In this economy, credit seems to be the basis for who a person is. If you have have been turned down for a loan due to your credit rating, don't pay those "credit repair" companies to fix your credit. You can follow the same steps that they do to increase your credit score.

1. Step 1

   
   

    
   You Need All 3 Credit Bureau's Reports To Repair Your Credit

   
   

   First, You need to get copies of all three of your credit reports. You are entitled to a free copy each year from each of the "big three". They are Equifax, Transunion and Experian. However it is easiest for you, either internet or telephone, I find that the internet is the easiest as they can email your report to you. If you access them through the internet you can start the dispute process on-line which is a lot quicker than going through the postal service.

2. Step 2

   
   

    
   Equifax, Transunion and Experian Credit Bureaus

   
   

   The next step is to examine your credit reports. Make sure all information is accurate and up to date. Even if you know that some accounts are accurate, you can still dispute them. I will get into how to do this later.

3. Step 3

   
   

    
   Investigations Take Up To 30 Days So Be Patient

   
   

   Now let's dispute your negative credit items. To do this online, go to one of the three credit bureaus and open a dispute. You can dispute anything on your credit file and they have to investigate it. Follow the prompts on the online dispute. When it asks for a reason for disputing your account, check the account does not belong to me. Do this for all negative accounts. Then submit the dispute. You will receive an updated credit report and investigation results within 30 days. Most of the time creditors won't respond to the dispute and all three credit bureaus HAVE to remove all disputed accounts if the creditor does not respond within 30 days.

4. Step 4

   Finally, once all of the results are back in, you will receive updated credit reports with the disputed accounts that were not verified removed from your new credit report. Once taken off, a creditor cannot report it again to any credit reporting agency. You should also check your FICO Score which is your national credit ranking. Once the updated reports are received and items removed, it will increase your credit score as well.