Repairing a Negative Credit Report

Assessing Your Credit Score
Establishing & Maintaining a Favorable Credit History
Debt Management & Consolidation
Repairing a Negative Credit Report

Negative information on a credit report (bad credit) can count against you, although it does not necessarily mean that lenders won’t extend credit to you. Each lender has its own way of assessing credit worthiness. However, it is vital to clean up your credit report (fix errors) and to adopt appropriate spending and repayment habits. Not only will you be able to get better credit and interest rates, but it may effect your success when seeking a job or promotion. Although they can only look at your credit report with your permission, employers may choose to deny you a job or promotion based on the information in your report.

If you are denied a job due to information in your credit report, you are eligible for a free report if you request a copy within 60 days, regardless of when you last requested one. Your employer is also required by law to give you a copy of the credit report used in their decision.

You can improve your credit score and build a better credit report with the following steps:

Obtain the most recent copy of our credit report and check for errors. If you find any errors, address them immediately with those who reported the information and the credit reporting agency that provided your report. You can find information on fixing errors in the FTC Credit article, How to Dispute Credit Report Errors.
Educate yourself on the following:
When there is accurate yet negative information in your credit report, create a plan to rectify it through wise budgeting and paying all your bills on time. If you can make more than the minimum payment on debt, do so.
If your debt and repayment load is too overwhelming for you handle, you can look into credit counseling. Be aware of scams. Look at the U.S. Justice Department's list of approved credit counseling organizations, and be sure to interview the credit counseling organizations.
After you have done all you can to get your repayment plan in order, if you still experience difficulty getting your debt under control, your credit counselor may advise you to create a debt management plan. However, remember, a DMP is rarely as easy as it sounds, and all other avenues should be exhausted first.

The thing to remember when repairing your credit report is that it takes time, discipline, and patience. Despite what some credit repair organizations might say, there is no legal way of removing negative credit information in lieu of the above information. Be aware that some who say they can help you quickly rid yourself of your debt are actually helping you to file for bankruptcy, which may help relieve some of your debt load, but does nothing to improve your credit history, and can legally stay on your credit report for up to 10 years.