Five Things You Can Do that Will Repair Your Credit

Getting your credit back on track and moving yourself out of debt can seem impossible, especially after a major crash. Whatever the reason, many people find themselves in deep without ever intending to get there. In some cases, you can rebuild fairly quickly. However, in the case of a bankruptcy, you can have a shadow over your credit report for a very long time. Don’t despair, there are some things that you can do to repair your credit!

1. Get financially literate! This is the biggie and it can’t be emphasized enough. Learning financial literacy is just like learning to read. Until someone shows you, how will you know? Credit counseling can help you get a grip on your debts, teach you how to budget, and how to manage your credit.
2. Get your yearly free credit reports. You are entitled to these reports for free, once per year, by law. Review the information to make sure that it is accurate, and that you are not still seeing items that have been paid or otherwise discharged. If you see items that are in error, file a dispute to take the first steps in having them removed.
3. Seriously consider a debt consolidation loan to squash all those payments into one payment. You can drastically reduce your expenditures and save a stunning amount in interest charges. After you pay off those cards and so on, just make sure that you don’t go charging them up again!
4. Commit to being frugal, and paying your bills strictly on time. Delinquencies show up on that credit report, and they stay there for a long time. If you can, set up autopay and keep an eye on the calendar to make sure you have enough in your account to cover the outgoing payments.
5. Don’t open new lines of credit, but do open a new checking account. When potential creditors see signs of responsible behavior, they are far more likely to think you’re credit worthy. Digging yourself out of a hole takes time, but it shows that you can be disciplined and conservative in your finances.

Now here is a big, huge, gigantic don’t.

Do not fall for credit “repair” scams that promise they can wipe out bad credit, or give you a new credit profile of identity. These guys are frauds and are in violation of federal law. Following their advice could land you in an even worse mess than you are in right now. It is absolutely 100 percent illegal to misrepresent your Social Security number. Do not listen to these guys. They prey on people who are desperate and looking for a miracle fix to pull them out of a jam.

If you are desperate enough to think about going to one of these charlatans, I can tell you that you’d be better off coming to Van Horn Law Group for a consultation. There are other ways, perfectly legal, to get you out of a jam that won’t land you in the pokey.