Credit Health: How To Improve My Credit Score Fast

By Joshua B. White


If you have poor credit and want to do something about it, it's usually just a simple matter of following a specific step-by-step procedure that will ensure a relatively quick and hassle-free improvement in your credit score (also known as your FICO score). But it is important to have a plan in place and not just get your current credit report and start making phone calls to the companies that have reported derogatory entries on your report. Here's a simple checklist for how to improve credit score:

You can Order a free copy of your report from all three reporting agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. The Federal Trade Commission mandates that each person is entitled to one free credit report each year. If you have been turned down for a loan or a job based on the information listed in your credit report, you can request a free report after each incidence.

Avoid companies that make promises of improving your credit score for a fee. There is nothing that these companies can do that you can't do yourself as long as you have the proper knowledge. This knowledge is easily obtained by using a guidebook such as the "Credit Secrets Bible" guidebook mentioned above. The vast majority of companies that claim they will improve your credit score by a certain amount basically are preying on individuals who either don't want to invest the time and effort to improve their score or think they have no choice because the system is overly complicated and they would never be able to understand it and navigate through it. Both of these are erroneous assumptions.

Reduce your outstanding debt. This doesn't mean to move the debt to lower interest credit cards; it means to reduce, or payoff, existing revolving credit accounts.Reactivate an old card to enhance your card history. Credit history, or how long you have been using credit accounts, plays a role in the overall credit score. If you have an old, open account with no activity, chances are that the creditor is not reporting any information to the credit bureaus. The longer you have been using credit responsibly, the more worthy you will seem.

The above four simple steps should keep your credit score stable and allow you to take advantage of more attractive interest rates, or even get loans that others can't get, because of their low scores. So remember, this is not difficult process. It just takes time and action. But remember, will pay off big dividends with your ability to borrow money attractive interest rates in the future.In today's times, when the economy is suffering as it is, you will scarcely find a person who is not in debt. Yes, that's right. With the recession just not going away completely, more and more people are finding themselves in debt. Debt loads and an inability to repay debt results inevitably in bad credit.

If you are looking to improve your credit one of the first things you need to do is get a copy of your personal credit report from all the major credit reporting agencies. You are entitled to a free copy of your report from any agency who gathers and reports such information. Once you have a copy of this credit report you can check to see if any of the accounts are reporting late payments erroneously. If you feel that there are any errors at all on your credit report you can dispute them with the credit bureau that reports it. Keep in mind that you will need proof of any differences so be prepared to show documented proof of payments made. this usually means a signed document or printed report of on time status with the account.

Dispute Errors - Learn the details about how to dispute any errors found in your credit report. make sure you take the time to find out what you need to do to dispute these errors so you can take the action needed. See the bottom of this article for more details about how to dispute erroneous items on your credit report.

Review: Once you have got hold of the reports, it is time to review them. Make sure you study and review each and every aspect of the report and not miss anything. Often it is seen that credit report contains inaccurate information which negatively affects a person's credit score. Find out if your report has any such items and list them. Also write down what the items are which are negatively impacting your credit score so you will know exactly what to fix.

Dispute: This is the step when you dispute the inaccurate information your credit report has. Find out all the inaccurate items a particular report contains and contact the agency which has given it out. Inform them of the inaccuracies and demand that the items be removed from your report. It may take sometime for the credit agencies to contact you but they will no matter what. Make sure that such inaccurate items are removed from the next set of reports the credit agencies bring out. This is a very important step of correcting bad credit.

Set Payment Reminders - Many banking institutions will have a system that will allow you to create payment reminders that can be sent to you via phone, text or email to help remind you to make your payments when they are due. Take advantage of this and remember the personal discipline part of your new life as well. Make sure you make all payments on time and this often means you make them early. This will help you restructure your life to see great changes.




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