Credit

How to improve your credit rating

November 3, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Keeping your credit rating in good standing is essential especially if you have a business or you want to buy big ticket purchases such as a car or a house for example. Bank loans are easy to acquire if you have a good credit rating to show. This is one of their main criteria in order to accept or reject your loan or to give you high or low interest rates. If you are in a bad period and you need your credit rating to improve, here are some sure ways you can do.

From this time forward, you have to instill in your mind that you can never put off a credit payment ever again. Paying on time will certainly increase your credit rating. Make this a long term agreement to yourself. Now in order to do this, you should only purchase items that are essential and that you know you can pay off at the end of the month. This means living within your means.

Another thing you can do is to get a copy of your credit rating from multiple credit agencies. Check for discrepancies that need immediate correction. It is a good idea to keep all your receipts from your past purchases so this process will be easier. Identity theft is a big problem today so report all incorrect data that you may find in your credit report.

Look into your credit card debt. Look into each item and find a way to reduce these items each month. The lower your debt, the less you have to pay during the end of the month. Here is a good tip, if you have a lot of credit cards, make sure that you don’t use more than fifty percent of your credit limit. This will help your credit score remain high.

Start paying off your credit cards. From your list of debts, take a look at the ones that have the highest interest rates and then pay them off first. You would like to get the high interest rates out of the way first to save yourself some money.

If you have extra money to spare, try to make extra payments on your credit cards and your other loans such as student loans and auto loans for this will make a big impact in your credit rating in the end. This shows that you are willing to lessen your debt and you are capable of paying off more than the minimum required amount.

For your credit cards with high interest rate, talk to a bank representative and ask them if they can lower it. Some will be reluctant to do so but others are willing enough to give you a break. With the proper discipline and state of mind, you can improve your credit rating in a span of six short months.

Some of the best things you can show creditors is stability in your living conditions such as where you live and where you work as well as how long you have worked at your job. Keeping your credit score high isn’t difficult, it just requires paying attention to making your payments on time and honoring your committments.

How to get your free triple credit report

May 11, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Getting your credit report from the major three credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian is easy to do and something you should put on your to do list if you haven’t done so already.

Tracking your credit is always a good idea. You never know when there have been errors made that will negatively affect you or if there has been activity on your credit cards that shouldn’t be there. Ordering credit reports can help you be aware of your credit power or in some cases your lack of power.

TransUnion Credit Bureau

TransUnion will send your credit report to you for free:

Phone number: (800) 888-4213.

You can actually get a credit score mailed to you by calling 1-866-726-7388.

You can file a credit dispute online if you see any errors.

Equifax Credit Bureau

The easiest way to get your credit report from Equifax is to call them at: 1-877-SCORE-11.

Their address is:

Equifax Information Services LLC
P.O. Box 105314
Atlanta, GA 30348
(866) 224-9235

Experian Credit Bureau

You can order a credit score for $6 by calling 1-888-322-5583.

You can get unlimited access to your credit report at CreditExpert.com

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Experian has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and has operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Nottingham, UK. The Group employs approximately 15,500 people in 38 countries worldwide, supporting clients in more than 65 countries around the world. Revenue for the year ended March 31, 2008, was $4 billion.

I thought that was interesting. The other interesting thing about Experian is that it owns hitwise.com. Hitwise “provides insights on how 10 million US Internet users interact with more than 1 million websites, across 165+ industries.”

Free Credit Report From All Three Credit Bureaus

Getting a free credit report from all three credit bureaus can be done at AnnualCreditReport.com.

This is recommended by all three credit bureaus and is a free service if it is your one annual credit report.

Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Here are some of your rights:

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you

You have a right to know what is in your file

You have the right to ask for a credit score

You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information

Consmer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information

Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information

Access to your file is limited

You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers

You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on the information in your credit report by calling 1-888-567-8688

You may seek damages from violators

Identify theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights

If you have found some good places to get free credit reports, please let us know in the comment sections.

Choose from thousands of designs when you order your personal checks (up to 50% off bank prices).

Free Guidebook to A Few Tips To Improve Your Credit Score

January 8, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Your credit rating can be your most valuable asset or your most annoying hindrance. The fact still stands that you can not live comfortably without having a good credit score. There is no way to avoid the issues of your credit score, one way or another your credit score report will become a topic of discussion. Whether you are making one of the two biggest purchases of your lifetime or you are applying for a job in the financial market, you will need to have good credit.

A perfect credit score is something that is fairly easy to achieve but a little harder to maintain. Everyone starts with a good clean slate. Maintaining that clean credit however is difficult to stay on top of, especially during tough economic times. The good news is that if you find yourself falling behind on your credit, there are a few simple steps that you can follow to help raise credit score for the 3 credit bureaus.

The first thing your would need if you are trying to get a higher credit rating is to get a free copy of your free triple score. A copy of your credit report will bring to your attention what you need to do in order to raise your credit score. Once you receive your report, make sure that all the information is correct. Any inaccuracies in your free report can affect your credit rating. A thorough investigation should include checking for accounts that are not yours, accounts that are reporting incorrectly, and even personal information such as addresses.

If you do not have any bad information to investigate with Equifax,Experian, or Transunion, then your next steps should be taking some simple measures to raise credit scores with the 3 bureaus:

Pay Your Bills On Time:

It is much harder to do but it is very necessary that you pay your bills on time, even if you only pay the smallest required amount. Creditors mainly look at you current late payments in determining you credit worthiness, so if you have been late in the past, you can improve your rating by paying on time. Six months of steady payments can raise your score tremendously.

Lower Your High Limits:

The percentage of credit availability to credit balance can cause great damage to your credit score by as many as 100 points. You may be being on time but if all your credit cards are maxed out, a creditor assumes that you don’t have much money available to acquire new credit.

Do Not Close Unused Credit:

Do not terminate any open unused accounts, credit cards or revolving credit accounts due to lack of use. You may not have any plans on using these cards, but if you close them, the good credit history will be removed from your account causing your credit score to drop. Older more established credit looks better than newer credit accounts.

Avoid Filing For Bankruptcy:

Filing for bankruptcy can elimate all your debt in some instances, but the negative aspects to your report damages to your credit will remain for at least 7 years. Bankruptcies look especially bad because it shows that you chose not to pay your creditors at all.

Refrain From Making Unnecessary inquiries:

One inquiry can be responsible for bringing your credit down a few points. Although one inquiry will not be too adverse on your credit score report,but several inquiries can add up and become the difference between being approved for a loan or not. If you notice any inquiries that you did not authorize, you can dispute these inquiries to help raise credit score points.

Improving your beacon score can easily be attributed to following these simple steps. Maintaining your credit score however must be a major priority. You must stay on top of your credit score by getting at lease two credit check report annually and or making sure that you have some sort of credit protection.

A Good Credit Report Is Important

January 5, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Building a good credit history is something that many deem as easy but perhaps harder as time passes. Especially for the ones who are taking out loans or using credit cards for the very first time, a good credit record would not usually be in their minds since they settle the monthly amortization or minimum amount due for payment.

However, at some point, these practices of payment may take center stage and will actually become basis when then need for evaluation of your credit record suffices. This normally occurs when people want to take out larger loans with banks or perhaps another credit card to get more lines of credit. Before you can get them, credit evaluation checks are sure to be done and this is where your records will tell if you have a good credit record or not.

Did you ever wonder why some companies would require proof of financial documents to support a certain application like perhaps a postpaid line? These documents tell the story of how well you manage you finances or in this case, your credit record credibility. To the eyes of many, it may not matter as long as they settle them. But the time it takes you settle as well as the amount you may have left unsettled are telling factors to which make up how good your current credit record truly is.

Having a bank account may help improve your credit. Whether it is a checking or savings account, having this to show each time proof of financial capacity to pay helps a lot in showing credit companies that you are liquid and are capable of paying your debts coinciding what you are asking for. It may not immediately be a basis to build your credit record but the point here is that they know you are not getting a loan without anything to pay it back.

Finally, despite good credit history on your part, you may encounter some instances where credit or loan applications may be turned down. It never hurts to ask them why. Once you find that out, try to see if you can remedy the problem through perhaps submitting other forms of documents which can help support your application. Such a scenario is typical and while others would give up immediately, there are times where you just have to find out what went wrong despite having a good credit record.

It takes time to build a good credit history. It starts on how well you manage your finances. The better you handle them, the easier it is get to get a good credit record and the approved line of credit you are seeking. Just be patient and never take your finances for granted. It can play a big difference as far as building a good credit report on your end.

How to Maintain Good Credit

November 7, 2008 By Sherry Tingley

Good credit is sometimes difficult to achieve. Even when it is achieved often times it’s hard to keep your credit score in a decent range. One of the main credit factors that determines your credit rating is whether you pay your credit card bills on time or whether you frequently forget to send out that payment.

People have so many reasons for not paying their bills on time. Some of them are due to plain neglect and some are due to loss of a job or inability to work because of illness. Regardless of the reason, the credit card companies can report you to the credit bureau if you are over 30 days late on your payments. If you are just a few weeks late, they can make your life miserable by fining you huge fees.

When you find that you have gotten behind on your payments and your late fees are accumulating, you can always call your credit card company and ask for them to work with you on perhaps lowering your fee or eliminating it altogether depending on your reason for missing the payment. You’d be surprised how many fees can be eliminated by doing this.
If you are over 30 days late on your payment, you will have to find out whether you have been reported to the credit bureaus. If they have reported you, then this is where your credit score will start to go down. It will take a while before that negative ding will go away. The more times you are reported to the credit bureau, the lower your credit score will go.

You can contact the credit bureaus by calling these numbers:

Equifax (800-685-1111)
Experian (888-397-3742)
Trans Union (800-888-4213)

Maintaining good credit will help you in your efforts to attain financial security. Financial security is defined as the comfortable feeling that your finanical resources will be adequate to fulfill any needs you have as well as most of your wants. Doesn’t everyone deserve that?

Maintain good credit by paying your bills on time and keeping track of what is going on with your credit report before any big problems arise.