A popular technique among illegitimate credit repair firms may do more harm than good.

Some credit repair companies promise to boost your credit score by developing a new credit identity. This method of alleged credit repair is called “file segregation.”

Under the file segregation scam, the so-called credit repair companies tell consumers to get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), or an Employee Identification Number (EIN).  Then they tell  you to use this number in place of your actual Social Security number.  What they don’t tell you is that this file segregation tactic is illegal.

Your legal rights in correcting your credit report

The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees your right to dispute inaccurate information in your credit report free of charge, so if any of the problems you’ve had are due to inaccurate information, you can file a dispute with one of the nation’s national credit reporting agencies to have it corrected or removed.

Most lenders are interested in your payment history for the past two years.   So if you begin now to pay every bill on time,  it can have a positive impact on your credit fairly quickly.  If the information is accurate, however, you’ll need to focus on building better credit for the future instead of trying to have it removed from your report.  You should review your credit report to make sure information is accurate, and dispute anything that is wrong.

If you have not yet read “Your Credit Sucks“, you should.  ”Your Credit Sucks” is a simple, five step plan to help you understand what goes into your credit report, and how to potentially boost your credit score.  It’s a free guide, pulled from the best credit articles at RateNerd.com.

One of the best first steps to getting your credit back on track is seeing what is on your credit report.  This way, you can take steps to dispute any inaccurate information that may be contained on your report and, at the same time, assess your current credit debt.  Only time and establishing a positive credit history can “clean up” your credit.

Related posts:

1. 8 Ways to Boost Your Credit Score
2. Credit Score Secret Sauce – How Credit Bureaus Calculate Your Credit Score
3. How Identity Theft Affects Your Credit Score
4. Ouch! How To Hurt Your Own Credit Score
5. “Your Credit Sucks” – An Easy 5 Step Plan For Your Credit Report

Tagged as: Credit, Credit Bureau, credit repair, credit report, credit score, Fair Credit Reporting Act

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