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Credit is an essential tool to most people's lives. A good credit rating allows for many things that we take for granted: having a credit card, being able to rent property, qualifying for in-store financing etc. . . If you fail to make payments towards a creditor this will affect your credit report collected by your credit bureau, and will make doing the above things difficult if not impossible. When your credit rating becomes poor, you must take steps as soon as possible to repair it. Credit repair can be a slow process, and requires that you build a better credit rating over time. Here are some steps you should take:

1) Add accounts to your credit report. If you are denied for credit, you should immediately obtain your credit report from the credit bureau in question. Once you have the report you should examine it closely for errors. In the event that there are no errors, you may find that your credit rating is "poor" not because of outstanding debts, but because you don't have enough of a credit history to inspire a good rating.

Many types of credit from smaller organizations are not tracked by credit bureaus. Things like gas-cards or department store cards are not usually on your credit report. As long as the account is verifiable, most credit bureaus will add it to your file. They are not obligated to do so, and thus usually charge a fee for this service. By adding these accounts to your credit report you will establish a better credit rating.

2) Credit Counseling. Once you become mired in debt, the process can feed on itself, and it can be difficult to get out of it. If you find yourself having continual problems with your credit repair, you should consider credit counseling. It's important to notice the distinction between a credit counselor and a credit repair company. The former is usually a non-profit service that offers advice and guidance on credit repair, while the latter are for-profit companies of dubious ethics that generally charge fees for steps that you can easily take care of yourself. A good credit counselor will help you make a realistic budget and stick to it, and help you make practical decisions with regards to your outstanding debts.

By adding whatever accounts you have in good standing to your credit report, and seeking credit counseling if necessary, you will make headway into your ultimate goal of credit repair. The difficult thing about credit is that it takes a long time to build a good credit rating, and a very short time to destroy it. When your credit rating has been marred you have to understand that there is no quick solution: you will have to build your credit rating again - essentially from scratch. If you avoid the temptations of credit repair companies that promise a quick and easy credit repair for a fee, and think instead of long term changes to your budgeting and spending habits, you will - over time - be successful in credit repair.