Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Fast Credit Repair 101

There is an old saying that banks only lend to those that already have money. Over the past decade that saying has not always been true. Unfortunately for many people, they have more debt than they can pay for. If you are one of the many that is seeing your debt increase while your credit rating decreases, then you are probably also looking for some fast credit repair tips to help your credit history.

A good credit score is important because it allows you to borrow money when you need to and it helps determine the interests rate you will be charged. The higher your credit score the better chance you will have to get a loan for a new home or car. It will also help you pay less interest by getting you a lower rate. One of the best credit repair tips is to maintain your good credit score when you have one.

You can check your credit score by getting a copy of your credit history. There are three services that maintain credit histories; Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. By law you are allowed to request one free copy of your credit history from each service per year. That gives you three credit reports each year to check your credit rating and history. You should spread your requests out through out the year so you can stay on top of what is on your credit report.

Here are some credit repair tips to help you maintain or repair your credit rating:

- The most important tip is to know what is on your credit report. Periodically through out the year, request from one of the credit report services for a copy of your credit report. This report will show your credit score and the history that the score was determined from.

- If there is any incorrect information on your credit history, then address that with either the creditor or credit report source you got the report from. This incorrect information is probably lowering your credit score. Some things to look out for that may be incorrect are:

o Closed accounts that are listed as still being open
o Items older than 7 years that should have already gone off the report. Note: bankruptcy stays on up to 10 years.
o Make sure your credit limits are correct. If they are listed lower than they truly are and you have a balance on that debt, then it will lower your credit score.

- Get current on any past due accounts.

- If you find yourself facing a problem where you will miss a payment; contact the creditor immediately and try to work something out with them.

- Make payments on time and before they are due if possible. This will help lower your debt versus your credit limit and that will improve your credit score.

- Pay off credit cards.

Avoid the credit repair companies you see those advertisements for. Most of them are scams. They will make you promises of clearing up your credit scores, take your money and then not do what they promised. Your credit score will still be just as low and you will be out more money.

One of the most important things to think about if you are trying to repair your credit score is to first realize why your score is what it is. You must face what made you get in the position you are in so that you can make changes to keep from getting in the same position again once you have increased your credit score.

The last thing to remember if you are trying to improve your credit score is that there is no real super fast credit repair magic. The tips listed above will all improve your credit score and some faster than others. Repairing your credit score will take some time. By implementing these tips you should start seeing improvements in your credit score in just a matter of months. It could take several years to really improve your score. It can be done though.

Source.

A very interesting article related to Free Credit Report and Score in Canada. For more updates regarding free credit report services, check credit online score, and business credit report, subscribe to Free Credit Report and Score Canada blog.

No comments:

Post a Comment