Great Tips And Advice On Improving Your Credit
One of the biggest scam’s people falls into is the 0% down and 0% interest line. These numbers entice us and we never even bother to read the fine print. By the time the interest does kick in. We’re left with debt that seems insurmountable. Don’t fret too much. You can get out of debt, and we’ll tell you how.
Report older negative items even if you know they are correct. If you report an item, the agency will contact the owner of the debt to confirm that it is an accurate debt. Many agencies either do not have the time to respond or no longer have the records available. It’s worth the time to see if you can get these removed.
Always pay your utility bills on time. Missed or late utility bill payments will negatively affect your credit rating and make it difficult for you to get a credit application approved in the future. If money is tight, ring up the utility companies and ask them if you can pay your annual bill in installments.
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.
Part of a successful credit repair effort is diligent record-keeping. All correspondence involving a credit dispute – both incoming and outgoing – should be saved for reference. Repairing a serious credit problem can be a very complex process. The debtor needs to be ready to refresh his or her memory on issues that may not have been discussed in several months.
When repairing your credit, the first step is to find out what the top three credit bureaus are saying about you. These companies are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Finding your own credit report is free, so do not fall for a company looking to charge you to find out what they are saying, research it yourself!
Ask a someone close to you if they can make you an authorized user to one of their accounts. Make sure it’s an account with a low balance compared to its limit, a perfect history of payments and it should have been open for at least a few years. As an authorized user, the history of this card will become part of your credit history.
You should check your credit report at least once a year. You can do this for free by contacting one of the 3 major credit reporting agencies. You can look up their website, call them or send them a letter to request your free credit report. Each company will give you one report a year.
Remember that it’s never as easy to get out of debt as it is to get into debt, but you can use the information you learned here to start to repair your credit rating. Avoid the credit traps of the future so you do not repeat it, and always attempt to live within your means from this day forwards. Do not let bad credit tear you down again.