Many people in today's world suffer from credit that may be less than perfect. Often, you find out at the most inopportune time. Like when you're trying to buy a house, a car, or maybe a computer. It can feel like someone pulled the carpet out from under you.

While you cannot remove accurate information from your credit report, it is within your rights as a consumer to get a reinvestigation of your report. Information that is incomplete or inaccurate can often times be removed because credit bureaus must be able to verify all items that appear on the report.

The best part about asking for a reinvestigation is that it's free! No expensive clinics are needed to find out how to do it either. Below is the step-by-step information you need to get started.

1. Getting your latest credit report
2. Analyzing your credit report
3. Putting everything into motion
4. Getting results

Getting Your Latest Credit Report

This is probably the simplest part of what you need to do to start cleaning up your credit. There are many places that can give you your credit report. We prefer some of the free services out there that get you reports when you need them and can give you access to regular updates. It's the best way to stay on top of something so critical as your financial name.

Here is a service that we have come to trust over the years. It's fast and will give you exactly what you need to get started. Click the link below to get your free credit report. Once you've got it, take the next step in cleaning up your credit. The service signs you up on a trial basis and will charge your credit card if you don't cancel by the end of the trial period, so don't forget to cancel the trial!

Free 3-in-1 Credit Report

Analyzing Your Credit Report

Understanding exactly what your credit report says about you is easier than you might think. Here's what you need to check:

• Check for inaccuracies or before they could negatively affect your credit profile.
• Find out why you've been denied or granted credit. The information on your credit report is the same information used by lenders concerning your credit.
• Find out who has been looking at your credit history lately. It could be credit card issuers, mortgage companies or even your employer.
• Make sure your credit report is complete and accurate before you apply for credit.
• Help protect yourself from possible credit fraud. Review your credit report carefully, any strange accounts or addresses may indicate possible fraud.

Putting Everything Into Motion

This is where the real work begins. With a little knowledge and perseverance, you can be well on your way to cleaning up your credit. Remember, credit bureaus aren't always "warm and fuzzy" when you talk to them. Why? Because they don't make money off of helping you. They make money off of providing reports to lenders. Here then, is the best way to approach what you have to do:

Put it in Writing

Recording what you do is vital when trying to clean up your credit report. The best way to do this is to keep a log. For each communication between you and a specific credit bureau, have something to back it up. Photocopy letters and checks. When on a phone conversation, get the name of the person you spoke with, along with their position, date and time you talked, and what you discussed. Also record anything they said they were going to do. Organize all this communication and keep it with your log.

So why do you need all this? Simply because you can often take two steps back for every one you take forward if you don't have good records. Items that you've worked so hard to take off can reappear on reports. It's the worst sort of "gotcha". Save yourself a lot of headaches and document all your efforts. It's a little up-front work that will really pay off.
Tip: Always mail things via certified or registered mail. Knowing when your communication is received can give you some firepower if credit bureaus don't respond within a reasonable time frame.

Ranking Your Priorities

The best thing you can do is to have a plan of action. You've already analyzed your credit report, so you know what things can potentially be harmful. Now it's time to rank what you want to clean up. Obviously, you want to start with the things that are most damaging to your credit.
Tip: As you're ranking items, you may see duplicate items at the top of each credit bureau's list. Unfortunately, this means you have to contact each credit bureau separately for each item.

Here is a general ranking you can use when looking at the severity of items listed (worst at top):

• Bankruptcy
• Foreclosure
• Repossession
• Default on loan
• Court judgments
• Collection items
• Past due/late payments
• Declined credit
• Credit inquiries

Deletion and Corrections

This is the heart of what you need to do to clean up your credit report. You've got your list prioritized. Now it's time to get something done. What this entails is that you write a letter to the credit bureau asking a certain item be corrected or removed. Simple right? Dear Mr. So and So, I got my report, this item is incorrect, can you please reinvestigate, etc. Sometimes though, you need to know if the letter you're writing will be a waste of time or not.

Certain items are severe enough that no correction is going to matter to your credit. They have to be removed completely to make a difference. These items include foreclosures, repossessions, collection items, court judgments, charge-offs, and settled accounts. Aim for a complete deletion or nothing on these items.

That being said, what are the hardest things to get removed? Because of easy verification, that would be bankruptcy and foreclosure. Credit lines always mention your bankruptcy. You have to get these lines cleared first, before having a hope a getting the bankruptcy removed.

Getting Results

Getting results is what you want out of this whole process. So what is it going to take? Well, sometimes it involves a little waiting, knowing about credit bureau regulations, and just how people operate at the other end. Your reinvestigation requests could be overlooked or misunderstood. To combat this, learn more about the frame of mind to have when asking a credit bureau to reinvestigate an item.

The Psychology of Credit Reports

No one likes being constantly needled about something. Credit bureaus are the same way. While they can't obstruct your reinvestigation request, you're likely to get better results if you give each dispute some time. Give at least 60 days between disputes covering the same item. Your patience often pays off.

How you approach your disputes is also important. If you go in as a bully, you'll likely get nowhere. A better way to go about it is to focus on your situation as a wronged consumer. Gaining a sympathetic ear goes much further in cleaning up your credit. If your disputes are urgent, but framed as damaging and unfair, they will have a better chance of making it to the "top of the pile".

Finally, you should always keep your cool. Your first few communication attempts should be polite, followed by more frustrated and threatening ones involving the specific dispute. Mentioning the use of things like the FTC, legal help, or your state's Attorney General should only come as later motivators, if at all. Always be careful not overstep decency boundaries.

Knowing What's Up

Sometimes the best way to fight for better credit is to know the law. The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1997 is designed to protect you. Here are some things you should know about the responsibilities of credit bureaus:

• Consumer disputes have to be resolved within a 30-day time frame
• After information has been removed from a credit report, it can only be reinserted if the information is verified and the consumer is notified within 5 days
• First instance dispute information must be considered and transmitted to consumer if complaints arise that the dispute is being ignored
• Consumers will get written notice of a reinvestigation within 5 days of completion, along with a new credit report if it was changed

The good news is that there are always additional things you can do to help clean your credit. With court judgments, always look for technicalities that can get items removed from your credit reports. It's best to involve legal help to do this. For collection items, you can also deal directly with the collection agency. Make them validate all the information concerning the credit report item. Remember, any inaccuracies mean you could have the item removed.

One thing to remember in attempting to clean up your credit report is that items can come back as "verified". This means that a creditor may have simply said the disputed information was correct. Because they've done this, you now need to prove your case. If you haven't done so already, send all the information you can to the credit bureau. They are required to pass the information on to the creditor. And if you don't succeed, always try again. A different person at the creditor may come back with a different result.

Remember that credit bureaus remove unverifiable and inaccurate information from your credit report. If creditors don't respond to a reinvestigation, credit bureaus see the disputed item as unverifiable. This protects you as a consumer. Armed with the information here, you should hopefully see a credit report that's a little prettier. Negative items should turn to positive ones and your credit outlook should become a whole lot brighter.