Obtaining Your Credit Report - The First Step in Credit Repair
Your credit rating is one of the most important things in
determining your economic status. With a good credit rating, you
will have no problems obtaining loans, mortgages, credit cards,
etc. . . But if you've missed payments with a creditor in the
past, your creditor will report this to a credit reporting
agency, which will make a note of it on your credit report. Once
you have a bad credit rating, many doors will be closed to you:
you'll be unable to obtain most kinds of loans, and without a
credit card you won't be able to shop online, or rent a car. For
these reasons it is important that you attempt credit repair as
soon as possible.
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The first step in credit repair is to obtain your credit report
from your credit reporting agency. There are only a handful of
credit reporting agencies in Canada and the US. You can
determine which one holds your credit report when you are turned
down for credit: your decided credit card application, for
example, will indicate which agency provided the report.
It is always your right to obtain your credit report free of
charge. To do you can visit the agency website and download an
application, and then mail it, along with photocopied ID, to the
agency. You should receive your credit report though the mail in
a timely fashion. Credit reporting agencies also allow you to
obtain your credit history instantly online, though a fee is
charges for this.
Yes, surprising as it may seem, it really is this simple to find
the most valuable information you've been looking for on the
topic. And there's more to come. Read on.
Whatever route you choose, in terms of credit repair it's
essential that you examine your credit report closely once you
get it. You should be looking for any inaccuracies in your
report. If you find any, you have the right to request an
investigation in writing from the agency. Once you have
requested that a particular item in your credit history be
investigated, the agency must respond within 30 days providing
documentation of the entry in question. If they fail to do so,
the entry must be removed from your credit report.
When requesting that something on your credit report be
investigated, you should send any supporting documentation if
you have it. Although it is not common, in some cases the
agencies make outright mistakes, or confuse your information
with another customer with the same name. If an entry in your
credit history is being investigated, you may also request that
the agency mark the entry in question as "under investigation"
on your file.
Although it can seem like a cumbersome process, it is absolutely
imperative that you obtain your credit history before you
attempt credit repair. Without your credit history, you won't
know exactly where you stand, only that your credit is "bad."
What you need to know is how bad credit is, and why. For
example, are you dealing with a single outstanding issue or
multiple ones? How long has the problematic mark been in your
credit history, and for long will it remain? Knowledge of these
things is essential in order to begin the process of credit
repair effectively.
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There's also more to come - and I keep updating this article
regularly. So please keep visiting often to get the latest
information!