Repair Credit

Common Ways to Repair Credit

I have worked very hard over the past 12 months to settle most of my debts.

How do I repair my credit report? I have charge offs/settled for less than full amount/ bad debt.

Kathy

If you mean how can you get the past behind you and improve you credit score, you have to start paying your bills on time and use only a fraction of the credit available to you.

Even though negative items like a charge offs will remain on your credit report for 7 1/2 years, their impact will lessen over time if you maintain good credit behavior from now on. In two years or so, your credit score should be pretty good, although if you apply for certain types of credit, like a mortgage, you might be forced to repay the charge offs.

If you mean that you want to repair credit by taking care of unpaid items, the best way to start is by talking to your lenders. If they aren't cooperative, you can try a credit counseling service or debt negotiation firm. The last option is bankruptcy.

If you want to know how to repair credit by fixing incorrect items on your credit report, please read Your Credit Report which tells you how to dispute incorrect items and give you the names and phone numbers of the credit bureaus.

You can also hire a firm such as Lexington Law which specialize in credit repair problems.

Some of these services claim to be able to remove negative items that are correct. Investigate thoroughly if you are interested in this type of procedure.