If you are struggling with major credit issues, it is easy to think that the way to deal with it is by hiring a credit repair company.  The reality is that most people can handle credit repair on their own.  Here is how you can get started.

Clean Up Errors!

Once you are in possession of your credit report, look for and clean up any errors that are in your file. Some problems such as a simple credit limit on a revolving account have been reported incorrectly can have a large affect on your score. Additionally check for accounts with a date of last activity of more than seven years, payment made on time but reported as late payments, or accounts that are not yours. If you find any errors in your credit file, or questionable negative information, you will need to dispute them independently to each of the credit bureaus.

After all disputing has been completed and errors have been corrected on your credit, you are now ready to explore the next step for bad credit repair.

Make payments that will bring down the balance on your revolving debt is one way to significantly improve your credit score. This may not be what you would consider complex, but it is what actually works best. When you owe less than 25% of the available credit limit on each account, if you are not able to pay them off completely, then that is the ideal situation to be in.

Another option for credit restoration is through debt validation. This method requires a collection agency to provide documentation that proves they legally are entitled to collect money they claim you owe. Request a copy of the contract between the original creditor and the collection agency and the original copy of your contract with the documentation showing the balance owed. If this method does not remove the collection account, arrange for a pay for delete. This is where a creditor agrees to completely remove an account from your credit file when payment in full is made. The options presented here are the best strategies that can be used to repair collection accounts.