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by: JayAnderson
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It is amazing to think how many different areas of your life are affected by the value of your credit score. Your credit score is calculated by looking at your credit history, and if your credit score is too low, you will be assessed higher interest rates, and may even be declined for credit, a mortgage, even car insurance or a new job. There are multiple reasons why your credit score might be low.

If you do not pay bills on time, default on payments, have filed bankruptcy or have any kind of judgment against you, you may have a low credit score. This does much more than just preventing you from getting prime rates on loans or opening new lines of credit, but can also hamper you in getting a mortgage or even getting a new job.

There are many different ways to raise your credit score, however, the first step you want to take is checking over your credit report. Each year, in the United States, you can get a free report from each one of the three credit bureaus. It is a good idea to take advantage of this and look over the reports very thoroughly. You may find that not all of the information on the report is correct. It is a well known fact that a large percentage of consumer credit reports contain errors, and if you do not dispute those errors, they will never get corrected.

Errors are introduced into your credit report in a variety of ways. Account numbers get transposed, there is human error and clerical error, and also computer error. If you see an account you do not recognize, this may be the sign of identity theft. Having all these errors on your credit report will cause your credit score to be calculated lower. Endeavor to get those errors corrected, which is not all that difficult.

However, regardless of rather it is easy or hard to fix the errors on your credit report it is absolutely necessary in order to raise credit score and move on with your financial life. The first thing you need to do is go through your credit reports and identify each and every error contained on the reports.

In the process of error correction, you may need to get proof. For example, the report may indicate an account that is not paid off but you know for a fact that it is. Frequently the original creditor will provide the proof you need, but most times you simply need to dispute the error, since the burden of proof is on the creditor.

To dispute an item, you should send a letter to the credit bureau that is reporting the error, a separate letter to each one. Some people even say to send only one dispute per letter, so if you have five disputes, you should send five letters, but I don't think that is necessary or saves any time. Be clear about what is being reported incorrectly and how it should be reported. Retain a copy of what you send them and follow up. They have 30 days to either verify the information or remove it.

You may be surprised at how much smoother your financial life may be when you get these errors corrected. You will be an attractive candidate for new credit offers being offered at very attractive interest rates. Putting forth the time and effort to get the errors on your credit reports corrected is most definitely worth the time to do so.

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