credit repair, credit, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, FCRA, credit reporting

Repairing Your Credit After Bankruptcy
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Justine_Medina]Justine Medina

Once you've filed for bankruptcy, the best thing you can do to repair your credit is to keep your debt low and always be sure to pay your bills on time, and whenever possible, in full. The best way to do this is to assure smart budgeting.

You may also have legal options available to you after you've filed for bankruptcy, or even if you've only been in financial difficulty, which can help you repair your credit and can help you to move forward. One of the most important laws is the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FCRA of 1970. One of the primary protections of the Act is that it allows every person access to their credit report once per year from each of the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

Once you obtain your report, the next step is to review it very carefully; it's estimated that 3 out of 4 reports contain some sort of inaccurate information. The Act also provides means for correcting these mistakes by allowing you to challenge any information you believe to be incorrect. If you challenge something and the information isn't verified within a certain period of time, the Act even requires that it be automatically removed. You can complete this process of challenging the information on your own or you can hire a professional to assist you; it is a very time consuming process oftentimes, so you must decide how much time you are able and willing to devote to the process when deciding whether or not to seek out help.

One thing to note about credit repair is that the 'clock' starts for leaving that account and information on your credit report from the date of the last activity. That means that if you have a written off or delinquent account remain inactive for a number of years and then pay it off, the information on that account has it's time limit reset from the date of payoff causing a negative piece of credit information to last far longer on your report. When dealing with post bankruptcy repair, you won't need to worry about anything discharged in bankruptcy, the time will begin to run at discharge, but you should be particularly cautious of any debts not covered and addressed in the bankruptcy proceedings.

As you move forward in an effort to repair your credit, it is also helpful to be aware that there are protections available to you from debt collectors as outlined in the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Protection Act) that protects you from excessive and inappropriate collection methods. You can set what times collection calls can come and where, especially if you do so in writing. Generally they're allowed to call any number they have between 8AM and 9PM. However, if you make them aware of a certain time or place that calls would be inappropriate; they are not allowed to call.

No matter how many methods you use to rebuild your credit, it is a very long and time consuming process where you have to gradually show lenders that you can be trusted financially and that you've changed your situation. Always make sure that your credit report is completely accurate and be especially conservative with credit card and loan use. Always make your payments on time and be sure not to charge or borrow more than you can pay off in full within a given billing period. Over time, your credit will gradually begin to repair, you'll save money by obtaining lower interest rates and you'll be able to move forward in a much more financially stable situation.

The forgoing article was drafted by Justine Medina for the [http://www.goldsteinandclegglaw.com/bankruptcy_blog]Law Office of Goldstein and Clegg, LLC, a Bankruptcy law firm North of Boston

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