There are many reasons why you may have a poor credit history. Credit cards could have been your primary means of support while you were gaining an education, a passion for shopping may have gotten the best of you or the decline in the economy might have left you jobless for a time. Luckily, there here are some steps that you can take to turn things around.
If your credit card is carrying more than half of its credit limit, your first priority should be paying it down until it is below 50%. Your credit score can be negatively impacted if you are carrying a large balance compared to the available credit you have. While you are paying off these cards, reduce the balance to a small percentage of your available limit.
Having a good record allow you to qualify for things like a home mortgage. Keeping up with all of your mortgage payments will help pull your credit score even higher. When you own your own home it shows that you have assets and financial stability. This will be useful in case you need to borrow money.
Do not do anything that will make you end up in jail. Scams abound on the internet that show you how to change your credit file. This is illegal and you’ll get caught. Taking these short cuts will end up costing you money and could lead to a stay in jail.
When you are attempting to improve your credit score, carefully comb over your credit reports for negative information. The debt itself may be legitimate, but if you find errors in its metadata (e.g. the date, amount, creditor name), you might be able to get the whole entry deleted.
In order to start repairing your credit, you should close all but one of your credit card accounts. Try to make a payment or transfer your balance to your open credit account. You will be able to pay one bill instead of a plethora of small ones.
If you are able to negotiate a repayment plan with your creditor, be sure to get it in writing. This is a great way to have documentation of the plan if the creditor changes their mind or the company ownership gets changed. You also want it in writing if it gets paid off so you can go ahead and send it to credit reporting agencies.
Filing for bankruptcy is a bad idea. This will have damaging consequences to your credit score for ten years. Though it may seem necessary at the time, you should weigh the costs over the next ten years before you decide to go through with the filing. If you do file for bankruptcy, it will be extremely difficult to get approved for a loan or a credit card for many years, if ever.
Credit Card
If credit improvement is something you have been considering, the first step would be to pay down your credit card balances. Sort your credit cards by balance and interest rate with the highest first. Then determine which credit card is the highest either in balance or interest rate and start to pay it off first. This builds the positive credit history that creditors like to see.
Nursing your credit back to good health is not as hard as it looks at first, especially when you are willing to make a persistent effort and listen to good advice. Use the information in this article to boost your credit score.