Some helpful tips on raising/improving your credit score:
Check for incorrect entries - It is mandatory to check your credit report for any mistakes from all the three credit reporting agencies. You can review your report for at least once in a year as well as several months before you apply for a loan.
Timely payments It will be considered a very good practice if you always pay your bills on time. Your prompt payments will put you in a much comfortable position before you apply for a loan. This point is emphasized because a late or missed payment just before applying for a loan lowers the credit score and has worse impact than a missed payment five years ago.
Bring credit balance to the minimum - It is always beneficial to reduce the credit card balances as much as possible. The FICO scores get affected due to how much money you owe on some cards relative to your total credit limit. Credit scores are seen improving if the balances are kept below 25% of the credit card limit.
Don’t linger your payments It is suggested not to increase the ratio by closing an account and transferring the remaining balance to another account since the ratio of the credit card balance is linked to the credit limit. Doing this will lower the credit score which should not be generally done while you are on your way to increase your credit score.
Unused accounts to be kept active - While you are applying for a loan, it is suggested not to close any unused account. At the same time, it is suggested not to open a new account also during that time. It is said because if you are having a short credit history or less number of accounts, the credit score gets lowered when a new account is opened as there is no proven track record of it.
I HAVE A GOOD FRIEND WHO DEALS WITH CREDIT RESTORATION HIS NAME IS CARMELLO VALLE HE HAS AN OFFICE IN CHICAGO AND IN DUBUQUE,IA 773-2929707 OR 773-842-4383 CORPORATE OFFICE IS 4935 WILDFLOWER DRIVE HE WAS IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING TO IOWA, HOPE THIS HELPS.
Collections of any kind hurt your credit as long as they report. The good news is that as time passes they hurt your credit less and less. The bad news is that in the lending world less than 24 months is a short period of time.
Yes, as I said. I paid them, but the score did not increase. How do I remove them? One collection agency buys the debt. If it doesn’t get paid, another buys it. Bam! Now, I’ve got 2 agencies reporting the same debt. This has happened several times.
If it’s reporting twice you can have one of them removed by contacting the credit agencies. Otherwise, they are there for 7 years from the time you paid them off.
Does all this go for people in Bankruptcy status? Mine was discharged in 2002 and I’ve been late on just two things and have been forced to get a “high” interest car payment. I currently have one of those secured credit cards and it is “ok”. My main question is how long will it take for me to “remove” the BK from my credit and gt “real” credit back? I wrote one letter and got it removed from Transunion. It has been a uphill battle with Equifax and Experian( several letters). Also I want to do REI part-time until I retire from the military in 2009. Any suggestions. I reside in Maryland .
From my past reading, bankruptcies and foreclsoures are somewhere between 7-10 years. So you can do rei, use hml because they dont really llook at credit scores, more interested in the property. So conventional loans are out for you until it gets revmoeved from all 3 credit agencies.
steve
this site is excellent im working on mine and my husbands credit right know. it gives you step-by-step instructions on how to fix your credit including how the new law help you. how to get collection off your report. I hope this will help. Im still waiting to here back but i think this will help get my score up.