If you have a low credit score, there’s a lot of work you can do on your own to repair your credit.
Check your credit report
Request a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com
Dispute inaccuracies with the credit bureaus and your creditors
Contact the three credit reporting agencies to dispute inaccurate information in writing through a certified letter.
Make a plan to catch up on overdue bills and start paying ALL bills on time, every time!
Making on-time payments and keeping balances low make up 65% of your credit score. This is the BEST way to improve your score!
Pay down debt
Establish a plan to pay down your current debt. Powerpay.org is a free tool to help you make a plan to reduce your debt.
Let the clock tick
The older an account is on a credit report, the weaker the effect on the score.
If you need more personalized assistance, there are two non-profit credit counseling agencies in Austin: Transformance (http://www.transformanceusa.org/) and Greenpath Financial Wellness (greenpath.com). Both see clients by appointment.
If after trying to repair your credit yourself and meeting with one of the two agencies listed above, you decide to hire a credit repair company, be wary of companies making promises to increase your credit score by 100 points. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Good credit repair companies will explain your consumer credit rights to you, will want to understand why you want to dispute items on your credit report, and will be able to explain, in detail, what they can do to represent you to the credit agencies.
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