Before you begin to try to remove your bad credit, you need to know just how bad off you are really. You need to be able to figure out where you went wrong so you can figure out which direction you need to follow next.

The first thing you need to do when you are ready to begin the repair work on your credit is to obtain a credit report. There are places on the internet the will gladly take your money for reporting your credit. There are a few free sites where you can get a report from one of the three major credit-reporting agencies.

A good way to get a free credit report is to be turned down for new credit. When you are denied credit, you have the right to a free report of your credit. The instructions for obtaining the free report should be included in your rejection letter.

Once you have your credit report in hand, you will be able to look at it and see when things turned sour. Check for inaccuracies and be sure to notify the creditors immediately of any errors. Contact the companies and find out what you can do to remove the bad marks against your credit. You will be surprised at how willing they are to help.