How to Repair a Credit Hisory

You may encounter problems getting new credit if your credit history is filled with charge offs, collections, bankruptcies, foreclosures and other credit problems. You do not need a credit repair company to fix your past credit history. You can repair inaccuracies, pay off collections and fix other account problems by yourself.

Instructions

1

Request a credit report from TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. If you have not requested your free credit report for the year, you can get a free report through Annual Credit Report for all three. Otherwise you can order the reports from each credit reporting agency.

2

Check the report's negative accounts section. This section displays your collection accounts, accounts with late payments, charged off accounts, bankruptcies, liens, foreclosures and repossessions.

3

Check each bad account for the age of the account and the accuracy of the account. If the account is not a bankruptcy or a judgment and it is older than seven years old, it can be removed from the report. If the account is inaccurate, you can dispute the item to get the accurate information added to the account or have the account removed totally. Use the dispute link on the online credit report or send a letter to each credit reporting agency stating that you are disputing the accounts. Include the account number and the reason you do not feel the account is reporting correctly. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested.

4

Call the collection agencies handling recent collection accounts, if you have extra money. You may be able to negotiate a pay-for-delete, in which you pay the collection amount or a negotiated amount, and the collector removes it from your credit report. You may be able to reduce the amount you owe to the collector or work out a payment plan if you want to pay off debts you know you owe.