Tips to Improve Credit Scores

[merlia]

Every person must have a good credit report to know or improve your financial status, a good credit report shows that you are very efficient and responsible in managing your own money. To improve your credit scores, can follow few steps like check your credit report carefully, be wary of identity theft, pay bills on time and manage your finances regularly, start to establish good working relationships with lenders or financial institutions. Hope this may be useful... ;)

[Matthew-HTDI]

All very true...

A few other things is to keep your credit balances at or below 30% of their total credit lines (affects 30% of what makes your score) also, if you have negative items like collections, late payments, bk's etc... those will negatively impact 35% of what makes your score... and of course limit the amount of credit pulls you allow.

[OregonLO]

I would recommend starting at your local offices to ask them about grants. City hall might be a place to start, they should be able to give you some information or at least direct you to the right people without telling you to give them thousands of dollars...haha. Or you could check with the state department, same thing there. I'd assume they would know who to talk to. Good luck with your search.

[andylewis]

Hi Matthew,
I agree with you. Good info on credit balance.
Andy

All very true...

A few other things is to keep your credit balances at or below 30% of their total credit lines (affects 30% of what makes your score) also, if you have negative items like collections, late payments, bk's etc... those will negatively impact 35% of what makes your score... and of course limit the amount of credit pulls you allow.

[Cipnit]

I would like to know that how to improve my credit scores and whats diffevent between the pay off and pay minimum.thank you

[Adam smith]

There are various sites which gives complete information regarding credit scores and also the site which I am using is also valuable.and informative.

[realestategirl]

Credit repair (http://www.katzmortgageteam.net/article_328.shtml) of a bad credit score usually starts with paying off your credit card debt. Credit unions are more a bit of sticklers about this and the results of your efforts immediately show in your rating.

[goodyphilips]

Yes completely agree a good credit score is vital in getting you nice home loans at attractive rates. But beware of credit score repair companies because the steps which they do you can do yourself with a bit of research.

[PhoenixMan]

I agree with Matthew and some others here. There are various responsible ways to improve your credit report and score. Keep in mind that this is not an overnight, instant gratification process. This will take time. I mentioned this before in one of my introduction posts for the whole forum, but I started up a personal blog of some things I've learned over time from both personal experience and from professionals I've encountered along the way and am detailing my experiences at armchaircreditrepair . blogspot . com . My friends said I could write a book on it from all of the weird experiences I've had, so maybe I will eventually vent enough from my head into my blog to do so one day.

Here are some quick tips that I share in my blog and with anyone who asks:
1. Student loans - I mention this because I had this issue and had no clue this could even be done. If you have a bunch of these that you can't keep up with or may have slid into some sort of bad status (charge-off/default, etc.) there is a way you can improve this. You can check out Direct Loans from the Fed Govt. and they can help consolidate you into one big loan with a loewr interest rate, INCLUDING defaulted loans. Plus you can tie income-based repayment methods to it to help lower your obligations based on your income. Very helpful!
2. Pay to Delete/Negotiate - Sometimes, depending on the situation, you can negotiate, especially if the delinquency is relatively new. For example, I had to break a lease due to a family emergency a few years back. They slapped $2400 in a break penalty on me, then reported it on my credit report. I got on the phone, talked them into cutting it to $1500 if I sent them the amount in full by bank draft, and negotiated them to remove the notation completely from my report. They accepted it all the way and everything worked out. While not happy about it, I did what I had to do and removed the instance. So always try to do this but make sure you ALWAYS get it in writing.
3. Credit lines - I don't know what everybody else says about credit lines, but my theory is that you have to have a few positive and active ones to offset any negatives. Sometimes, secured credit has to do if you're in a bind with your report and/or score. Secured cards from banks (credit unions are sometimes even better here), online store accounts, or those big box warehouse or retail stores (Sams, etc.) can get you some decent lines of credit rolling. Just keep all of your balances under 25% of your total availability as suggested in previous posts. And ALWAYS PAY ON TIME NO EXCEPTIONS. I cannot stress that enough.

Those are just three items right off the top of my head, there's plenty more on my blog. Feel free to check them out, or say hi to me on here, etc. Who knows, maybe I've done something you've not heard of yet, or you've done something I've not heard of yet, and we can help each other out. Safety in numbers, they say.

Good posts ya'll.

[sabrinatoss]

Most of the banks and lending firms requires a good credit score in order to approved a certain loan.

Here are some of the tips that can help you improve credit score:

1. Review your credit reports
2. Dispute a credit report error
3. Avoid new credit card purchases
4. Pay off a past due balance.
5. Avoid a new credit card application.
6. Leave accounts open, especially those with balances.
7. Make contact with your creditors.
8. Pay off a debt.
9. Get professional help.
10. Be patient and persistent.

[bemetoday]

Making your credit payments on time is one of the biggest contributing factors to your credit score. Some banks offer payment reminders through their online banking portals that can send you an email or text message reminding you when a payment is due. You could also consider enrolling in automatic payments through your credit card and loan providers to have payments automatically debited from your bank account, but this only makes the minimum payment on your credit cards and does not help instill a sense of money management.

[nimmysnv]

Hi,

Credit cards are very useful in today's fluid, fast paced, economy because they can be used for emergencies or other unexpected incidents, or for purchases when cash is not available.


Thanks...