Fast Credit Repair
by Office of Governor Patrick

Credit Repair: 5 Easy Ways to Fix Credit Problems

It seems that everyone in America has one type of credit problem or another. We all need to learn how to fix credit problems because our society revolves so much around credit-based situations. Even if you have a superior credit score, you can watch it drop by 100 points just for missing a single payment – or even making a late payment! The credit realm is definitely cut-throat and it isn’t going to suddenly get easier to handle. There’s good news though! There are methods that you can use to fix credit problems. Let’s look at 5 hot ones now:

#1: Start making your payments for everything that you are responsible for on time. Pay your bills in full and do it every time that they come due. The scoring algorithms that have a direct affect on the happiness that we experience love to see timely payments. They do not appreciate late or missed payments whatsoever, and they have no problem showing you that by dropping your precious credit score overnight!

#2: Keep your credit cards at a maximum charge level of 30% and pay them off in full every month. The second most important variable in your scoring algorithm is based upon the difference in the amount of credit that you could use as compared to the amount of credit that you actually do use. Keeping the charge levels low shows restraint and responsibility. That’s what the algorithms like – nobody ever said they were any fun!

#3: Dispute any and all negative items that show up on your credit reports. It is your right to do so and it is the responsibility of the reporting agencies to verify all disputed claims with the creditor that placed them on your report. This is an integral component in your overall strategy to fix credit problems that you may have. If the disputed items cannot be or are not verified within a reasonable time period (normally 30 to 45 days), then they must be removed from your credit report. This is definitely worth doing as it has been shown that as many as 79% of all credit reports contain some degree of inaccurate information. If you do not dispute negative items, they will remain there indefinitely.

#4: A leveraging method to fix credit problems involves having somebody with excellent credit add you as an authorized user on one or more of their credit accounts. The algorithms raise your credit score because they see that the person with the excellent credit had entrusted you. Alternatively, but equally effective, is to have someone cosign a loan for you.

#5: When all else fails – if your credit is just horrible, you can still fix it, but it will require some patience. You can fix credit problems in extreme circumstances by filing for bankruptcy. That’s what the bankruptcy laws and courts are there for. Sometimes, people need a second chance in their financial lives. After you file, you are going to have to wait a while for any credit to be granted to you again. However, sometimes a bankruptcy is the best option available.

Fast Credit Repair