Having bad credit is an extremely annoying issue to deal with. It can cause you to miss some great opportunities and take away some financial options. You can, however, fix your credit problems and have a brighter future.
When attempting to make your credit right once more, it is imperative that you present a solution to all those that you owe money to, and don’t deviate from anything you commit to once it is in place. You must make a commitment to making changes on how you spend money. Only purchase something if you cannot live without it. Consider if a purchase is both essential and affordable, and only purchase it if you can answer “yes” on both counts.
Credit Card
If you find that you have a credit card and the interest rate has gotten to high, you do have the option to not pay the debt, though there will be consequences. There are legal limits set in place to control the amount of interest a creditor is allowed to charge you, plus your original debt is all the credit card company paid when you made the purchase. On the other hand, you’re likely bound by a contractual agreement to pay any interest charged by lenders. It is possible that you can sue a creditor and claim that the interest rate charged is unreasonably high.
Repairing your credit is actually pretty simple. The first step is to focus on paying your late bills. However, it’s not enough to just pay your bills; you need to make your payments on time and in full. Your credit rating will quickly rise as you settle up your overdue bills.
You can work with the credit card companies to start repairing your credit. Doing so will help you to ensure that you do not go further into debt and make your credit worse. You can even ask for help, such as pushing back the due date of your monthly payments or reducing the interest rate.
Make sure you thoroughly research into any credit score improvement agency or counselor before you do business with them. Some counselors truly want to help you, while others are untrustworthy and have other motives. Other options are clearly scams. A wise consumer will find out if the credit counselors they deal with are legitimate or not.
Though it is an unsettling prospect, consider asking your credit card provider to reduce the amount of credit extended to you. Not only will this prevent you from owing more, but it will be reflected in your credit score because it shows that you are responsible with your credit.
Shut off all but one credit card if you want to fix your credit. Transfer your balances to this one card, with the lowest interest, if this is possible. By doing this you can make your bills more manageable. Instead of a mailbox full of credit card bills, you will only have one.
Be certain to get any credit repayment plan in writing. You want documentation to back yourself up so there will be no problems in the future, and if the company owner changes you will have more of a chance of keeping your plan. Once the debt is fully paid, you need to get a statement verifying this from the creditor and send it to each of the major credit bureaus.
Avoid bankruptcy at all costs. Doing so will reflect upon your credit score and report for 10 years. While ridding yourself of most debt may seem ideal, it is not without consequences. Once bankruptcy has been filed, it could permanently halt your chances of ever obtaining credit again in the future.
This helps you retain a proper credit status. Every time you make a late payment, it is logged in your credit report which can hinder your ability to take out a loan.
To earn a higher credit score, keep revolving account balances low. Maintaining smaller balances can improve your credit rating. The FICO system notates when a balance on a card is at 20,40,60,80, and 100 percent of the total available credit.
Credit card usage should be eliminated. Instead use cash for all your purchases. If the purchase you’re buying is more than you can currently afford you can use a credit card, but pay it back as soon as possible.
An instant solution to your problems is usually too good to be true, especially when that solution is some kind of “magic” debt relief being offered by a lawyer. Because so many people these days suffer from credit problems, attorneys and scam artists have come up with ways to charge a high price for repair schemes that can be illegal and useless. Do your homework and check out any attorney before you hire one to help with credit score repair.
Easy tips, like the ones in this article, will help you repair your credit and keep it healthy in the future. The time you take to learn how to repair your credit is worth the trouble it saves you.