Whether you fell prey to the guys handing out credit cards like candy on campus, went shopping too many times or suffered from the bad economy, you probably did some damage to your credit. The good news is that there are some things that you can do to repair your credit.
Having poor credit makes financing a home a nightmare. If your income is a factor you may qualify for a FHA loan, which has lower standards and makes the federal government your lender in a sense. FHA loans are a good option regardless of your down payment amount or funds available for closing costs.
Financing homes can be difficult if you have bad credit. If your income is a factor you may qualify for a FHA loan, apply for an FHA loan; these loans are backed by the United States government. FHA loans can even work when a borrower doesn’t have the money to make a down payment or closing costs.
If you can’t get a normal card due to low credit score, consider a secured card to help reestablish your rating. If you show a good history of payments with this card, it will help to improve your credit score.
Any credit cards that have balances over 50% of your limit should be paid off until they are less than 50% of your limit. If any of your balances climb past half of your available credit limit, pay them down or spread the debt around other accounts, otherwise, your credit rating gets tarnished.
You may be able to reduce interest rates lower by working to keep your credit score as high as possible. This should make your monthly payments easier and allow you to repay your debt much quicker.
A good credit report means you are more likely to get a home. Making regular mortgage payments in a timely manner helps raise your credit score even more. This will be very helpful in case you want to borrow money.
You can lower your debt by refusing to acknowledge the part of your debt that has been accrued by significantly high interest rates. In most cases, creditors are somewhat limited in the amount of interest they can charge. Remember that you agreed to pay that interest when you signed the contract. You may wish to make a legal claim that the interest rate charged exceeded your state’s statutory limits.
Interest Rates
You can dispute inflated interest rates. Creditors are skirting aspects of law when they hit you with high interest rates. You did sign a contract that agrees you will pay off all interests as well as the debt. You need to be able to prove the interest rate charged exceeded your state’s statutory limits.
You need to work with the companies from whom you have credit cards. By keeping the lines of communication open, you will avoid getting into more debt, making your credit score even worse. Contact your credit card company and request to change your scheduled due date or interest rate.
You must pay your bills off on time and in full. Your credit score will increase if you pay the bills that are past due.
You need to work with your creditors when you have credit cards. This will assure them that you to make sure to keep your debt and keep you from getting even further behind.
If you find any errors on your credit report, you should dispute them. Gather all supporting documents and any errors you find, and send them with a letter to the credit reporting agencies. Make sure when you send the dispute package that you request proof by signature that it was received.
Do not do anything that will make you end up in illegal activities. The Internet is rife with many scams that will go into detail about creating yourself a deceptive credit file. Do things like this because it’s illegal; you will not be able to avoid getting caught. You could end up in jail if you are not careful.
Contact your creditors to request a reduction in your overall credit limit. Not only will this prevent you from owing more, but it can also imply that you are responsible to those companies and to any future companies.
Always get a plan in writing if you are going to do a payment plan that deals with creditors. This provides you with documentation that an agreement is in place in case the company changes hands or the creditor tries to change the terms of the agreement. You also want it in writing if it gets paid off so you can go ahead and send it to credit reporting agencies.
Even if the negative credit item itself is not erroneous, if any of the data pertaining to it is, it may be possible to get it removed.
Credit Score
Avoid using your credit cards at all. Purchase with cash. If you absolutely have no other choice but to use a credit card, pay off the balance in full as soon as possible.
Repairing a poor credit score can seem like a daunting task, but improving your score is possible with guidance and knowledge. Apply the information you learned within this article to help you recover your credit score.