Many people are stressed with low credit scores and terrible credit reports and the current economic conditions are just making it worse. Many of the usual rules of the past are becoming obsolete and many people may not know precisely where to turn or what to do about credit problems.

 Few people realize just what a credit score is composed of. For example it is not common knowledge that your credit score can be reduced by inquiries on your account and by your debt to credit ratio. The fact is that you are considered to be riskier if it looks as if you are shopping for credit so inquiries reduce your score and if you have credit and use it you are also considered a higher risk. In order to have a high credit score you need to reduce your debt to less than about 15 to 35% of the credit you have available and no more.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act or the FCRA was enacted to protect consumers from incorrect reporting on their credit. Under the FCRA you have the right to be given one free report from every one of the main credit reporting agencies every single year. You ought to take advantage of this and get a free report every year so that you can track your credit and make sure that it is being reported accurately.

One reason is because it is estimated that as many as 75% or more of all credit reports contain mistakes and inaccuracies. These mistakes can cause you many difficulties if they come up when you are trying to obtain credit. You can keep away from many of these problems if you obtain your report every year and check it out for mistakes and inaccuracies.

As per the FCRA you what's more have the right to dispute mistakes or inaccuracies on your credit report. When the credit bureaus receive your dispute they have 30 to 45 days to provide evidence that what they are reporting is truthful and accurate. It has been estimated that as many as 45% of the disputes received are not verified within the time frame. If the reporting is not verified within the time frame it must be deleted from the report. As a consumer you can use that fact to your benefit is you take the time to issue the dispute.

There are also other things that you can do to increase your credit score and credit rating. Because the debt to credit ratio is so important you can get your credit limits increased or you can pay down your balances so that your debt does not exceed 15 to 35% or your available credit. You should also completely avoid any inquiries into your credit. If you must shop for credit be very selective and only shop where you know you will get the credit and then have the creditor combine the inquiry into the loan reporting. That way you will not be showing inquiries.

You can work to repair and better your credit on your own or you can hire a professional that specializes in credit repair. If you do that make sure that you are getting a company that is reputable with a respectable track record. Do not squander money to a scammer because it will just cause you more troubles in the future.

But don't think that credit repair in only a myth because it is not. Congress passed the FCRA so that discrepancies and problems could be removed from credit reports and you need to make sure that your own credit report looks as good as feasible.