Credit Report Repair

Is Free Credit Report Repair Possible?

Of course. And you can do it yourself without forking over mega bucks to credit repair companies that claim success before they take your money. Credit report repair is possible. What it takes is a lot of time and patience.

What Can Credit Report Repair Accomplish?

What repair cannot do is make the bad stuff vanish from your records, which is what report repair companies claim they can do permanently. Flood the bureaus with several depute letters and some bad stuff will temporarily disappear while information is being verified with a creditor. But it comes back after the information is verified.

You can clean your records of any inaccurate data. For this reason and the threat of identity theft, it’s a good idea to check your credit reports at least twice yearly and perform necessary repairs. Most consumers don’t. But as a business owner, or someone about to launch a business, you must.

Is Data Reporting Process Infallible?

Hardly. Phone line data transmissions can be disrupted with subsequent errors usually not discovered until well after the fact--when they show up on your credit report. And computer files are lost during transport, sometimes the result of management decisions to ship with little concern for security, forgetting that this data is the lifeblood of the consumer.

Is Information Being Accurately Reported?

No way. Historically 75%-90% of all data reported by credit bureaus contains inaccuracies. But it isn’t the job of the reporting bureaus to guarantee total accuracy, just that they make an attempt to do so. When you’re dealing with millions of files, errors creep in, such as typos, crossed social security numbers, addresses, wrong name spellings, outdated information and the like.

A 2004 U.S. Public Interest Research Groups survey indicated that 25% of all credit reports contained errors serious enough to result in a denial of credit. The result can be a nightmare for the small business owner seeking to expand or start a business.

Prepare By Reviewing Account Records

While waiting for your credit report to appear in your mailbox, gather all data about your credit accounts that you have on hand and organize it by type and account. That means all past billing statements, purchase records and receipts including names of companies the goods or services were purchased from, payment dates, check numbers, account numbers and any general documentation you may have regarding any past disputes with creditors. Also gather vital stats on former residential addresses, work addresses and phone umbers, utility bills, phone bills and all documentation and billing receipts. In short, everything you can get your hands on, organize it, so you can make quick comparisons to what the reports may be saying about you.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. But once done, you’ll need to keep it constantly updated so you can have it for ready reference.

The Easy Part Is Done

Once you have all your data gathered and sorted, the easy part of the task is done. When the reports come in, then begins the hard part. See Credit Repair 101: Disputing Errors for more information on how to take your repair issues to the next level.