TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Credit card debt spiked last year as Americans continue to deal with higher costs and rising interest rates. Now, people are seeking help with their credit score.
“My credit is not good enough. I have a 540 and you have to have a 580 or greater,” said Michael Moore. Michael Moore has been waiting 13 months for a new apartment, but his applications keep getting denied because of his credit score.
Ashlinn Nixon reached out offering credit repair help for their family, as well as others after KGUN 9 aired his story on Monday.
“We’re going to offer 50% off of credit repair until April 18th, which is the tax deadline,” said Nixon, a credit specialist with Premier American Credit.
She got into the credit repair business when she had to fix her low credit score, and started her business Premier American Credit when she saw how many people needed help fixing their credit after the pandemic.
She said discrepancies can be disputed on your credit report.
“All three credit bureaus are supposed to be supporting the same information. You look at your credit score like ‘How is my Experian 600 but my TransUnion is 650.’ That’s because they’re not reporting everything they should be,” she said.
That’s when Nixon would help with a dispute letter. This is also something you can do yourself. By requesting your once a year free credit report, you can find discrepancies and write a dispute letter to the bureau, or bureaus.
Nixon also has a website which creates a letter for you, but a specialist can tell you the types of discrepancies.
“That’s when we come in and educate people about the things that you look for,” she said.
She said other ways to help your credit can be paying your bills on time, applying for secured credit cards, and to pay off existing credit cards before opening a new one.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.