Credit And Credit Cards

How do you raise your credit score? A simple enough question. Raising your credit score means being accepted for credit to buy things like appliances, cars, and homes is easier and hassle free. A high credit score also means your interest rates will be lower and possibly saving you thousands of dollars in interest charges over your lifetime.

Everyone at one point or another will probably have an experience that will lower their credit score. It could be a bankruptcy, loss of job, divorce, or just letting your spending get out of control. So, what steps can you take to improve your credit score if one of these things happened to you?

The one thing that most experts will agree on is to pay your bills on time. This is the most important step you can take to get and keep a good credit score.

If you can’t pay your bills on time talk to your creditors. If you keep the lines of communication open most creditors are more than willing to work with you. If you simply don’t pay and hope things will work themselves out you are in for a shock. If you wait for your creditors to call you about a debt it is normally too late to save your credit report.

You need to know what is on your credit report. Get a copy of your report from all three credit bureaus. The different bureaus could have different information on your report. You need to verify that all the information on your reports belong to you. The information must be accurate and not misleading.

So, you have looked over your credit reports and found some errors. Don’t be surprised. It is estimated that seven out of ten reports contain errors. The first step is to contact the credit bureau with the error and dispute the item. You can dispute items on your credit report that you feel are inaccurate, misleading, or unverifiable. It is up to the credit bureaus to prove that the information is correct. If they can’t the item must be removed.

Another option is to contact your creditors directly. Many creditors are happy to remove items like late payments and charge offs once you bring your accounts current. If you continue to be a customer of theirs it is in their best interest to keep you as a happy customer. Your creditors have the ability to remove items if they feel it will benefit them.

Once you have a good credit score it is important that you monitor your credit reports regularly to make sure errors do not reappear on your credit report. Most experts recommend getting a copy ever six months to a year. Don’t let all your hard work be for nothing. Learn how to raise your credit score and keep track of it so you don’t repeat the same mistakes.

Tags: loans, bankruptcy, consolidation, credit repair, finance

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There are many ways to raise your credit score and sadly many consumers are in a position where they need to raise their credit score due to failing to pay their current bills in a timely fashion. There are many programs currently being touted online and even on television that promise to help get you out of debt and raise your credit score. Although there are some companies and debt relief agencies that can help a consumer get out of debt and raise their credit score there are even more that do nothing except put that same consumer even more in debt thereby increasing their financially related stress. However, the truth is a consumer can avoid these entire fly by night debt relief companies and raise their credit score on their own with legitimate techniques that are easy and quick to implement.

The fastest and easiest method to raising your credit score is to make timely payments to your creditors for a period of time until the debt is finally paid off. They key here is to pay off those bills with a monthly amount that equals at the very least the minimum payment. This combination of on time monthly payments will do two things for you. The first benefit is you’re actively paying down your debt which will allow you to see progress as you eliminate your debt and institute a sense of purpose towards a goal of eliminating your debt. The second and most important benefit is based on making those minimum payments on time for an extended time period of say 12-24 months. This eliminating of debt combined with lowering your debt to income ratio significantly increases your credit score. Remember though your credit score will only increase if you make your payments on time and as long as the amount paid is greater then or equal to the minimum payment allowed.

On a side note if you are currently making your monthly payments to your creditors on time and digging yourself out of debt while increasing your credit score you absolutely must avoid applying for any additional credit irregardless if you’re eligible for it or not. There is one main reason behind this bit of advice and it centers on an inquiry against your current credit score and the decrease in credit it causes you. It’s a common known fact that a normal credit inquiry can lower your current credit score by as much as five points. Instead of applying for more credit concentrate your efforts on raising your credit score with some of the following methods.

After you pay off a credit card don’t close out the account. Instead keep the credit card and either don’t use it or use it occasionally while making sure to pay it off entirely each month thereby increasing your credit score. It is better to have fewer cards rather then more. For instance you would rather have three credit cards versus having ten credit cards so feel free to cut down on your overall number of open credit card accounts just make sure to keep at least one or two cards on your account that you use sparingly and pay off each and every month. Another piece of valuable information is to actually review your credit report to make sure there are no visible errors. On the off chance you’re able to find some errors you should make every attempt to correct those errors because they can only improve our credit score.

One final word of caution every time you fail to successfully pay off a debt in the required timeframe it does count against your credit score and stays on your credit record for up to seven years. However the penalty against your credit score does gradually decrease as time progresses.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Debt-Relief-Solutions.com. He provides more debt relief, consolidation and credit repair information that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

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Is it really that important to raise your credit score? Maybe. Lenders have “break points” between scores that get you one interest rate or another. Suppose you have a score of 688, and the lender drops the mortgage rate by .5% at 690. Those two points can cost you an extra $20,000 in interest on a $170,000 loan (over 30 years at 6.5% instead of 6%). Is that important enough for you? What can you do?

Eight Ways To Raise Your Credit Score

There are ways to raise your credit score. Some of them take more time than others to have an impact, but if you start working on it now, you can boost that score before long.

1. Check credit reports for errors. If there are errors that are hurting your score, contact the credit reporting agency that issued the report and challenge them. The agency is obligated to investigate and correct any mistakes within thirty days. If a creditor doesn’t respond to their inquiries, they have to automatically remove the item in question (you may have to remind them about this part of the law).

2. Pay off balances every month. It is just good for your future, as a way to keep you out of excessive debt. It can save you a lot in interest also. Finally, it demonstrates your ability to manage your debt, and so increases your credit score.

3. Have the right number of credit cards. At least two is best, but having more than five or six can actually lower your score.

4. Pay bills on time. Borrow money to get those bills paid on time, if you have to. Paying on time has the biggest positive impact on your credit score. Unfortunately, paying off old delinquencies won’t immediately raise your credit score, because these will still show as being paid late, but start paying on time now, and with time, these old late payments are deemed less important.

5. Manage your credit card balances. It’s best for your credit score if the balance on a given card is less than 50% of the limit on that card. Manage your use of your cards to keep the balances below this amount. If, for example, you have three cards with limits of $2,000, $3,000 and $2,500, it is better to have a $600 balance on each than $1800 on one.

6. Don’t apply for too many cards and loans. These applications generate inquiries on your credit reports. Having oo many inquiries in a short time lowers your score. Avoid applying for a lot of cards in a given year.

7. Keep and cancel the right cards. When you close accounts or cancel cards, do it right. Old accounts are better than new ones for your credit score. Keep those old ones open, even if the balance is zero. Also, because it’s best to keep balances below 50% of the card limits, you might consider canceling your lower-limit cards if you regularly keep balances on your cards.

8. Be careful about whom you borrow from. Furniture stores and others help you finance your purchases, but through finance companies. This can lower your score. If you can’t pay cash, it is better to borrow the money from a bank or credit union.

Maybe you noticed that this is almost a list of things that lower your credit score. It basically is, and you should keep that in mind. Paying things bills on time and avoiding the things that lower your score - that is the best way to raise your credit score.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, get a free real estate investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

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