How to Improve Credit Scores?

By Wayne D. Richardson

If your credit score needs a boost, you can rebuild it without professional help as you already know that Report is the main important thing which affects Your Score. Learn what you can do today to improve your score? Paying off your installment loans (mortgage, auto, student, etc.) can help your scores but typically not as dramatically as paying down -- or paying off -- revolving accounts.

Get and Review Your Credit Report.Everyone living in the United States is entitled to a free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. These bureaus are Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. You can get free credit reports from them annually. Any additional reports come at an extra charge. There are several free credit report websites where you can get these reports from one centralized location.

How You Can Improve Your Credit Score? Credit scores fluctuate based on how you manage your available credit. Steps you can take to improve your score include:Pay your bills on time. Recent payment history is more important to potential creditors than payments made several years ago. Maintain a timely bill payment strategy for at least six months to see an improvement in your credit score. The longer your payments are on time, the more your score will improve.

Reduce your outstanding debt. This doesn't mean to move the debt to lower interest credit cards; it means to reduce, or payoff, existing revolving credit accounts.Reactivate an old card to enhance your card history. Credit history, or how long you have been using credit accounts, plays a role in the overall credit score. If you have an old, open account with no activity, chances are that the creditor is not reporting any information to the credit bureaus. The longer you have been using credit responsibly, the more worthy you will seem.

Use more than one type of credit account. A combination of installment loans (car payments) and revolving credit accounts show your ability to manage different types of credit.stop applying for loans. New credit inquiries (hard pulls) can have an impact on your credit score. A hard pull is when a potential creditor evaluates your credit report for a loan and, in some cases, a savings account. Hard pulls remain on your credit report and can lower your credit score five points for up to six months, according to lendingtree.com. Soft pulls do not affect your credit score; card solicitations and some mortgage loan pre-approvals are examples of soft inquiries. Get a Free Copy of Your Credit Report

If you are looking to improve your credit one of the first things you need to do is get a copy of your personal credit report from all the major credit reporting agencies. You are entitled to a free copy of your report from any agency who gathers and reports such information. Once you have a copy of this credit report you can check to see if any of the accounts are reporting late payments erroneously. If you feel that there are any errors at all on your credit report you can dispute them with the credit bureau that reports it. Keep in mind that you will need proof of any differences so be prepared to show documented proof of payments made. this usually means a signed document or printed report of on time status with the account.

Dispute Errors - Learn the details about how to dispute any errors found in your credit report. make sure you take the time to find out what you need to do to dispute these errors so you can take the action needed. See the bottom of this article for more details about how to dispute erroneous items on your credit report.

First, let's briefly discuss what 'credit score' is; basically, it is a piece of numerical information that represents your creditworthiness and capability to pay credit. Keeping your current loans, cards, and their outstanding balances at the minimum is an indication of how well you handle your financial obligation. Your consistency in paying your debts will positively impact your score. High outstanding debt and delinquency in paying them, on the other hand, can be destructive. If you have an existing high outstanding debt and have been inconsistent with your payments, then you have a slimmer chance of getting an approval for another bank loan. How can a lender trust you if you still owe a lot from another financial institution, or several of them? Paying your bills on time is the best way to show financial stability and ability to pay. Delinquency in payments of bills or loans will negatively impact your score, even if the amount to be paid is small. Ignoring small bills is not the best way on how to improve credit score fast. We must remember that creditor reports contain the specific payment history of a borrower.

Take ownership and look to make positive changes. For me it was investing with the wrong people at the wrong time. It does me no good to blame others so I accept that I should have known better. Accept that you need to make changes and without being over critical find those things and make the changes needed to improve your life.

Set Payment Reminders - Many banking institutions will have a system that will allow you to create payment reminders that can be sent to you via phone, text or email to help remind you to make your payments when they are due. Take advantage of this and remember the personal discipline part of your new life as well. Make sure you make all payments on time and this often means you make them early. This will help you restructure your life to see great changes.

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How to Fix Your Credit in 6 Months or Less

By Kelly R. Crumble

If you've been denied for a mortgage loan because of your credit, it's not the end of the world. Millions of Americans have credit scores lower than they'd like, and typically anything under 620 can cause you to be denied for loans.Granted, your credit score can't be fixed overnight, but there are some steps -- both short-term and long-term -- that you can take to improve your score. If follow these guidelines, you can repair your credit over time and hopefully get approved the next time you meet with a lender!Check your credit report.You are allowed to check your credit report from all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) for free, once a year.

The bureaus won't provide your score for free (you have to pay them for that), but it is still important to see what information they have about your past credit transactions. That way, if something is wrong, you can correct it.After all, if you paid a bill on time -- but it was reported by a collection's agency as not paid -- you're going to want that false information removed.Make sure you have a credit card.There are two types of credit that are reported to the credit bureaus -- revolving and installment credit.Installment credit is bills that you pay a certain amount towards each month -- like your car payments, mortgage payments, student loans, etc.

Once you have the results of your disputes, you will want to move on to the next step for any accounts that were not successfully removed from your credit report. Depending on who is currently servicing the accounts, you will want to go through the 623 method or the debt validation method. In both of these strategies, you are dealing directly with the account holder and requiring them to prove to you specific information regarding your account. If they cannot do this, they are not legally allowed to report to the credit bureaus.

Sometimes there will be negative accounts such as collections, judgments and public records that are listed on your credit report in error. When attempting to fix your credit report, you should look at each individual account and verify that the information reported is accurate. If you locate accounts on your report that are potentially negative and obviously reporting incorrectly, credit reporting agencies use a process called a "dispute" to allow consumers to dispute potentially negative items and inaccuracies on their credit reports. Disputing an item listed on your report with a credit reporting agency is free to do, so if you find inaccurate information in your file don't hesitate to dispute it.

Next, be aware of your financial limitations and do your best to pay your creditors on time. While following the first two steps in this article, it is imperative that you continue to pay your debts in a timely manner to fix your credit report. If you have had trouble paying your bills on time in the past, consider using a dedicated calendar in your home just for paying bills. In addition to using a calendar to track your due dates and payments, you should also consider using any of the free automatic bill pay options that many creditors offer. Having your payments made automatically for you is a great way to ensure that you are paying your bills on time every month.

By charging to both cards -- and paying off both cards -- it shows credit bureaus that you have two accounts to which you are making on-time payments.You are looking for ways to fix your credit. The number one thing to do is to be sure that your monthly bills are paid in full by the due date. If you need assistance remembering when to remit payments, you can set up some sort of payment reminder. You can find various methods that will assist you in doing so. With the information age upon us, the possibilities are endless. There are many computer programs available to help with reminders, and now since phones have become mini computers, you can set up payment reminders on your phone. Which ever way works best for you.

It is always important for people to get a good understanding of what they are dealing with before they start attempting to raise their scores. This requires people to request copies of their reports from each one of the three major reporting agencies. These should all be fairly identical to one another, however, you may note some marked differences.Studying each of these documents and the differences that you are able to spot could help you to identify glaring reporting errors. For instance, sometimes companies report charges to the wrong consumer report. This is because the names of the two individuals might be very similar or even identical. This tends to happen a lot to people who have very common names, such as John Smith.

Another thing to look for are accounts that you have already paid down, but which companies have failed to clear up. If you find errors like these you will need to contact businesses individually to request corrections. This can take time to accomplish, however, it is one of the surest ways to kick a score up quite a bit.

Your real key to repairing your credit is to write an effective letter to the CRA (that is, the "Consumer Reporting Agency") pointing out specific information you have identified which is inaccurate. When sending this type of letter, attach copies (not the originals) of all important, relevant documents supporting your case.You must provide the CRA with your complete name, your address, plus contact information. Moreover, your credit dispute letter needs to clearly identify each item in your report you dispute. Simply state the facts and explain why you are now disputing the information. Be clear that you demand deletion and removal of this information. You can easily follow the template of a sample credit repair letter to craft your own dispute letter.

Fixing your credit really starts simply by maintaining bank accounts such as checking and savings. Good banking habits appear to lenders that you are responsible with your money, and they like that. Keep these accounts clean at all times.Obtain a free yearly copy of your credit report and scrutinize it carefully for mistakes and information that may be taken off. Keep very fastidious records of all the contacts you make. Include things such as emails, snail mail, and any summaries of telephone calls.Your credit score and history can be very frustrating. Sometimes it seems you are doing everything right, but nothing is happening. But rest assured, every positive thing you can do to improve your score will eventually be reflected in your credit history. This is how to fix your credit, and it takes time and patience.

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