factors - such as one unpaid bill - can affect you. However,
when repairing your credit score, you should not be equating
specific credit repair tasks with numbers. The idea is to do as
many things as you can to get your credit score as close to 800
as you are able. Even if you can improve your credit score by
100 points or so, you will qualify for better interest rates.
Tip #17: Don’t think that having no loans or debts will
improve your credit score.
Some people believe that owing no money, having no credit
cards, and in fact avoiding the whole world of credit will help
improve their credit score. The opposite is true - lenders want
to see that you can handle credit, and the only way they can tell
is if you have credit that you handle responsibly. Having no
credit at all can actually be worse for your credit score than
having a few credit accounts that you pay off scrupulously. If
you currently have no credit accounts at all, opening a low
balance credit card can actually boost your credit score.
Tip #18: Never do anything illegal to help boost your credit
score.
It seems pretty obvious, but plenty of people try to lie about
their credit scores or even falsify their loan applications because
they are ashamed of a bad score. Not only is this illegal, but it
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
is also completely ineffective. Your credit score is easy to check
and not only will you not fool lenders by lying but you may
actually find yourself facing legal action as a result of your
dishonesty.
Dealing With Your Credit Report to Deal With Your
Credit Score
If you want to improve your credit score, you need to go right to
the source - your credit report. Your credit report contains the
information and data on which your credit score is based. If
you can alter or update the information in your credit report,
your credit score will change to reflect the alterations. For this
reason, getting and checking you credit report is one of the first
things you should do when you attempt to repair your credit
score. There are a few tips that can help you deal with your
credit report so that you can give your credit score a boost:
Tip #19: Dispute errors on your credit report
Contact each of the three major credit bureaus - TransUnion,
Equifax, and Experian - and get copies of your credit reports and
credit scores. Carefully read over the reports and note any
errors. In writing, contact the credit bureaus and ask that
mistakes be removed or investigated.
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
This is called a dispute letter and once it is received, credit
bureaus have to investigate your dispute within thirty days of
receiving your letter. It is important to keep a copy of your
letter and it is important to note the date the letter was sent.
You should not be accusatory or abusive in your letter - calmly
and clearly state the problem and request an investigation.
Note that you are aware the agency is required to investigate the
claim within thirty days and note that you will follow up. Be
sure that you do follow up with the issues you raised in your
letter - just because the agency investigates does not always
mean that your credit report will end up error-free.
Many credit bureaus now make it possible for you to correct
errors on your credit report online - and many have information
on their web sites that tells you exactly how disputes must be
handled to be effectively removed. It is important that you
follow this information exactly so that the inaccuracies on your
credit report are removed promptly and your credit score is
updated as soon as possible.
Tip #20: Add a note to your credit report if there is a
problem you can’t resolve
Sometimes, there are legitimate reasons why you didn’t pay a
bill. If a contractor refused to finish a job or did a poor job,
then you may have refused payment, but the non-payment may
still count against you on your credit report. If there are any
unusual circumstances surrounding your credit report that may
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
affect your credit rating - such as a case of identity theft - you
can ask that a note be attached to your credit report to explain
the problem.
Some lenders will pay attention to this and some will not, but it
is a better solution than nothing at all. Such a note will not
affect your credit score but will affect your credit report. More
importantly, it leaves a paper trail of the problem that lenders
can look at if they choose.
Tip #21: Make sure you know who is looking at your credit
report and why
Many inquiries look bad on your credit report, but more than
that you likely want to know who can see your personal
financial information, now that you know that your personal
information is stored in a credit report. If you sign a document
with a lender or apply for credit online, you can be sure that
someone is looking at your credit report.
However, you may want to look over other documents in order
to see who is taking a peek. Insurance agents will often look at
your credit report, for example. Some landlords and potential
employers will, too. You need to be careful about online
sources, too. In general, when you provide someone with your
social insurance number, you may be giving permission to look
at your credit report. You shouldn’t bar people from looking,
but knowing who is looking is good financial practice.
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
Tip #22: Know the difference between soft and hard
inquiries
When you pull your credit report to look at it, it is counted as a
“soft inquiry.” Only “hard inquiries” from lenders will affect
your credit score dramatically. Although checking your credit
score too often is an expensive habit, you should not avoid
checking your credit report because you fear it will make your
credit rating worse.
Tip #23: Contact creditors as well as credit bureaus when
correcting inaccuracies in your credit report
When debtors find mistakes on their credit report, they often
only contact the credit bureaus. While this is the most effective
way to resolve the issue, you should in some cases contact the
creditors whose account has caused a ding on your credit report.
This can help future dings and resolve problems faster.
Consider an example: Let’s say that you were late sending a credit card payment two months ago because you were sick. The late payment is listed as a ding on your credit report even though you have paid it already. You should contact the credit bureau in order to get the error removed.
However, if you notice that the same credit card company has
you listed as having late payments three months when you paid
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
on time, then it is time to contact the credit company and ask
how to resolve the problem.
The information reported about you to credit bureaus should be
accurate - if it is not, then the credit company should work to
make sure that they correct the problem so that it does not
happen again. You have an advantage in this - the credit
company, unlike the credit bureau, depends on your business for
their money.
This means that the credit company (or any other bill company
presenting inaccurate information about you) is well motivated
to correct the problem or risk losing you as a client.
If you find that a company consistently reports inaccurate
information about you to credit bureaus, consider making a
formal complaint to the company about it or switch companies.
There is no reason why one company’s poor organization should
cost you your good credit score.
Tip #24: Look out where you get your credit report - and
what it contains
You can get your credit score from any number of resources.
One place you can get it from is from credit bureaus themselves.
You can pay for the service, but you qualify for one free credit
report a year or qualify for a free credit report if you have
recently been turned down for credit or if you think you may
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
have been the victim of identity theft.
If you can, get a copy of your free credit report from each of the
three major credit bureaus. If you can’t get a free credit report,
you should still try to get one, even if costs a few dollars. The
savings you will enjoy on your loan rates when you improve
your credit score will more than pay for the cost of the reports.
There are a number of online companies that offer free online
credit reports. These offers are very attractive because you get
an online report without having to wait for a report to be sent to
you, and you often can get several reports from the different
credit bureaus at once, which can save you time.
However, these online companies vary widely, so you will want
to compare a few different firms before choosing one. You will
also need to read the online company’s agreement very carefully
- some promise free credit reports only with the purchase of a
credit repair program or some other kit. In some cases, you can
decline the offer and still get the report but in other cases you
cannot.
Buyer beware.
Also, some companies will offer you free credit reports that are
really a combination of reports from the three major credit
bureaus. This is not useful, since you will want to compare
each of the three credit bureau reports and fix each credit score
separately. You will want to look out for online companies that
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
offer credit reports that are very condensed and you will want to
avoid companies that will spam you (send you unsolicited
emails) trying to get you to subscribe to some service. Always
read carefully to see whether the free credit report offer is
legitimate.
That said, there are a number of online companies that offer
credit reports and credit scores at no charge and these can be a
useful way for you to start your credit repair, especially if you
are comfortable around computers.
If you don’t qualify for a free credit report from the credit
bureaus, a legitimate online company may be your best bet of
getting your credit information so that you can start repairing
your credit risk rating.
You do qualify for one free credit report per year. You can get
this credit report through email at www.annualcreditreport.com
or by calling 877_322_8228.
You can also ask for your free credit report by mail by sending a
letter to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box
105281, Atlanta, GA 30348_5281 or by filling out the form
available at the Federal Trade Commission's Web site at:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/docs/fact_act_req
uest_form.pdf.
No matter where you get your credit score and credit report,
make sure that you get the most complete information package
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
you can. Credit reports are not very exciting or even easy to
read. If you are ordering your report online, look for one that
includes graphs or lots of details that are easy to understand.
Make sure that you get both your credit report and your credit
score - even if you have to pay extra. If you get just your
report, you will not be able to follow the secret and complicated
math formulas used to arrive at your score and the report itself
will not make as much financial sense to you if you don’t have
your score in front of you, as well.
When you do get your credit report you will notice that it
contains lots if information about you, including:
1) Your personal and contact information. This will include
your name and your address, as well as your past several
addresses, your social insurance number, your employers (past
and present) and your birth date.
2) Your personal information about credit. A credit report
notes all the details of your loans, including the types of loans
you have now and have recently had, the dates these loans were
opened, the credit limit on each loan, how well you have been
repaying those loans (this is important - skipped or late
payments count heavily against you in your credit score), and
who your lenders are.
3) Information about you that is on the public record. This may
include bankruptcies, unpaid taxes, unpaid child support, tax
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
liens, your dealings with collection agencies, foreclosures, loan
defaults, civil lawsuits that you have been involved in, and other
information. Much of this will stay on your credit report and
will seriously affect your credit score.
4) Information about who has looked at your credit report and
credit score. Every time that someone looks at your credit
score it is called an “inquiry.” Your credit report lists who has
looked at your credit report in the past two years and how often
you have applied for loans and credit in that period of time.
Too many inquiries tends to look bad and tends to affect your
credit score.
When you get your credit report, it is important that you look at
all parts of your credit report and understand what you are
reading. Mistakes in any area of your credit report can affect
your score, so be sure to check the entire report for inaccuracies
and errors.
Dealing With a Credit Score after a Big Problem
Big, bad problems can happen to you - bankruptcies, divorces,
law suits, non-payment of taxes. These are big problems that
can affect your credit score in as big way. If you have faced a
large problem that has ruined your credit, you need to take
action fast and work consistently to boost your FICO score:
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
Tip #25: If you have bad credit, establish better credit by
taking out credit and repaying it quickly
If you have terrible credit following a bankruptcy or other major
financial upheaval, you may need to get back into a good credit
rating by taking out a loan you can handle. Make an
appointment to see your bank or bad credit lender a few months
or years after the problem in question and arrange for a small
loan.
You should have enough savings to pay for the loan before you
do this. Pay back the loan quickly. It will not hugely boost
your credit score but it will show lenders that you are having an
easier time paying your bills. Taking out a small loan you can
repay is part of the slow process of reestablishing good credit
following a big financial problem.
Tip #26: Try secured credit if you cannot qualify for other
types of credit
Secured credit is credit or a loan which uses something as
collateral. In some cases, this could be an asset like a house.
In some cases, this collateral could be money frozen in an
account by the bank for just such a purchase.
If you need credit following a big problem with your credit
score, secured credit may be something you can qualify for. You
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
can use this secured credit to reestablish a good credit rating so
that you will qualify for other loans in the future. You may
have to pay slightly higher interest if your credit score is quite
low, but in the long term repaying this type of loan can improve
your credit score.
Tip #27: Give it time
Many people believe that simply paying off debts will improve
their credit score at once. This is not true, unfortunately. If
you have experienced a bankruptcy, have been reported to a
collection agency, or have had charge-offs, the record will
remain on your credit report - even after you have repaid your
debts and resolved the problem.
In fact, major problems such as a bankruptcy will remain on
your credit report for seven or ten years, affecting your credit
score. Even if your credit problems stem from simply not
paying bills on time, it will take some time for the mark to fade
from your credit report and for your credit score to reflect your
better repayment.
Paying off your debts and resolving problems will help your
credit score (since overdue accounts will be marked as “paid” on
your credit report), but only time will remove the mark of the
problems from your record entirely.
This means that if you have faced a major setback such as a
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
bankruptcy, you may have to wait in order to get the best
interest rates on larger purchases. The good news is that the
further away you are from a major financial problem, the less
dire it appears.
For example, if you have declared bankruptcy, you can expect it
to have a huge impact on your credit score for the first two
years, during which time you will have a hard time getting any
credit at all.
However, after two or three years, if you have been paying your
bills on time, then the bankruptcy from two years ago will
matter less because you have been rebuilding your credit. Your
credit will still suffer - but you will slowly be starting to work
your way out of the credit problem. Persistence and good
financial habits will get you there.
This means that if you plan on making a major purchase (such as
a house of car) that may require a loan, you should start working
on improving your credit well in advance - even years in
advance - of your actual purchase. This is because you simply
will not have enough time to radically alter your credit score in
time if you wait too long.
Even if your credit score is already fairly good, you may need to
give yourself several months of time to boost your credit rating
enough to get the best loan rates.
Click Here to Discover the Secret to Buying
Commercial Real Estate With No Cash or Credit
Tip #28: Contact your banks and ask credit limits to be
reduced.
If your credit risk rating is poor, and especially if it has taken a
beating lately due to non-payments or other problems, you can
ask that your bank reduce the credit limits on your credit cards,
credit lines, and other debts. You should do this if:
1) You can pay off at least 50% of your debt loads as they are
readjusted. For example, if you have a credit limit of $5000 on
your credit card and get it reduced to $2500, you should make
sure that you can leave a balance of $1250 or less. If you owe
$4000 and have no way of repaying it, getting your credit limit
reduced can actually hurt you. On the other hand, if you need
to get a larger loan and can pay off your credit card in full and
reduce your limit to $2500, you may be able to improve your
credit score in this way.
2) You have lots of credit. If you have several types of debts and
credit accounts - lines of credit, credit cards, store charge cards,
a mortgage, a car loan, and a personal line of credit - you may be
close to overextending your credit, especially if each of these
accounts is fairly large. You can’t always close down your