Did you ever missed to repay your credit card bill on time? A broken credit is a result of low credit scores or missed payments. A broken credit can have severe impact on whether you will get a loan or not. You need to fix it before even potential lenders can trust you again. If the question of how long does credit repair take lingers in your mind for a long time, you have come to the right place to get your answer.
It takes time to fix a bad credit score. There is no get rich quick scheme. Similarly, there is no fix credit quick scheme. Run away from anyone who promises that. Whether you want a new credit card or home loan, bad credit can impact the lender’s decision of whether or not he will provide you the loan.
As you keep proving that you are a responsible debtor with timely payments, your credit score will go up. Thus, the credit issuing companies will be comfortable working with you again. This is exactly what should be done after getting a bad credit or to avoid a bad credit altogether.
If you are trying to figure out how long does credit repair take and hold your hand at every step, you need to get in touch with experts. If you want to do it yourself, it is easy. You just need to read this post further to cover yourself from all bases. One thing to note is that it is not always gloomy. If you have a broken credit profile or low credit score, you need to ensure that you fix things.
Let us take a quick look at credit repair process, the steps you do before and after to rebuild your credit.
How Long Does Credit Repair Take?
One thing to note is that credit repair doesn’t happen in one night. You need to take small steps to ensure that you can easily fix the credit score. The first one is visiting concerned authorities for fixing credit cards. Usually, credit repair takes more than 30 days. But, in some cases, a complete credit repair process may even take six months.
The subjective nature of credit repair and your existing credit profile condition will have an important role in determining how long does credit repair take. Inaccurate reports can damage your credit score as much as a history of late payments.
Just make sure to read and provide all documentation to reduce any back and forth with the credit reporting agencies. If you provide everything and work with them, it should be a simple process. Although, it can become quite frustrating if credit bureaus are not responding faster.
If you have a proper approach and strategy, it will become easier for you to remove unnecessary items from your credit report. In a bad credit repair situation, you should make the most of annual free credit card report. Then, go for continuous credit monitoring services that alert you for every increase or decrease in credit score.
Now that I have told you what to expect in case you have to repair your credit, let’s take a look at how the credit repair process and what you need to do.
How To Start Your First Dispute?
The first step to credit card repair is checking your credit card reports. Checking the credit card reports will make it easier for you to check for all potential mistakes and errors.
You need to download the credit card reports from an authoritative website. There a lot of spam websites out there fishing for your personal information. So, click here to get directly taken to Annual Credit Report Website.
According to Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have right to get one free credit per year from each credit bureau. Major credit reporting agencies in US include Experian, Equifax and Transunion.
Credit card reports are usually available in three parts. The person raising the dispute must download all the reports. Check your credit card report thoroughly for flaws and errors before filing for a dispute. Usually, it is going to take one to two hours.
Once you have checked your credit card reports, make sure to file a dispute letter with all essential documents. You need to submit your credit card report to credit bureaus.
The time for filing the dispute will vary depending on your financial records and the nature of the dispute you are trying to resolve. This process may be time-consuming and can last from a few hours to even days, depending on your proving the case.
Many people prefer fixing credit cards on their own, which makes it easier for them to determine how to work. If you are paying for the service, the repair will occur pretty quickly. The repair process usually starts when you have filed the dispute. The credit bureau will respond to your dispute within 30 days. Make sure to keep an official record of the delivery date.
Next, let’s see how to work with credit bureaus after filing a dispute.
How To Work With Credit Bureaus After Disputing?
The credit bureau usually takes 30 days to respond to your query. If required, you will need to submit more documents to prove your dispute. Make sure to submit a copy of documents and not the original documents. Providing the company with all necessary documents will help companies to verify the claim and remove the flaw from your credit card report.
If there are multiple mistakes in your credit card reports, you need to address them individually. In rare cases, you may have a lot of mistakes in your credit card reports because of long term negligence. Hence, in situations like this, you will need to submit more than one dispute letter.
I strongly suggest to send documents for all issues at the same time. Just make sure to differentiate or send them in different files in the same postage. In such cases, you can expect for faster resolution in terms of time taken to solve multiple issues since they are dealt together.
As per the given timeline, credit repair will take around three to six months. But if you need to fix only a few mistakes every year, the process isn’t long and will be finished within a month. But, if you have a lot of mistakes in your credit report, the fixing process will take a lot of time.
As suggested earlier, many people wonder how long credit repair take on their own. Well, if you are doing it all by yourself, the credit card company will guide you through and help you get an idea of how long this will take.
After understanding the timeline of fix and working with credit bureaus, you need to educate yourself on how to rebuild credit while your credit repair process is in progress
How To Rebuild Credit While Repairing Credit Is In Progress?
Credit repair will happen faster if you have a relatively good credit score even after the credit score hit. If you have a bad credit score below 600, it may take time of 3-6 months to restore your credit. But sometimes, it may also take one year, depending on your credit score.
How long does credit repair take completely depends on when you start re-building credit. When you’re in the process of removing unnecessary items, you can always continue building a positive credit. A history of positive payment will eventually lead to less credit card debt loans.
Credit repair isn’t an overnight process and will require extreme patience. It would help if you gave yourself enough time to improve certain things. Rebuilding credit with extreme care while working on repairing credit is the fastest way to restore your credit score to a good level.
Just keep working with your credit card company and clearing up debt and making timely payments while you wait for the resolution from credit bureau.
Are you rebuilding credit without much financial knowledge? You need to get the complete picture. Read on to understand how specifically improve your credit situation when you opted to go into credit repair process.
How Long Will Negative Information Appear On Your Credit Report?
The negative information that will affect your credit card report include missed payments on your account, debt not paid, account forwarded to collection agencies, or even bankruptcy. There can also be foreclosures that appear as a negative mark on your credit report. All these will have a considerable impact, and thus, this information will stay in your credit card report for around seven years.
It is not easy to get rid off negative information on your credit report. So, you need to work diligently to avoid them. Make sure you have a constant stream of communication and commitment going with your creditors, so they are willing to work with you and recover the debt. You need to be a trustworthy with long credit history for this to happen.
Individuals wondering how long does credit repair take will also need to focus on removing the negative information. Fixing your credit card and building the report will play an essential role in getting rid of negative information. The effect of negative information will minimize closer to the seventh year mark and will completely fall off your report after that.
But, institutions with which you have negative credit may never approve for another product of their company again. For example, if you default on your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, you may not get another Chase product again in your life. They store these electronic records and check against them for your creditworthiness.
After this step, you need to pay attention to four important factors that affect credit score to rebuild credit profile slowly.
Pay Attention To Factors Affecting The Credit Score
There are exact criteria that affect your credit score, but some of the prominent ones that have a huge impact include
Payment history: one missed payment can hurt your credit score. Before providing you a loan, the lenders need assurance that you will pay back on time.
Credit utilization: The credit utilization ratio will help to check if the score is fine or not. Using more than 30% of your credit will have a negative impact.
Credit mix: A good credit mix can lead to a positive impact on your account. So, if at all you need to get credit, get it from something you don’t currently own.
New credit: Too many accounts are a great indication of risk. Lenders may think you are rotating or floating credit among multiple new cards or products. This can eventually harm your credit score.
Exercise Patience: Rebuilding Credit Takes Time
One thing to know is that credit repair isn’t an easy process. None of it happens at one go. It is necessary to take into consideration all the factors to avoid any disadvantages.
Rebuilding a credit card may take a month for some, while a year or more for many. It entirely depends on your credit card score and performance. If after sometime you don’t see any improvement in credit score doing positive rebuilding steps, it is time to engage with experts who can help you find out how long credit repair take.
Make sure to take small steps that can play an important role in boosting your credit card score. Here are some ways that can enhance your credit score include the following
- Make bill payments on time
- Clear all your debt
- Pay the outstanding amount
- Do not go for too many new credits
- Raise a dispute for inaccurate information on credit and work with credit bureaus
Concluding Thoughts – How Long Does Credit Repair Take?
Credit repair is only a simple process if you have simple mistakes. In case of complex mistakes, you will need to submit documentation and prove you are not the one at fault. It takes much time and effort from your side to make sure every thing works good. People with low credit scores may often have a tough time fixing their broken credit.
It is necessary to analyze credit reports on your own before filing a dispute. If the reasons are valid, you can move with the process and fix your card soon.
How long does credit repair take depend on a number of factors such as regularity of loan payments, credit card score and more. It may take anywhere from a month for simple mistakes to around 6 months for slightly complex mistakes and a year or more if it needs thorough investigation or if legal cases are pending.
I’m sorry if you are going through the credit repair process currently and wish you good luck to come out in flying colors soon!
Thanks for the timely article. I’m going through this painful credit repair process and didn’t know what to expect. You clearly laid out steps and helped me know what to do next.
I’m totally glad! This is why I write and try to be useful to people searching for a particular answer.
Thanks. I need to repair my credit and landing here has been an absolute joy.
I’m glad that you found it useful for you!