Hi Fb, welcome to the board. The best place to start is by looking at the glossary then going to the hall of fame postings. In my opinion, the bullets 1,2,6,8,9,14 and 15 are a good place to start. Read and re-read and it will give you a good idea of where to start and help you to formulate questions to post for help.
Don't order the online reports to start. Order hard copies from each of the CRAs. They have more information. If you live in some states, you can get them free. If you've recently been denied credit you can get them free. Otherwise you may have to pay $8 or 9 for each report. Once you get them, you look for incorrect information that you can dispute. Once you get to that point, post some details on what you have and we can help you. In the meantime, read all of the posts at the top of the page (maybe several times) and just start reading some of the posts so you become familiar with some of the techniques. Welcome to the board, and good luck!
Okay, others will guide you through the procedures better than I, but yes...you will start by validating the debts. One thing you want to be sure of is to not clear off credit that may be adding to a good score. For instance...that credit with one final payment showing late. You may want to appeal directly to the creditor and ask for a good faith adjustment. If your payment history is good, they will often do it as a sign of good faith to your future business. A side note for sanity: Go buy a box of manila folders. create a folder for each creditor. On the cover of each folder, I staple a piece of paper to make notes. Each time I do an action on that creditor, I make a note on the cover for quick reference of the date and the action taken. Put a copy of everything you send to the creditor in that folder, as well as anything you GET from them ((including envelopes with postmarks) in there. Throw it all in a bankers box (couple bucks from an office supply store). Set this up, and you'll have yourself anice little credit repair factory that you can pull out and work whenever you have time! Trust me, it helps, especially with the creditors that go back and forth with you (and the CRA) for months before fixing something. aiki
