Credit Repair-analyze credit reports

Credit repair: analysis

Credit Repair: Learn the codes

Okay, so you've received your credit report, or more accurately, credit reports. Good. The very first thing you want to do is go make copies. Make a couple. You can never have too many copies of a credit report handy and you always want to have a clean copy that you haven't doodled all over handy. Go get your copies and then come back. I'll wait.

Got your credit report copies? Good. Now file away the original and put it someplace secure. Once you done that, grab a credit report and sit down to read. A credit report is written in a way you probably won't understand at first. They use all sorts of codes and numbers that the typical layman won't understand, and each credit bureau uses a different format. That's okay though, the credit report should have come with a key that explains what all the codes mean. I've prepared a generic chart that might clear it up for you, but if can't understand what a credit report code means after studying the key, don't worry. You can call the credit bureau and they are required to explain it to you. Before you resort to that, try your best on your own though. Being able to understand the codes on the credit report is very important to the process. Anyway, here's the generic credit report charts:

Loan Type Abbreviations
MN, M, 0	Monthly/Open account	An account to be paid off in full after each bill, such as American Express.
RV, R	Revolving account	An account with regular payments against a larger balance, such as most credit cards.
IN, I	Installment account	An account with a fixed number of payments of a specific amount, such as a mortgage or car loan
OT	Other Companies account	An account being collected on by a third party, such as a collection agency

Payment Record Codes
Loan Type	MN, M, O	RV, R	IN, I
Account never used or too new to rate	O0	R0	I0
Pays as agreed/Within 30 days,Never Late	O1	O1	I1
Pays or Paid in more than 30, but less than 60 days	O2	R2	I2
Pays or Paid in more than 60, but less than 90 days	03	R3	I3
Pays or Paid in more than 90, but less than 120 days	O4	R4	I4
Account over 120 due, but not in collection	O5	R5	I5
Making regular payments under wage earner or similar plan	O7	R7	I7
Repossession	O8	R8	I8
Charge off, bad debt, skip, or placed in collection	O9	R9	I9

Credit Repair: Highlight the negative items

1 An item rated I2, M2, R2 or higher, indicating late payments, collections, repossessions, or write-off.
2 An item in collection regardless of whether it's been paid off or not.
3 An Inquiry
4 Any court account such as liens, judgments, bankruptcy (regardless of type), or divorce.
5 An Item showing late payments
6 An item showing the following:
-Write-off
-Paid charge off
-Settled
-Included in bankruptcy
-Paid profit and loss writeoff
-Repossession
-Foreclosure
-Charge off

In addition, Experion/TRW will sometimes mark negative credit report items with an asterisk (*) and Equifax will sometime denote them with a series of greater than signs (>>>>). Regardless, you must go over the report thoroughly. Missing something at this stage can make the rest of the process pointless. It's like the difference between a rotten piece of fruit and a half-rotten piece of fruit. Neither one does you much good.

So now that you have your credit report all highlighted and scribbled on, what next?