Credit Repair After Bankruptcy

By Matt Douglas

If you have filed bankruptcy you should expect your credit will be severely damaged. However there is hope, you can take action to remove your bad credit and by building some positive credit you can have a high score.

Contrary to popular belief this mark can be removed from your report and without waiting 10 years. To remove this mark we suggest:

1. Dispute the mark with each bureau.

You can do this yourself or by hiring a service, a dispute letter must be sent to each bureau disputing the accuracy of the mark. Upon receipt the bureaus will investigate, however because bankruptcies are recorded in public records which the bureaus will not check during an investigation, the mark will not be verified.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act says that any mark that can not be verified by the bureau must be removed from your report. Additionally this mark says that you the consumer can dispute any item on your report that you do not feel is accurate. Often people are concerned with the legality of credit repair, and you should know you will never be fined, prosecuted, arrested, or face any legal action for disputing an item.

We suggest before you dispute the bankruptcy you double check to make sure any negative accounts are reported as "included in bankruptcy." This is because once the bankruptcy is removed from your report you will dispute each listing on the basis that it says "included in bankruptcy" yet there is no bankruptcy on your report. Additionally it is rumored that removing a bankruptcy is easier after 2 years have expired.

2. Once you have removed the initial mark, you can start disputing each negative item.

You can dispute it on the basis that it says "included in bankruptcy", but you do not have a bankruptcy on your report. Thus each negative mark should be erased once investigated. Doing this will give you a clean slate on your report.

3. Open a new revolving line of credit such as a credit card. This will help you build some positive credit on your report.

With on time payments you will build a positive payment history, this is heavily weighted when your score is calculated. It will also help if you keep your balance under 30% of your limit because this will help your utilization ratio. This means you will have better ratio of available credit to debt.

It may not be the most ethical move to dispute a mark you know is correct. However how ethical is it for a lender to charge you 30% interest rate, especially if you have kept you account in good standing for years. Unfortunately all it takes is one missed payment and you can face fees and interest rates, no matter how long you have been a model customer.

In sum you don't just have to live with bad credit. You can remove the items and you can do it today. You can create a high score for yourself by removing the bad items and building positive marks. This will save you; on interest rates, embarrassment from a low score, and give you the purchasing power you deserve. - 18193

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