Lyons Leadership

Many people are under pressure with low credit scores and bad credit reports and the existing economic conditions are just making it worse. Many of the typical rules of the past are becoming outdated and many people may not know just where to turn or what to do about credit problems.

Only some people realize just what a credit score is composed of. For example it is not everyday knowledge that your credit score can be reduced by inquiries on your account and by your debt to credit ratio. The fact is that you are considered to be riskier if it looks as if you are shopping for credit so inquiries reduce your score and if you have credit and use it you are also considered a higher risk. In order to have a high credit score you need to decrease your debt to less than about 15 to 35% of the credit you have available and no more.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act or the FCRA was enacted to protect consumers from incorrect reporting on their credit. Under the FCRA you have the right to obtain one free report from every one of the main credit reporting agencies every single year. You should take advantage of this and acquire a free report every year so that you can track your credit and make sure that it is being reported truthfully.

It is estimated that as many as 75% of all credit reports or even more than that have mistakes and inaccuracies. These mistakes can cost you when you are trying to obtain credit so if you get a report every year and make sure that it is clean you can avoid many of these problems.

As per the FCRA you what’s more have the right to dispute mistakes or inaccuracies on your credit report. When the credit bureaus receive your dispute they have 30 to 45 days to provide evidence that what they are reporting is truthful and accurate. It has been estimated that as many as 45% of the disputes received are not verified within the time frame. If the reporting is not verified within the time frame it must be deleted from the report. As a consumer you can use that fact to your benefit is you take the time to issue the dispute.

There are also other things that you can do to better your credit score and credit rating. Since the debt to credit ratio is so significant you can get your credit limits increased or you can pay down your balances so that your debt does not exceed 15 to 35% or your available credit. You must also absolutely avoid any inquiries into your credit. If you must shop for credit be very selective and only shop where you know you will get the credit and then have the creditor join the inquiry into the loan reporting. That way you will not be showing inquiries.

You can do the work necessary to repair your credit on your own or you can utilize a professional that specializes in credit repair. Either way can be quite effective but if you decide to hire a professional just make sure that it is a respectable company with a good track record. Sadly there are some scammers out there so do your homework and find a reliable company that has been around long-term.

Credit repair can be accomplished. It is not a myth. Congress passed the FCRA to allow consumers to defend themselves against inaccuracies and discrepancies on a credit report so take advantage of that fact and do everything you can to improve your credit report.