Sunday, October 13, 2013

How To Fix Your Credit In 6 Months Or Less

By Patricia E. Beeson


It's an unfortunate fact of life, but bad things happen to good people every day. If you have found yourself in a bad situation with your credit, the good news is there are easy ways to fix your credit report. In this article, we will discuss three easy steps you can take to fix your credit report and get on your way to a brighter financial future right away.
[How To Fix Your Credit]


The first thing you will need to do is get a copy of your current credit report. It is a good idea to go ahead and pay for your score, because that is the only way you are going to truly understand how far you have to go.Once you have your credit report, review it very carefully. The first step of credit repair is cleaning up any errors that are dragging your score down. You can also dispute legitimate negative accounts, as there are methods that you will want to use later that will require you to have done this. You will need to dispute these accounts immediately with the credit bureaus. It is best to do this via certified mail, return receipt requested. One important thing to note is that you do not want to dispute too many accounts at one time. Stick to no more than four accounts.

Revolving credit means credit cards. It's revolving because your balance due can change each month, depending on how much you charge to the card.The bureaus like to see that you have both revolving and installment credit, and that you pay both of bills on time each month.If you don't already have a credit card, apply for one. If your credit score is too low to obtain one, go to your local bank and ask for a secured credit card. That means you'll have to deposit money onto the card before you can use it. It's not as helpful as a traditional credit card, but it still counts as revolving credt.

If these methods are not successful in getting a negative account removed from your credit report, you will want to do a pay for delete. This is where the creditor agrees to remove an account from your credit file in exchange for you paying the account in full.While you are working on credit repair, don't forget that paying down revolving debt is one of the best ways to improve your credit score.You can improve your credit score yourself by disputing the personal information that has been compiled in your credit reports from the Big 3 Credit Bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.Your first order of business is ordering your free credit report online at annualcreditreport.com. There is no charge for this service.

Take out a small loan.If you take out a small personal loan from the bank, and pay it back over time, it can help your credit score.Once again, it will show all three major credit bureaus that you are responsible and pay your bills on time.Typically, local banks and credit unions will give you the best deal on a small loan, so consider stopping by and seeing what kind of deal they can give you.Use more than one card.Having a seldom-used card can't hurt your credit score, but it also isn't helping you either.Active credit accounts affect your score more, so instead of charging $500 to one card, put $250 on your normal credit card, and dig out that old one you barely use from dresser drawer and put the other $250 on it.

Taking these proactive steps to fix your credit report are by far the easiest ways to increase your score and secure your financial future. Following any one of the three steps outlined in this article will help you to improve your credit score drastically, but following all three steps every day can have astounding results. If you are ready to start making major purchases, such as buying a first residential property or car, you may be curious abut how to fix your credit score. Sadly, many consumers make the mistake of damaging their own consumer credit reports well before they have the opportunity to own anything of value. The good news is that there are quite a few things that can be done to make repairs.

You should be aware that both the CRA and the business which provided originally submitted negative information to the credit bureaus are responsible for ensuring the reported information they are adding to your credit report remains accurate and timely. They have a vested interest in getting the story right. This is where you likely will find the errors, and where you will have the best opportunity to challenge black marks and derogatories hurting your credit score.

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.

One popular option for cleaning up your credit history is debt settlement. This works well, but be sure to know what you are doing. Be careful going with a debt settlement company. Many times they really don't care about you; they just want your money.Debt consolidation is another option to bolster your credit history. Debt consolidation may be one of the quickest and most effective methods you can employ to reduce your debt load, and raise your score. Basically, debt consolidation simply combines your debts into a single payment, thus making it easier to keep track of and pay. But again, research this tactic carefully to see if it will work for you.

Consumers must also work hard to develop positive lines of credit. If you want to know how to fix your score in a major way, you will find that spending money will actually help to increase an individual's purchasing power. You do not need to make a major purchase in order to do this. In fact, many people establish positive lines of credit by simply signing up for secured credit cards or by letting a business finance an in-store furniture purchase. These accounts are easy to manage and pay down and will help you to show yourself as being worthy of larger amounts of funding.




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