Most of us have had credit problems at different times in our lives but with a a couple of simple tips and techniques we can all improve and repair our credit. We all need to have decent credit to get mortgages on homes, loans on cars, qualify for credit cards and more. Here are a few steps to get you started in the right direction.

As you start make sure that you get a free report from each of the three major credit-reporting agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. You can pick up a report for free as you are entitled to a one free report each year but you may also consider a tri-merged report that has all of the information from all of three companies listed on one report. This report will cost you a little bit of money but it may be worthwhile because it will simplify the information and compile it into one place. That may make your credit repair job easier.

Next up, check out the reports for inaccurate information. Just because it is shown on the report does not mean that it is accurate. Make sure that your highest credit limits are reported. Many companies are notorious for not reporting credit limits. This influences your credit score because most of your credit score is based upon your available credit compared to the credit that you have used. Make sure that you are using only 35% or less of the available credit that you have to ensure the highest credit scores.

If you look at your report you may find duplicate accounts. While this may not necessarily be derogatory it will still negatively affect your scores because of the debt balance/credit limit ratio. Dispute and remove any duplicate accounts.

If you see collection accounts on your report make sure you dispute them if they are old or inaccurate. Make sure you do not pay off an old collection account or charge-off because the account will then be a negative on your account because the account is now reported as current. However, collection accounts are bought and sold sometimes many times over and even though the original company is supposed to remove the item from your credit often they do not. There are bound to be duplicate accounts reported because of that. If the account is recent and accurate your best bet is to pay it off but it is smart to dispute the older accounts and try to get them removed.

You may find some unknown items on your account that you know do not belong to you. This happens even more often when you have a common name but it can happen to anyone because of things like identity theft. If the credit is not yours make sure that you dispute it and get it removed from your account.

As you are repairing your credit start working towards building new positive credit. Do not get department store or furniture store credit to accomplish this, as that type of credit is not seen as positively as other credit. Get a MasterCard or a Visa. If you are unable to qualify for a regular credit card, begin with a prepaid card. You can get a prepaid credit card for as low as $300 and then work your way up to a regular credit card.

You can attempt to repair your credit yourself, however, it may serve you to consult a professional credit repair company. A company that has a specialty in credit repair has the expertise that can do it correctly the first time and you will have good credit before you know it.

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