Money Matters Now

Credit repair is not just for people who are not credit worthy. Anyone at any credit score can quickly increase their credit rating with just a few easy steps. Those who need to fix bad credit, however, will see the biggest improvement in their score by following these simple steps. As a result, not only will you be able to secure better rates on your loan, but you won’t have to worry about being denied for a rental application, a new job, or your home and auto insurance policy.

Whether you had a string of trouble that damaged your credit, or you just want to polish your credit report before you submit your mortgage application, these steps will help you boost your rating and make your more attractive to creditors and lenders.

1. Pay Your Bill: Obviously, your credit score is a direct reflection of how good you are at paying your bills on time, but it is important to stress exactly how vital this is to having a good credit score. If you have been routinely late in the past, change this behavior now so you can get on good graces with your creditor. Once you’ve established that you have turned a corner, they may be willing to remove the late payment incidents from your credit report, which would instantly increase your score.

2. Use Your Credit Cards: Contrary to popular belief that you should close your credit card accounts as a credit repair strategy, this will actually hurt you for two reasons. Once, your credit score looks at how much available credit you have been extended, and two, lenders want to see a long credit history. By closing your accounts you effectively eliminate both of those cases. Instead, use your credit cards liberally and pay them off in full each month. By doing this you maintain an active credit file that shows you are capable of managing debt, which lenders like to see.

3. Increase Available Credit: Your credit score looks at your available credit to debt ratio. In other words, the more credit you have but have not used, the better. Paying off your debts is an obvious way to do this, but you can also ask your credit card companies to raise your spending limit. A quick phone call can instantly improve your rating, as long as you don’t abuse that limit increase.

4. Pay More than the Minimum: By increasing your payments on your outstanding debt you effectively manage to tackle a number of credit repair strategies. For one, you improve your available credit to debt ratio. You also establish yourself as someone who is a responsible consumer and capable of managing money and debt effectively. All good things in the eyes of a lender.

5. Review Your Credit Report: There is a one in four chance that there are errors on your credit report, and these errors could be unfairly hurting your credit score. You should review your credit report every four months and immediately contact the reporting agency to notify them of any errors. By law they have 30 days to investigate and respond to anything you bring to their attention.

These five things will get you started with your credit repair process, but there are many more quick fixes that can instantly increase your credit score. Take the time to clean up your rating before applying for a loan or asking for credit, and lenders will be begging to do business with you.

By: Ryan J. Taylor

About the Author: