writing letters is the best thing you can do, all you have to do is pay for postage and delivery confirmation.

I was able to get three items removed by disputing the amount owed.

I think the best trick to raise credit score would be to not miss payments and stay out of to much debt.

The trick is never to get bad credit in the first place - to try to remedy that is very difficult. Pay cash only and you will never have bad credit.

Thank you for these tips. Can anyone recommend a good self credit repair book? With so many on the market, it is hard to tell which are reliable.

Ok I'm brand new to the forum, and frankly I mainly joined to specifically point out how pointless and lacking this thread is. I am by no means an expert or even all that knowledgeable, but I have bad credit that I'm rebuilding and I've learned a few things along the way. Now based upon the title, the audience for this thread would be people like me who have poor credit and are looking to fix it. Telling people "the trick to fixing your credit is doing it yourself, look for a book." is barely helpfull at all, and is in now way a trick and especially not tricks.

And to those who cleverly chimed in to inform would be lookers that the best way is to "not get into debt" or "not miss payments", you are just as useless. Anyone looking in this thread for advice is obviously already in debt or is guilty of not making payments on time, making your snide suggestions moot points. Congratulations on adding absolutely nothing to an already terrible thread.

What I have learned and done to help rebuild my credit is as follows. First try to dispute any collections you may have. This can get you out of paying them at all, I finally got around to doing this recently and no longer have any collections on my report. Next, looking at the remaining accounts and take into consideration how old they are and how much you owe. If they're old accounts with large balances you may consider just waiting for them to automatically drop off your report. If theyre small enough you can pay them up front, then this is your next step. You want to call the collection agency in charge of the account and tell them that you will pay half the balance owed on the account but only if they remove the collection from your credit report all together. Make sure to get it in writing. It is in their best interest to do this.

The suggestions listed are to remove negative, but you should also look into increasing positive. If you dont have a credit card then get one, you can get a secured card if you put down a deposit. Keep this card and pay off the balance every month. If you do have a balance make sure to keep it below 30% of the card's maximum limit. Then wait. It will take years. Ive had my credit card for 2 years now and its just starting to make headway. Good luck!

proboner,

I like your blunt reply here. I will point out to the rest that a good "trick" to raise credit score is to have a lot of available credit but to use a very small amount of it consistently. The ongoing use of credit is necessary for your score even if you personally have no need for it. Have 3 credit cards accounts but only use 1.

A second "trick" is keep those credit cards you don't use in your back pocket. Use them at least once a year and pay off the charge right away. The older your revolving lines of credit are, the better. You don't want these accounts to be closed out.

my friend told me this once: add your account to another person's account (who has good credit), and pay credit debt on time. after some time, you can get a much better score. but, I do not know whether it actually works.

I think the most immediate way to improve your credit score by yourself is to check your credit report, if there are some errors then you can get them right or if bad credit report is due to identity theft then it can also be quickly spotted.

But yes going for the credit repair companies is a good option just make sure that you stay away from those companies making unrealistic promises.