Consolidate Debt and Repair Your Credit - Increase Your Credit Score

People usually prefer to keep problems with debt to themselves; however, this is
usually not the right thing to do. From the lenders who service your debt, to
professional organizations that specialize in debt relief and credit counseling,
professional help is available. If you prefer the "do it yourself" method, learn
your rights in dealing with your creditors. With a sound plan, you can eliminate
your debt and improve your credit.

Receiving harassing phone calls from creditors can ruin your peace of mind. It
is bad enough having to deal with debt problems that may have resulted from
emergency medical expenses or other unforeseen circumstances; having your
privacy invaded at home by bill collectors is unnecessary.

The US federal government offers protection for people who are having
problems paying their debt. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates
the way creditors collect debts, and prohibits abusive practices by debt
collectors. For instance, a creditor may only call between the hours of 8:00 AM
and 9:00 PM, your time. Your creditor may not publish you as a person who
doesn't pay their debt, and you can prevent them from calling you at work.

Lifeline Debt Solutions is a leader in the industry of credit and debt. They offer a
broad range of programs, counseling, tools, and insight to their customers. Their
service targets unsecured debt, including credit cards, personal loans, or other
debt not guaranteed by the pledge of any collateral. They offer two programs:

-- Debt Consolidation Program: With debt consolidation, you pay the consolidation
service a single bill, which gets divided up and paid to your creditors. This helps you
pay your bills on time every month, and typically lowers your interest rates.
Consolidation is the best choice for individuals with many creditors or high interest.

-- Debt Settlement Program: This program requires that you pay money into a
special account. The settlement service negotiates a lower payoff amount with your
creditors, and when you pay enough to the account to satisfy your debts, they get
automatically paid off. Settlement is better for those with high levels of debt.

Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make
sure your credit history is as clean as possible. Before you start house hunting, get
copies of your credit report and verify that the information about you is accurate. If
you find the reports contain erroneous information that may adversely affect your
credit score, you have the right to dispute the information and have negative items
removed.

While you have the right to challenge negative items appearing on your credit
reports, it is often difficult to get items removed by yourself. The credit reporting
agencies are not funded by the federal government, but are corporations that exist
to make a profit. They don't earn a profit if too many people are occupying their
resources having negative items removed from their credit. The credit bureaus will
employ a variety of tactics to thwart your efforts including stalling, and requesting
that you submit a mountain of paperwork in support of your claim.

Fortunately, the law is on the side of consumers. The Fair Credit Reporting Act of
1971 makes credit reporting agencies accountable for the information they report.
As a result of the FCRA, negative items may only remain on a credit report for up to
seven years, except for bankruptcy, which may be reported for up to ten years. The
law also requires that the credit agencies remove any item which cannot be verified
within 30 days of receiving a dispute.

If you have inaccuracies on your credit report, address them as soon as possible to
avoid paying higher mortgage rates than necessary. Remove inaccurate items
from your credit report, and shore up your credit so you can get the best possible
rate on your loan.