Good Credit Is Important- Try These Credit Repair Tips
When you don’t have good credit, it can seem like the world is against you. You can’t make purchases like everyone else, and when you do, you are hit with high interest rates. Even though that doesn’t seem fair, you can build your credit up again with these effective tips.
To keep your credit in good standing and to protect your credit score, you need to be in control of your credit report. Check periodically for discrepancies and mistakes. It can even happen that your credit information gets mixed up with someone else’s or that someone has targeted you for identity theft.
Build credit to repair credit! To show you are a good credit risk, begin building a better credit history, by applying for a low-limit credit card. You can request a lower limit than the creditor offers you – to keep it at a manageable level! Next, be vigilant about making payments on time. Don’t fall into the old trap of putting off payments! This will improve your credit scores.
Something most people don’t know is that when you pay off a collection debt, they list it as paid in their books, but they do not contact the credit bureaus and get the debt removed from your credit history. When paying off a debt, negotiate with the creditor that you will pay off the debt if they will promise to have it deleted from your credit history. This will increase your credit scores each time a debt is deleted.
These days it is increasingly important to keep your credit intact. Years ago, credit reports were used primarily when a borrower wanted to buy a home, car, or other large purchase. These days your credit gets pulled when you apply to rent a home or sign up for cable TV or even cell phone service. Keep credit scores up to avoid credit refusals.
It is important to pay your bills on time, since an important part of your credit score is your payment history. You should set up automatic payments for everything that you can because this will ensure you never miss a payment and help you improve your score over time. It is a free service and easy to set up, and will save you problems in the long run.
In some cases you can negotiate with your creditors on some of your debt, they may be willing to accept a lower amount just to get the debt off their books. This generally works best with older unsecured debt that has been turned over to collection companies. Just contact the company and try to negotiate some terms. You may be amazed by the results.
Generally, it is not a good idea to wipe old accounts off your credit report. The reason is if you are applying for an auto loan or a mortgage, or another type of loan, you will need to show that you have had credit in the past, so the old accounts will come in handy. About 15% of your credit score reflects the length of your credit history.
Try to get negative items removed from your credit report. Not everyone knows this, but you can actually do this. You will have to call your creditor and ask them if they will work with you so you can get this debt taken care of. Ask them if they can remove the negative items from your report once it is paid.
Building your credit again is the best way to start feeling good about your finances again. Use these tips to get you started and even though you might not see results right away, they will come. Your credit will get better and better until one day you won’t think about it at all because your financial picture will be rosy.
