I would like to warn you that you're going to come across many web sites offering you information that will express to you that they can offer magical solutions to get you out of your credit troubles quickly, and I'm hoping after you read my article, you will take the common sense steps to repairing your credit, and becoming debt free without getting sucked in to all the hype that's floating out there!

When it comes to determining what type of credit repair is required, you have to first understand how you got into debt in the first place. Is it because you don't know how to control your compulsive and excess spending? Did you over-extend your credit due to an unexpected circumstance, which forced you to use your credit limits beyond your financial means to survive until you can rectify the situation?

The questions above are important to answer, and they need to be answered before you can move forward to seek the help you truly need. You should know where you stand in your spending and financial situation. If you know you have a compulsive spending habit that's currently spiralling out of your control, you will need different services than if your financial problems are a once in lifetime occurrence that was totally out of your control, but you are responsible enough fix the problem, but need some guidance. When you come to terms of your present situation, you can then start working towards a repair plan, and determine whether you're going to need a specialized credit repair company, or a debt management service to get you back on track.

What You Need To Do And Know When You're Applying For The Credit Report!

Creditors and financial institutions always seem to show compassion and full interest in your life when they're giving you a credit card or loan, but when you start missing payments, you will quickly find out how harsh and uncompassionate they can be towards your monetary situation, and in most cases they will not care how you got into debt, because they run a business and you're either an asset, or you are a deficit to their financial bottom line.

With that in mind, you need to contact a credit bureau, (recommended once every six months), and get them to submit to you a free credit report, and the reason I say free is because there should be no charge for your report, and the only costs (if any) should be postage and maybe a small processing fee. However, you may opt use a professional reporting service that will do this on your behalf, and we can talk about your options later.

To obtain your personal credit report, you need to submit a request in writing, and provide the credit bureau your personal information to prove your identity, and when everything checks out ok, they will send you a report to your home via mail. When you receive your credit information, normally in 2-3 weeks, you may be overwhelmed if you have never seen a credit report before! You'll be asking yourself, how do they get all this information on me, and who sends all this detailed information to them?

The process is like this: When you sign-up for a credit card, get a loan, or obtain cards from retail stores, you're automatically placed in the bureau's database, and when you make payments, pay off loans, or miss a payment, it's all recorded with the bureau, and this information is what they use to determine your credit rating and develop a score on your current and past activities.

You need to extensively check your credit and debt history on your report, and also understand the credit score they issue you to see where you stand in regards to your credit rating. These scores and ratings are updated when credit card companies, banking institutions, and retail stores submit information on your activity, which could be weekly, monthly, and even quarterly. Lending institutions and credit card companies can access this personal information of yours, and they will use this information to calculate your overall credit worthiness to make a final decision on your acceptance or rejection of loans and credit cards you may be applying for at the time.

If you're not sure whether your credit rating is in an ugly position or not, the first thing you need to do is go over your report with a fine-tooth comb, and see if there are any Report Errors!

You would be amazed how many times a card company or retail business accidentally submitted wrong reporting information that would negatively affect your credit history. If you don't check often, you may never catch them in time, and when you go to apply for a car loan or mortgage, you'll be in shock and disbelief when they turn your application down!

Many people end up being extremely embarrassed when they walk into their local bank for a personal loan or mortgage, or fill out an application for a credit card, because they didn't keep on top of their bureau reports. Unfortunately you found out the bad news about your credit history from these 3rd party sources, that you currently have a delinquent account, or missed payments, and it may not be wrongdoing! Once you receive this information and get over the shock, it can take several weeks if not months to fix these errors listed, and your application will surely be delayed.

If you're having problems knowing what steps to take to fix your errors, you do have options to contact professional repair companies in your local neighbourhood, and even online, you can easily find qualified companies that can help you clean up your reports. Keep in mind that you would be paying them a fee for their services, and it would be determined by how extensively you want theme to get involved. The benefits of having expert people are that they know exactly what necessary steps to take, and they can fully assist you in cleaning your credit errors in a timely manner. There are never any guarantees, but at least you have someone that knows what they're doing, and this type of service may be to your advantage.

I hope you understand that the final decision is always yours at the end of the day. Never feel pressured to use any company that you're not sure about, and I recommend that you view all your options and see what suits your needs best under your current situation. In the end, if you determine you're beyond the scope of repairing your credit history, then the next steps will be to contact a non-profit or government debt counseling service, or you can seek some online non-profit debt service companies that can help you determine the next steps to your financial recovery. If it's truly too late, and you possibly have to declare bankruptcy, they will help you in making the necessary decisions on what to do next.

I would like for you to understand one thing after reading this article, and that is no matter what you're going through today, your HEALTH is the most important to you! So please promise me that you will take care of yourself, because in the end nothing else matters if you're allowing your current credit situation to deplete your well-being physically and mentally due to an accumulation of bad stress. Now that you're on the right path to repairing the bad credit listed on your reports, I encourage you to follow my Part II of this article find out the next steps to take in repairing your credit or debt situation: