Erasing Bad Credit Reports – Find Out the Truth About Promises to Erase Poor Credit History

I am forever surprised at the volume of sites and adverts on the internet claiming to wipe out bad credit reports. These appeal to the same desire in all of us as those adverts promising to give us the secret of getting rich quickly without having to work at it. Sadly, both such claims are scams and the ony people likely to get rich are those taking money from you for something which cannot be done.

The only thing approaching legitimate credit repair are those handful of companies that will advise you on the things that anyone can do themselves to help improve their credit rating. If you have a bad credit rating because you have unpaid debts, or something similar, there is no-one on earth who has the power to remove that history. Steer well clear of anyone who claims to be able to do that.

There are things all of us can do to improve our credit rating, and you do not need to pay anyone else to do these for you. The first step is to check your own credit report for yourself. In the US, everyone is entitled to one free report per year, and in the UK, you can check it by taking a free trial with one of the credit agencies. The reason for doing this is so that you can examine your report for any errors. This can include things which are just plain wrong or things which were true, but should have by now been removed from your report. You need to challenge any such findings by writing to the credit agency conce
ed.

You must accept the fact that you cannot just erase a bad credit history, but there are things you can do to gradually improve your credit score. As well as the most important starting point of actually checking it for yourself, the other crucial thing to do is also the most obvious; make sure you keep up with any repayments you have on any loans, mortgage, etc. If you default or fall behind, you are never going to get a good credit score. You can start to build your rating back up by using credit cards sensibly. This is actually better than avoiding credit cards completely (and a lot better than using them badly!).

Cut up and cancel any cards you do not use (not using them is not enough, you must cancel them or the credit limit will remain on your credit rating). Use a card and make sure you set up a direct debt to pay off the balance in full every month. Don’t apply for lots of cards or other credit as every application affects your rating, so only apply for things for which are likely to be approved.