Credit Repair – Is Your Credit Report Accurate Getting a professional to analyze your credit report can result in the removal of erroneous, old, or duplicated information.   What is Credit Repair?   A credit report is an important document for any consumer. One’s credit report and resultant score determines whether a lender is willing to give credit and at what interest rate. The lower the score, the greater the risk for a lender, because a low score is indicative of poor payment history. Such history may include late or missed payments, collections for nonpayment of debt, bankruptcies (for 10 years), and any other negative information about an individual’s credit and debt history. When an individual believes that there are incorrect items on a credit report or that old debt is still affecting a report negatively, the services of credit repair can be secured, in an attempt to remove the information and improve your credit score.   Do it Yourself or Hire a Professional   If you have specific proof that there are incorrect items on your credit report, you can achieve these corrections yourself. For example, there may be a father and son with the same names. Some of the son’s debt may be showing on the father’s report. With a letter from the creditor indicating the true owner of the debt, this can usually be resolved. The proof will have to be sent to all three major credit bureaus, however, in order for the negative information to be completely removed.   In more complicated situations, it may be best to employ the services of a credit repair professional. A great deal of research must be done in the selection process, however, because fees vary significantly, and some are certainly better than others. You will want to use a professional who has references you can check and who has a demonstrated track record of repairing credit successfully.   Essentially, credit repair professionals are able to secure the following changes:   Secure the removal of information that is incorrect. Secure the removal of information that is old and should not still be on the report Secure the removal of multiple reportings of the same bad debt or payment history. For example, if a debtor defaulted on a credit card debt, the creditor may report that default. Once the debt is turned over to a collection agency, the same debt may appear again. And, if a suit is filed for payment of the debt, that debt will appear again under “public records.” There are then three reportings of the same bad debt, and two of them should be removed. Removal of these two will bump up a credit score   The best credit repair professionals are those who, at one time, worked for a credit bureau themselves. They know the “game” and can word the written communication correctly, can provide the follow-up necessary, and understand fully the legal procedures involved in cleaning up a credit report.