Getting Free Credit Report

By Yanida Atmaja

Last year, Consumer Credit Counseling Services held 950 workshops for more than 25,000 people on topics such as, Budgeting Basics, Avoiding Scams, Credit Reports and Scores, Managing Credit ... Debt Wisely, Building Wealth and Identity Theft. Through www.cccservices.com, you can find get free credit repair advice online, as well as community resource listings so you can choose how you'd like to repair your credit and your financial situation too.

The best part about finding a third party credit counselor to tackle your credit repair is that you won't feel so alone. It can be overwhelming, frustrating and embarrassing to find yourself knee-deep in debt. Sure, you could repair your credit on your own by reading a few books, buying software, calling and negotiating with creditors, or making an organized checklist of priorities. However, you may prefer the "we're-in-this-together" feeling of working one-on-one with a debt reduction professional who can ensure you're doing your best to pay off old debts and wipe the slate clean with a newer, positive payment history.

The first step toward credit repair is getting your free online credit score. Thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are legally entitled to one free report each year from each of the three main credit bureaus, which are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). On your credit report, you'll see whether or not you have a high or low credit score, as well as all the outstanding debts you owe, people who have checked your credit report, loans you're paying off and other financial information that is readily visible to loan officers. It is important that you check this report each year to make sure all of your financial records are up-to-date. Any past late payments, collection accounts or blemishes will be on your record for seven years, but your account status should be updated and your score should reflect your recent activity. It's not unusual to find errors or dated information, so keeping your records accurate is one way to repair bad credit.

Many places offering free credit repair can't really help you because they only offer vague advice at first, while trying to up-sell you to a premium membership for the "good" service. If you currently have unpaid bills and accounts in arrears, then you can benefit from credit card debt reduction or debt consolidation service. The debt consolidation officer will contact all of your collectors and negotiate better terms for you. You'll pay them one monthly sum to cover all your debts and your debt counselor will disperse the money to all your creditors. The debt consolidation will show up on your credit report, but it's much better than collection accounts or bankruptcy. A few popular consolidators to look into include My Credit Group, Lexington Law and Care One.

Once you check your free credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com, you can let the bureaus know about any errors on your record. They will then review your file and request corroboration with your creditors. If the creditor does not respond within 30 days, then often the bureau will update your files for you based on the evidence you provide. This is as good as free credit repair gets. When you fix your credit, you open doors. - 29969

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