation" on your file.

Although it can seem like a cumbersome process, it is absolutely

imperative that you obtain your credit history before you attempt credit

repair. Without your credit history, you won't know exactly where you

stand, only that your credit is "bad." What you need to know is how

bad credit is, and why. For example, are you dealing with a single

outstanding issue or multiple ones? How long has the problematic mark

been in your credit history, and for long will it remain? Knowledge of

these things is essential in order to begin the process of credit repair

effectively.