Decipher Your Credit Reports and Improve Your Score

So many Americans avoid credit repair until it's absolutely necessary because they think it's such an intimidating undertaking. It may

not be the easiest task in the world to understand all of the codes and abbreviations that each bureau uses, but when you can actually

read it properly, improving your credit will be so much easier.

Get a Copy of Your Reports

The credit bureaus will all give you a copy of your credit reports once a year. You simply have to ask for it. They won't give you a

credit score, that's an extra fee, but the most important part, the accounts, are provided to you for free. You want to make sure that

you request a copy from all three credit bureaus as what's listed on one report may not be what's listed on all of them.
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Reading the Reports

Each credit report is generally broken down in the same way. They're going to list your personal information, both derogatory and

satisfactory accounts, public records, and inquiries.

Personal Information - Needless to say everything listed here should be familiar. If it's not, challenge it immediately. An inaccuracy

concerning your personal information is sometimes a sign of ID theft.credit repair

Derogatory Accounts - These are the accounts that you've somehow messed up. It could be a late payment or spending over your limit.

Regardless, you want to verify that they are 100% accurate because any mistakes could really be hurting your credit profile.

Satisfactory Accounts - These accounts are in good standing, but that doesn't always mean that they're actually helping you improve

credit. You want to make sure that your balances are as low as you can get them. Anything over 30% isn't actually helping your credit

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Public Records - If you're unfortunate enough to have a public record like a bankruptcy or a tax lien, then there's usually not much

you can do but pay it and wait for it to fall off. However, if you find that something doesn't belong there, make sure you dispute it.

Inquiries - Any company that you've given permission to pull your credit reports over the past 2 years will be listed here. While

inquiries don't ruin your credit score, they do take away from it very slightly. It's best to make sure that only companies you

approved are pulling your reports.

Finding Additional Help

Just because you're able to read your credit reports doesn't always mean that you know what to do with that information. There are

plenty of credit repair forums available online where you can ask questions that are specific to your situation.

There are also many credit repair companies that will give you a free consultation. This usually involves going over your credit

reports in detail. This should give you a much better understanding of what those reports are saying and what your next steps should

be. Again, it may seem like a daunting task at first, but once you get the ball rolling you'll be so glad that you did. Best of luck!

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