Saturday, August 16, 2008

Odds Are Good That Your Credit Score Is Lower Than It Should Be

Category: Finance, Credit.

The majority of Americans have errors and other unverifiable information on their credit reports that could be dragging down their credit score. The unfortunate thing is that odds are you will be yet another one of the millions of Americans who will continue to suffer with an unfair credit score because you will do nothing to repair your credit.



Odds are good that your credit score is lower than it should be. Most Americans want to believe the credit reporting system works. But study after study shows the credit reporting system frequently does not work. That people earn their bad credit and there is nothing they can do about it but wait for seven years. This is why the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer protection legislation give you the right to do something about it- the right to make sure your credit score is as good as it can be. It certainly can t be because they don t understand the importance of a high credit score. So why is it that, though everyone has the right to dispute the negative items in their credit reports, very few people do?


After all, it doesn t take a genius to figure out the benefits of a good credit score when it can be the difference between paying$ 2, 500/ month and$ 2, 000/ month for the exact same house. Too many people assume the credit reporting system is some official government bureaucracy with an extensive system of checks and balances designed to ensure the safekeeping of their credit history. More likely, the reason people do not repair their credit is a mix of apathy and lack of understanding of the credit reporting system. This couldn t be further from the truth. Instead, for, they are massive- profit corporations that collect personal information from your creditors and make money by selling this information in the form of your credit reports. The credit bureaus at the center of the credit reporting system are not official organizations.


So now you are asking yourself, how do they ensure this information is correct? The answer to both of these questions is: they don t. If a creditor reports something that is wrong, how do the credit bureaus make sure it doesn t end up on your credit reports? Your creditors report information, the credit bureaus record it, and for most people, the story ends there. The way the credit reporting system is set up, there is only one person who will ever bother to check up on your credit reports- and that person is you. Nobody at the credit bureaus or in the government is going to make sure your credit reports are accurate. You are the missing, and ultimately the most important, piece of the credit reporting puzzle.


It is your right and your responsibility to dispute the questionable negative items in your credit reports and the sooner you start, the better. Making sure your credit score is where it should be is your responsibility and repairing your credit reports is a task you will have to initiate because no one out there will do it for you. You can work to repair your credit on your own or you can enlist the help of a credit repair law firm like Lexington Law. Whether you attempt to repair your credit on your own or with the help of a credit repair expert, by taking an active role in the credit reporting system, you can ensure your credit score is as good as it can be and that you have the advantage over the millions of people out there with bad credit who haven t taken action to do anything about it.

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