If you find mistakes in your credit report, immediately complete the “request for reinvestigation” form that the credit bureau sent you or send a letter listing each incorrect item and explain exactly what is wrong. Once the credit bureau receives your request, it must complete an investigation of your disputed items within 30 days and […]

People who have been through a financial crisis—bankruptcy, repossession, foreclosure, history of late payments, IRS lien or levy or something similar—may think they won’t ever get credit again. This is certainly not true. By following some simple steps, you can rebuild your credit in just a couple of years. After you’ve cleaned up your credit […]

Close Accounts You’re Not Using Before you apply for an important mortgage or car loan, you’ll want to close dormant accounts. Be careful, though, not to do it too quickly. If you close them all at once, your new lender might assume you’ve hit the financial skids. Close one or two a month (including department […]

Manage Inquiries into Your Record The more often someone asks a credit bureau about you, which happens whenever you apply for a loan or a new car, the lower your credit score will be. Recent rules for lenders require them to count all inquiries for the same purpose during a one month period (all inquiries […]

Credit reports are compiled by credit bureaus, often called National Credit Repositories — private, for-profit companies that gather information about your credit history and sell it to banks, mortgage lenders, credit unions, credit card companies, department stores, insurance companies, landlords and even a few employers. To create a credit file for a given person, a […]