Credit Fixes

dwaindaddy asked:


I am thinking about allowing a credit counseling service (Take Charge America) to consolidate all my unsecured credit. Will this help or hurt my credit rating once I complete the program in about 3.5 years?

mommy’s princess due 8.8.09! asked:


I’m young with no credit and no checking account. I’ve been looking online and have only come across debit cards or credit cards that require a checking account. Where and how can I get a CREDIT CARD w/ no credit and no checking account?

Alan Largo asked:


A multitude of consumers tend to think that their credit score is permanent and cannot be changed. Nothing could be further from that concept. Your credit score is right under your control and you can improve it in only a few easy steps.

The first action that you can do is to obtain a copy of your credit report and check it for inaccuracies and old items that may have not yet been expunged. This really is easier than it sounds and it’s simple common sense.

As a consumer, you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report every year from all three major bureaus. They are; Equifax, Transunion and Experian.

Get your free credit report and look it over for any items that may be obsolete or invalid. By law, the credit agencies are required to expunge resolved issues from your credit report. This should be the first thing that you look for.

If you paid your debts or neutralized a balance, it’s best practice to have retained a receipt. Remember when your mother told you to hold onto all of your receipts? Now is the time when it really pays off if you listened to her.

Before you contest any item, make sure you can provide documentation of the payment that was made. If you can’t locate your receipt, just call the creditor and ask for a duplicate one. Normally if you call your creditor and request a copy of a receipt, they will willingly oblige.

Make sure it’s on official letterhead and signed, if at all possible. Trying to eradicate an item on your credit report by lying or denying knowledge of it is illegal and you can go right to jail.

Another method to raise your credit score is limiting the number of credit applications you fill out. All those credit cards promising premiums, rewards and all those extra perks can be very tempting.

The hard truth is that excessive credit card applications can actually hurt your credit rating. This practice is called shot gunning and is extremely more detrimental than beneficial.

By far, the most practical plan is also the most basic – pay your bills. If you’re able to, exceed the minimum payment due each month. Put a little extra green in there to bring down the balance as speedily as possible.

A premature pay off is a very large plus on your side. It exhibits integrity and establishes trust among the community of credit agencies.

The most notable factor in determining your credit score is reliability and risk. By paying every month on time and bringing the balance down to zero effectively decreases the risk factor associated with your credit.

All of these are things you can do to increase your existing credit. Obsolete items can be a downer when it comes to your credit score. If they are still there, eradicate them right away.

Inspecting your credit report is an important part of responsible credit management. Reviewing your report regularly will reveal any oddities. If you do happen to find any, address them right away to the credit agencies and have them expunged at once.

Remember, a good healthy credit score can really be an asset. Use your credit only as needed and with smarts and when you do have to incur a debt, pay it off as speedily as you’re able.

If you can manage to effectively repair and keep your good credit, you’ll certainly come out a winner again.

Alan Largo asked:


Everyone wants to improve credit but not everyone knows how. Can you imagine an improvement to your score? Of course you can hire someone to fix it for you and counsel you on the matter. Chances are you cannot afford that if you already have bad credit. You can improve your credit yourself. Just use a few simple tips and you will be well on your way.

Be safe and watch your credit closely. If you have a high credit score you can get anything, but not so with a low credit score. Make sure that you obtain a copy of your credit report once a year in order to make sure that all the information contained in it is correct.

Be sure to watch the due dates on your bills. Make sure to pay things like the phone and light bill on time. Even these will affect your credit standing. Not so much when you pay the bills on time but miss a payment or two and you will see a negative impact on your credit very quickly.

Missed payments lead to delinquent accounts and all of those end up on the credit report with negative terminology lowering the score. Paying on schedule will give you a history of being in good standing with creditors and make it easier to obtain financing.

Avoid the rubber! Checks are nice to have but they do not mean you have money. The checks you write are only covered if you have the money in the bank. Check Systems is what the store just ran your check through and denied it for your purchase because you bounced one. Guess what? The bank sees this as well when you apply for a loan.

Even a small effort makes a difference. With a bad credit history getting a loan is nearly impossible. Start trying to get small loans at places that will report your payments to the credit bureau. This will help to improve credit easily. Making even small payments on time can help you. When you first start you may need a co-signer to ensure the loan is paid.

Do not let a collection agency have your account. Once you have let an account get past a certain point they turn them over to agencies that will do anything they have to in order to get their money. The creditor benefits as well by negotiating and working out an agreement with you because they do not fully recover all their money when this happens. This can lead to judgments as well. Judgments allow your wages to be garnished. In order to improve credit after this you need a near miracle.

Improve your credit by staying at one job as long as possible. It shows stability, so does staying in one home instead of moving around. The longer you are at your job the more you will make. This will give you a large source to show creditors for taking care of your debt.

Alan Largo asked:


Do you wish you had better credit? There certainly are ways to improve your credit, and it does not have to take years or even several months to do it.

People who improve their credit enjoy many advantages over those whose credit has suffered. But many are those who tend to do nothing about it, either because they remain irresponsible or they do not know that their credit can be improved in the first place!

People who take the initiative to improve their credit can get larger loans, more credit lines, more in-store credit cards, and enjoy lower interest rates on their loans.

Also, it is very important to remember that these days, more prospective employers are checking into applicants credit ratings, and if it comes down to a choice between you and a similar person with better credit, they just may not hire you.

How might you improve your credit? And, how might you do so as quickly as possible? You want to have a score of at least 720.

This is the lending industry gold standard for essentially asking no questions and giving you nearly any loan you want at any time (just depending on your income). How might you attain this?

The way to dramatically improve your credit is very simply to get your debts paid off as much as possible without declaring bankruptcy.

Whatever debts you cannot pay off, you simply get caught up on and maintain in good standing so that you do not have 60-day lates or even 30-day lates on your credit report. In fact, there really is no other way to improve your credit score.

Now, the good news is: while it may be painful at first, this stuff really is not difficult. All it requires is discipline and a desire to have a high credit score. So, first things first: stop incurring debts!

And it all starts right with not applying for any more credit, not even checking out lenders for a while. Why? Your credit score is lowered every single time you even apply for a loan. Not by much, but by a couple of points.

So if you sit on the Internet one day and all you do is apply for loans that you never take, you have just cut your credit rating down to size for nothing. And stop using your credit cards!

Also at this point, if it needs financing you do not need it. Not even a new TV on your Target in-store card.

There may, however, be just one or two exceptions to this rule if you; a) own a home, b) own credit cards with high balances, c) are behind in your mortgage payments but are not yet in danger of foreclosure.

If you are behind in your home payments, you must take care of them immediately. You do this by contacting your lender and asking to get a refinance. It does not matter at this point whether or not you will need to take a higher interest rate.

Once your credit is up to par again you can refinance into a lower rate again. What matters right now is getting paid up so you can jack up your credit rating.

Now here is one other thing: if you are behind in credit cards or swamped by them, roll them into your refinance, if possible. Roll in other debts like car payments, too.

At the closing table all of these debts are vanished. And, you will still have your credit cards, vehicles and your house. And now (hopefully) you have just one monthly payment.

You can also accept a new credit card offer in the mail if it will allow you to transfer your balance from more than one other card and give you the low intro rate. But if you own a home, try the refinance first.

If all else fails, look into debt settlement programs that allow you to pay off your creditors for only a fraction of each dollar. Debt management companies may also be able to help you too, although they will just charge you one monthly payment (to them) to help you stay disciplined.

The bottom line to improving your credit score is to take control, and you will soon be able to do that with a little time and the right guidance.