1. Get Your Credit Report

When aiming to fix credit, a large portion involves repairing errors and omissions on your report. That’s why it’s important to view your credit report often — making sure it’s accurate and that there are no fraudulent activities.

How to get a free credit report

You’ll need to start by getting a credit report to determine what exactly needs fixing. Each of the three major credit bureaus are required by law to give you one free credit report per year. If you space them out, you can get a free credit report every four months.

Request yours from the Annual Credit Report Request Service online, via phone at 1-877-322-8228 or by mailing the Annual Credit Report Request Form to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

On your report, you’ll see your credit history, including any credit cards, loans, accounts that were sent to collection agencies and legal actions like foreclosures or bankruptcies.

Because you get three free reports every year, it’s unlikely you’ll need additional copies, but you can purchase them directly from the credit bureaus. Each report costs anywhere from $1 to $11.

2. Check Your Credit Report for Errors

Each time you open your credit report, you should review it closely for errors. In many cases, these errors can be significant. As many as 25% of all credit reports contain errors serious enough to cause denial on a credit application. Responsibly managing your credit will help you achieve a better credit score, but truly fixing bad credit requires that you to focus on the source of the problem.

When reviewing your credit report for errors, be sure to look for:

Incorrect personal information (i.e. misspellings, wrong addresses)
Accounts that don’t belong to you
Missing accounts that should be listed on your report
Incorrect public records (i.e. bankruptcies, foreclosures)
Accounts that aren’t accurate (i.e. they say they’re open when they’re actually closed)
Accounts listed as “closed by grantor” (meaning the lender closed the account on you)
Duplicate accounts
Data management errors
Delinquencies
Fraudulent activity
Incorrect inquiries

Any of these errors could impact your credit — and whether or not a lender will approve you for a loan. If you do find an error on your report, you should check to see if the error appears on the two other reports produced by the major credit bureau.

By fixing simple errors, many people have seen dramatic improvement of their credit standing in a relatively short period of time. Taking an active approach in managing your credit and fixing errors will produce much better results than sitting back and waiting for your credit score to improve.

3. Dispute Errors in Your Report

Once you’ve found mistakes on your credit report, it’s time to dispute the errors. Luckily, the bureaus are obligated legally to try and resolve mistakes. You can request a correction online or by mail or phone.

Report your errors directly to the credit bureau where you received your report. You’ll need to provide documentation, such as proof of your identity, the erroneous account information, and any documentation that proves the error is false, such as court documents or credit card closing statements.

File your free dispute with:

Experian Disputes

Online process
By phone: 800-916-8800
By mail:Experian
P.O. Box 4500
Allen, TX 75013

Equifax Disputes

Online process
By phone: 866-349-5191
By mail:
Equifax Information Services LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256

TransUnion Disputes

Online process
By phone: 800-916-8800
By mail:
TransUnion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016-2000

You should also contact the lender or creditor that issued the account to let them know of your dispute and the inaccuracy. Often times the lender can correct the information on their end, which should update on all of the three main credit reports. In most cases, you should hear a response to your dispute within 30-45 days.

4. Pay Late or Past Due Accounts

In addition to reporting the errors on your credit report, you should focus on paying overdue balances on your accounts. Until payment is 30 days past due, it isn’t considered late by the credit bureaus.

However, once payment is beyond 30 days past due, creditors and lenders can report your account to the credit bureaus — which ultimately impacts your score and creditworthiness. The longer your payment is overdue, the worse it is for your credit. Late payments can stay on your credit report for as long as seven years, so it’s important to pay them off sooner rather than later.

When do collection agencies get involved?

If an account has a past due balance of more than 30 days, your creditor may turn your account over to a collections department or agency to seek the funds directly from you. When an account is sold to a collections agency, the account can be noted on your credit report — often having an enormous negative impact on your credit score.

Collections agencies work to collect funds on amounts due for credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, and mortgages. Collection entries will fall off of your report after seven years. If the collection information is incorrect — just like any other error — you can file a dispute.

What is a charge-off?

When payments are 180 days (or six months) past due, your credit card will become “charged off” — meaning you no longer have the option to make regular minimum payments. Your creditor considers the debt as a loss in their own records, cancels your account, and you’ll only be able to pay the balance in full. You may be charged a late fee for each additional month that passes.

Being charged off greatly damages your creditworthiness. Your lender can even increase your interest rate to the penalty rate, which is often the highest rate possible. In addition, your creditor may assign the account to a collections agency. If you can’t afford to pay the amount in full, talk with your lender about payment options. If an account goes to charge-off status, this derogatory mark will remain on your report for seven years.

What is a pay-for-delete?

A pay-for-delete is an agreement between a consumer and a collection agency to remove a collection account from your credit report — with an arrangement to pay the full amount or a lesser agreed-upon amount. You can send a pay-for-delete letter to your creditor asking them to remove the charged-off account from your credit report in exchange for paying the past due balance.

5. Increase Your Credit Limits

Credit card companies give each borrower a credit limit — denoting the maximum amount that can be spent before paying off at least some of the balance. Depending on the credit card and your creditworthiness, your credit limit might be a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. If you ask your creditor to increase your credit limit — and they grant it — it could improve your credit score, and give you a buffer before you need to pay on your balance.

You’ll also want to consider your credit utilization ratio — meaning how much you owe on all of your accounts compared with your total available credit.

For example, if you owe $5,000 on all of your credit cards, and you have $20,000 of combined available credit, your credit utilization ratio is 25%. Experts often recommend aiming for a credit utilization threshold of 10%, although having a ratio of up to 30% usually doesn’t impact your credit score. Once your ratio is above 30%, it begins to negatively impact your credit standing. By increasing your credit limits, your credit utilization ratio decreases.

6. Pay off High-Interest, New Credit Accounts First

When you have multiple balances to pay off, there are two main approaches to take.

You can either pay off the account that suffers from the highest interest rate, such as a card with a 14.5% APR before paying on a balance with only a 7% APR.

Or, you can pay off your account with the lowest balance first, so the balance no longer incurs interest. For instance, if you have a new credit card with a balance of only $400, it may be advantageous to pay that amount in full, rather than having continual interest build on that account. By paying off an account in a lump sum, you’ll also have one less account to think about and worry about. Of course, you’ll still want to make at least the minimum payments on your other accounts.

7. Open a New Credit Card

You may wish to open a new card to improve your credit. A new credit card increases your total available credit — which impacts (and generally lowers) your credit utilization ratio. The smaller your ratio, the better your credit score.

When considering whether to open another card, remember that you want to pay off the balance, not incur more debt. You’ll also want to check if the new card has an annual fee and if the fee is worth it to you. Opening several new accounts at once could negatively impact your score, as it makes you appear riskier to potential lenders.

Remember, too, that the length of your credit history matters. In general, accounts that have been open longer — with a good payment history — are better for your credit score. Keep that in mind when deciding which accounts remain open and which ones to close. By keeping your older accounts open, you’re building your credit age. The average amount of time all of your accounts have been open is considered your overall credit age. The older your credit age, typically the better your score.

8. Pay Balances on Time

Paying off your debt is an important element needed to fix credit. By making payments on time, you’re showing your current creditors — and potential lenders — that you are a responsible borrower. Whether it’s your credit card payment or utility bill, be sure to pay on time. Set up automatic monthly payments to make this a consistent habit.

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How to Fix Your Credit