While it is very easy to lower your credit score (a late payment here, a forgotten bill there), it is much harder to raise it back up. Bad credit often means higher interest rates, being denied for student loans, or even being turned down by a potential landlord. This article will help you avoid these things with credit repair.
Pay every bill and pay it on time. If you don’t have the money, lean on friends and family to help if you can. It takes a long time to recover from even one late or missed payment. Above all of your bills, keep your credit cards and loans paid and on time.
Obtain a copy of your credit report at regular intervals, and maintain a careful watch for agencies to report your repair efforts. If you are clearing up negative issues on your credit history, monitoring your report allows you to verify that agencies are correctly administering information on your status and that additional negative reports are not being made.
Always pay your bills on time. Not paying your bills on time will cause needless late fees. There’s no need wasting money on fees by simply paying bills when they are due. Be in charge of your finances, pay your bills on time, and don’t throw your money away on late fees.
To keep your credit record acceptable, do not borrow from different institutions. You might be tempted to take a loan from an institution to pay off another one. Everything will be reflected on your credit report and work against you. You should pay off a debt before borrowing money again.
Do not believe those advertisements you see and hear promising to erase bad loans, bankruptcies, judgments, and liens from your credit history forever. The Federal Trade Commission warns you that giving money to those who offer these types of credit repair services will result in the loss of money because they are scams. It is a fact that there are no quick fixes to repair your credit. You can repair your credit legitimately, but it requires time, effort, and sticking with a debt repayment plan.
There are many books and websites about how to repair credit. Taking the time to learn how to go through this process will be quite beneficial to you. All of the information that you find will be quite valuable to you either now to repair your credit, or sometime in the future to avoid having to go through this again.
Bringing the balance on your credit cards below 50 percent of your limit will help improve your credit. Lenders often look to see how much credit you use compared to what the limit is on your card. Ideally, it should be between 30 and 50 percent. Remember, lowering the amount of interest you pay is not the overall goal; you want to improve your credit rating.
Remind yourself to be persistent when you are trying to repair your credit on your own. These matters take time to be done properly because there are specific rules and procedures that you must follow when dealing with the credit bureaus. If you understand and follow these procedures correctly, you will see positive results.
Instead of trying to settle your credit problems on your own, get yourself consumer credit counseling. They can help you get your credit back on track by giving you valuable advice. This is especially good for those who are being harassed by debt collectors who refuse to work with them.
If you find any errors on your credit report, you should dispute them. Compose a letter of dispute to every agency that reported errors, and include as much documentation as you can. Make sure that you send the letter via recorded delivery, so that you can prove that the credit agency receives it.
If you are looking to build credit then you should get a short term installment loan. These are small loans that can usually be paid back with small, automatic payments. They look very good on your credit report and they will not be very hard to pay back.
To pay your credit card bills, you should set up a direct debit through your checking account. You can prearrange with your credit card company to take out a fixed amount each month. This will prevent you from forgetting to pay the bill, and do damage to your credit score.
When you need to repair your credit, make sure you keep using some credit. That is, don’t let your credit status go inactive because you aren’t making any payments on anything. To re-establish your credit you need to keep making payments on time, which will change your credit rating faster than not making payments at all.
Get rid of negative items on your credit report by working out a repayment plan. You should look for negative items and contact the company directly to set up a payment plan. If you can’t pay all of the negative items at once, start working on one at a time.
Don’t ever pay a credit repair service anything, especially a large deposit, up front. The Federal Credit Repair Organizations Act actually prohibits any agency from accepting payment before the credit repair services are rendered. Any company demanding payment up front is by definition breaking the law, and is probably only a scam.
One of your first steps in credit repair should be creating a budget. Determine how much money you have coming in, and how much is going out. While creating your budget, take into account your financial goals as well, for example, setting up an emergency fund and paying down debt.
As mentioned earlier, having bad credit can negatively impact your lifestyle. Getting your credit score back up can make you a less risky (and therefore a more attractive) candidate during interviews, applications for housing, and requests for loans. Using these credit repair tips can be extremely beneficial if you would like to raise your credit score.
