Okay, so you have the copy of your credit report. After carefully reading your credit report, what should be your next move? In this article, we will discuss the things in your credit report that you should pay close attention to. In case you’ve found any one of these things to apply, take action right away. Send a letter of dispute to the credit bureau who issued your report so that an investigation can be started. This way, the issue can be cleared and your credit report can be corrected. The following account statuses are the root to most people’s credit problems. If you have any of these you may have problems obtaining credit.

Charge offs. These are charges that has been disregarded or written off by your creditors. However, a record of charge off in your credit report can be very damaging to your credit score. It means you haven’t been paying your debts and your creditor has finally given up in his attempts to collect what you owe. Obviously, other potential creditors would immediately regard you as a high-risk borrower and may decline your application.

Debt Collection Agencies. If your creditor has appointed a collection agency to collect your debts, you may have been untimely with your payments or the charges in your account are long past due. This will also lower your credit score and put you in a bad light.

Tax liens. Tax liens are caused by unpaid taxes. In this case, the government has already taken action against you to confiscate your assets, sell them, and use the money to pay your unpaid taxes. In most cases, tax liens are associated with foreclosures and unpaid mortgages.

Foreclosure. A foreclosure is when the bank seizes your home to put it up for sale and uses the money to pay your unpaid mortgage balances. A bank can file for a foreclosure if you failed to submit your mortgage for three consecutive months. It will remain on your credit report for a maximum of seven years and will have an effect in your score.

Lawsuits. If a creditor takes legal action against you, the lawsuit will also be reflected in your credit report. Obviously, such records will lower your credit score and lenders will automatically regard you as a high-risk borrower.

Bankruptcies. A bankruptcy is a very derogatory remark and the worst thing that can be contained on your credit report. Filing for bankruptcy means your debt problems has grown from bad to worst and the only thing you can do is give up on all your debts. Even if you file a chapter 13 (reorganization bankruptcy) creditors will be hesitant to extend you any new credit. It will stay in your credit report for a maximum of seven years before you can request the credit bureaus to remove it. Nevertheless, this doesn’t have to be a hopeless situation for you. It is still possible for you to rebuild your credit by opening new accounts and religiously keeping up with your payments.

About the Author Melanie Mathis is a credit analyst and a writer for 8 years. She has been participating in the programs of NHBS, Inc such as their continuous effort in giving out Free Credit Repair and Building Ebook. NHBS also has a list of recommended bad credit credit cards. Copyright 2008.