Have you viewed your credit reports? Before you look for a free credit repair kit or buy any credit repair software, there are certain sites you should visit. The better of these websites are designed to allow consumers easier access to their credit reports. Your credit reports are records maintained by the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Information on these reports is used by lenders to determine creditworthiness and used by Fair Isaacs to determine FICO scores. Some lenders consider information on the credit reports, while some rely solely on the FICO scores.

A good resource is www.annualcreditreport.com. Some credit repair software that is currently available may not include information about access to free credit reports. Up until late 2005, consumers were required to pay for copies of there credit reports, unless they had been denied credit, were unemployed and/or expecting to seek employment within the next thirty days. The website was not created to help consumers build a free credit repair kit, but it has allowed many people to see what they needed to accomplish.

As you read over your credit reports, you may notice that some material is inaccurate. The credit bureaus undoubtedly attempt to keep accurate records, but reporting errors do happen. You have the right to dispute any information listed on your credit report. Most credit repair software and any free credit repair kit will contain sample letters to use for disputes. You do not want to dispute “good” information, only negative items. The credit bureaus are allowed thirty days to investigate your dispute. They are also allowed to ignore disputes that they consider frivolous. A fairly good sample dispute letter is available in the consumer credit section of the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

So, now your free credit repair kit contains copies of your credit reports and a sample dispute letter. What else would you find in a credit repair software package? Possibly, other suggestions for improving your credit score. As mentioned, there are three major credit bureaus and several minor credit bureaus and each one may have a different scoring system. The FICO score is the most commonly used. Your score is not included in your free credit reports, but at the time of this writing, Fair Isaacs is offering a special thirty day free trial in their Score Watch™ program. You can take advantage of this free trial and include the information that you find there in your free credit repair kit. There may even be enough information for you to improve your FICO score without buying any credit repair software.

For more information about credit repair software, for general information about credit repair and for links to relevant sites, visit the Credit Repair Blog.

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