The three parts: identify, repair, renew
Every credit cleanup follows the same three parts. Work them in order and you always know where you are.
Identify
Pull your free reports from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only federally authorized source. Free weekly reports are now permanent. Then sort every item into two piles: dispute it, or pay it on purpose.
Repair
Dispute what is wrong at every bureau that lists it. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a bureau generally has 30 days to investigate your dispute, and it must correct or delete information it cannot verify. Track every deadline so nothing slips.
Renew
Pay what is left in a smart order, ask for any discount or deletion agreement the right way, and get every deal in writing before you pay a cent. Then keep balances low enough that the report stays clean.
Start with the problem you actually have
The triage wizard asks what is on your report and whether it is accurate, then gives you that issue’s step sequence, its letter, and its clock. It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Prefer to read first? Every issue also has a plain language guide: not my account, wrong late payment, collection account, charge-off, duplicate entry, identity theft, high utilization, and hard inquiry you do not recognize.
Free, compared to the paid options
Most people find this site while looking at a service that charges monthly. The comparisons are honest, including when the paid option fits better: Dovly, Credit Versio, DisputeBee, and Lexington Law. Or read the straight answers first: how long a dispute takes, whether paying a collection removes it, what a 609 letter really is, and more.
What this site will never tell you
No score promises
Nobody can honestly promise your score will rise by a set amount, and any company that does is telling you something the law and the math do not support. Scores move when accurate information changes and time passes.
No removal guarantees
Accurate negative information cannot legally be removed just because you dispute it. It generally stays for up to seven years, and bankruptcy for up to ten. What can be fixed is information that is wrong, incomplete, or cannot be verified.
No filing for you
You file every dispute yourself, online at the bureau or by mail. That keeps you in control of your own information, and it is exactly how the free process the law describes works.