Credit repair is a process. Often a very long one. And you need to plan every step of the way.

There are as many ways to approach credit repair as there are credit files. Every situation is different. Different creditors, different credit bureaus, etc.

Some people prefer to dispute all the bureaus at once, others try to clean one report at a time. Some work on multiple accounts on each report, while others do them one at a time.

But the best way to look at the credit repair process is as a whole. From the beginning, you should look at each piece of information you want deleted as a task that must be done before your credit repair is complete.

You can do as many or a few of the accounts as you feel comfortable with at any given time. Each account is but a battle in the credit repair war.

Here a some very basic guidelines.

1) Dispute everything with the credit bureaus first. If the item gets deleted there is no need to involve the creditor. Many times you will get easy deletions.

2) If the credit item is verified by the credit bureau, then dispute it with the creditor or collection agency using the appropriate methods for each.

3) If both of them verify the account and refuse to delete it from your credit file, you will be forced to resort to building leverage against them by collecting violations of the law for which you could sue them.

Your strategy should always be to go for the easy deletions first. Give the basic dispute process a chance. It is a crooked and unfair process, but items often get deleted anyway.

You should stick to the older items on each credit report first. They are generally easier to remove.

Fight the collections early on as well. They are the most damaging on a per item basis.

Each credit repair situation is different and there are no hard fast rules. Look at your own goals and needs and decide on the appropriate course of action.