Free Credit Repair Secrets

Your credit score and history impact your ability to obtain credit cards, personal loans and financing for major items, like a car or house. The lower your credit score is, the harder getting any sort of credit will be, and the credit you are offered will come at a high price. Reviewing your credit report regularly allows you to identify accounts that are dragging your credit down.

Credit Bureaus and Creditors Make Mistakes

Your credit score can be dragged down by invalid entries, duplicate accounts and other misinformation on your credit report, like inflated balances. Missing entries, like a car loan you are paying on time, do not necessarily harm your score, but the credit boost you are entitled to is lost. If you review your reports and find incorrect information, you have the right to dispute the entry with the credit bureau involved and the bureau will investigate the matter on your behalf. You can contact creditors who are not reporting to the bureaus at all and request regular reporting. If you have accounts with overinflated balances, try contacting the creditor before filing a dispute to have the creditor fix the information.

Not All Debts Are Enforceable

Debt that is no longer legally enforceable due to age is commonly referred to as "zombie" debt. Most consumer debt is no longer a valid debt ten years after a money judgment was granted in court or ten years after the account was originally opened. However, some collection companies will buy outdated debt at a low rate in hopes of collecting a fraction of the debt, per Liz Pulliam Weston, a personal finance columnist for MSN Money. The new collector may attempt to "reage" the debt by altering the date the account was opened and entering the account on your credit report, hurting your history and score. You can pursue legal action against any collector who attempts to enforce zombie debt, and you can file a dispute with the credit bureau to have the account removed.

Creditors Will Negotiate

You can negotiate with creditors who have valid debts in collection status on your credit report. Some creditors will send you offers, allowing you to pay a portion of the debt in return for removal of the negative account from your report. If a creditor or collector does not contact you, you can contact the creditor in writing or over the phone to settle the debt. However, you must inform the creditor you want the debt removed from your credit report once the amount you settle on is paid, and getting a repayment plan in writing helps protect you.