Rebuilding your credit is restoring your reputation. Negative credit reports are damaging and can prevent you from living the life that you always wanted. A mistake made in the past can damage your credit for up to 10 years or more. That is a long time to wait, to enjoy the better things in life.
The first thing to do when trying to rebuild your credit is to find out your credit score. There are websites that offer free credit reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A credit score below 600 is not good and will make it hard for you to obtain credit cards or loans; a score of 700 or above is considered excellent and should be your goal.
Go over your credit report, item by item, and dispute any incorrect information or charges. Payment history is a large part of your credit score. Past due payments that are over 30 days will damage your score as will charge offs. If your accounts are not yet charged off, call and make arrangements to pay. For charged off accounts, arrange a pay off. Some debtors will accept a percentage of the balance and wipe the slate clean.
If you have existing credit cards still in use, pay off some of the balance to get yourself well below the max. If you do not have any credit cards in good standing, get a secured credit card. This is where the bank holds your money and you then use the card to make purchases and then make payments on the card. This establishes you as making payments in good standing and increases your score.
One of the worst things you can do is apply for credit cards with those who accept bad credit. The interest rate will be so high that you will never be able to pay off the balance and will only be making payments to pay off the interest. You will end up with worse credit than you started with and the more credit cards or loans you apply for the lower your score will be.
Remember that you want to appear in less debt with more things paid off than vice versa. If you have the money to pay off your bad debt, do so immediately. If not, making arrangements with the debtors will reflect that something is being done and help you on your road to good credit standing. Your credit is your life in today’s society. So, unless you intend on paying everything in cash and never purchase anything on line, then repair your credit today.
A great way to re-establish your credit rating if you don’t currently qualify is to buy a cheap property from Land Sales Company (www.landsalesco.com). Not only will you be re-establishing your credit rating and building up your credit, but you will have an investment that you can be proud of that will increase in value over time. Buying a property from Land Sales Company is super easy and everyone is approved regardless of their financial situation or credit score. All you need to do to get started is pay a small down payment (usually under $100) and you’re approved; they don’t even check your credit because the land is the collateral for the loan. To check out all the cheap land for sale they have for sale click here!
Add Comment