Credit 101
they feel you are taking on new debt and they are not sure you are going to handle it. So be sure to get an inquiry just for you. You can get scores just for your use buy going to the credit bureaus websites.
www.transunion.com
www.equifax.com
www.creditexpert.com (experian)
For about $80 a year, Equifax and Experian have credit monitors you can sign up for. These allow you to check your credit as often as once a day. This is very important in being able to see problems quickly and also to chart your progress in your efforts to improve your score. With Trans Union, you have to buy the report individually for about $10. I do this far less often because of the cost.
So now you have your score – now what? The first thing to do with good or bad credit is to look for past due bills, collections, judgments, etc. Almost any loan you get is going to want to see that you are not behind on anything!!!
Things you can do to improve your score….
PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME!!! This sounds basic, but I see it all the time. Just this week a client of mine could not understand why the bank would not give him a loan for a house, and he defaulted on a $200 credit card last month!!! So just pay your bills.
DON’T APPLY FOR CREDIT. As I mentioned above, Inquiries show you are taking on debt and they are not sure how you will handle it so your score will fall. Credit Inquiries remain on your credit for 2 years.
CHECK FOR MISTAKES. Many people have mistakes on their credit report. It could be something you paid off and is still showing. It could be showing late and be a computer error. Could be anything. One I see a lot is with Fathers and JR. – These can get really ugly. If you subscribed to the membership with Equifax and Experian, you can simply go into your account and file a dispute right there. The agencies then have 30 days to verify or delete the item.
DISPUTE CORRECT ITEMS. What?? Dispute correct items? Yes. After you dispute the incorrect items, start with the correct ones. This does not always help, but sometimes it does. These are large companies and some of them keep bad records, or do not respond in the required 30 days. Just this week I had a 30 day late on a mortgage removed (I know pay your bills on time) I protested it, and then it was gone. IMPORTANT: when you dispute these items, do it after the incorrect items and do it a couple at a time. If the credit bureau feels your disputes are frivolous, they can throw them all out and not investigate any.
SETTLE ITEMS. Any item you still have on your report that shows a past due balance needs to now be brought current. If you have large collection items, settle them for less. Many times the company will accept 50% or less of what you owe.
TALK TO THE COMPANIES. Last thing you can do is talk to the companies. Collections remain on your credit for 7 years and judgments and bankruptcies remain for 10 years. If you can get these items removed, it certainly helps. Many times you can find a nice person at the office that can help you. It never hurts to ask. Back when I was in college, I had a judgment against me from the gas company. So last summer, I started emailing every address I could find on their web site. I said I was young and stupid and I learned my lesson. I then found a lady to help and a week later the judgment was off of my credit.
CREDIT BALANCES. Another funny thing your score looks at is how much of your available credit you are using. It figures if you have a $5000 credit card and you owe $5000 that money must be tight and you need everything you can get. But if you only owe $2000, you show restraint and don’t need to grab up that available money. So on credit cards, try to stay at less than half of the available balance.
CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING – This is a tough one. If you have a lot of bills, these can be good. However, words of caution, lenders view this as a bankruptcy. The problem is that many times you get a payment plan for like 5 years. Four years into the plan, the bank still feels you are in bankruptcy. If you filed for bankruptcy in the first place the bank sees you as four years out of bankruptcy. I am not a bankruptcy lawyer, but I often find people who have been trying to do the right thing and pay their bills, and the bank will simply not give them money. This is a very tough situation. If at all possible, talk to your creditors yourself, and try to get caught up and avoid bankruptcy as well as credit counseling at all costs.
PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME!!! This one was so important I though I would mention it again for those who may have missed it. According to Equifax, the average consumer was last late 19 months ago. If you want a tough to get loan, you definitely need to shoot for better then average credit.
These items should give you a good start on improving your score. I have had several clients that could not qualify for any loan, then 3 months later they received a conforming 7%. There is no secret; there are no expensive programs to fix it. Hard work is the answer.
www.transunion.com
www.equifax.com
www.creditexpert.com (experian)
For about $80 a year, Equifax and Experian have credit monitors you can sign up for. These allow you to check your credit as often as once a day. This is very important in being able to see problems quickly and also to chart your progress in your efforts to improve your score. With Trans Union, you have to buy the report individually for about $10. I do this far less often because of the cost.
So now you have your score – now what? The first thing to do with good or bad credit is to look for past due bills, collections, judgments, etc. Almost any loan you get is going to want to see that you are not behind on anything!!!
Things you can do to improve your score….
PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME!!! This sounds basic, but I see it all the time. Just this week a client of mine could not understand why the bank would not give him a loan for a house, and he defaulted on a $200 credit card last month!!! So just pay your bills.
DON’T APPLY FOR CREDIT. As I mentioned above, Inquiries show you are taking on debt and they are not sure how you will handle it so your score will fall. Credit Inquiries remain on your credit for 2 years.
CHECK FOR MISTAKES. Many people have mistakes on their credit report. It could be something you paid off and is still showing. It could be showing late and be a computer error. Could be anything. One I see a lot is with Fathers and JR. – These can get really ugly. If you subscribed to the membership with Equifax and Experian, you can simply go into your account and file a dispute right there. The agencies then have 30 days to verify or delete the item.
DISPUTE CORRECT ITEMS. What?? Dispute correct items? Yes. After you dispute the incorrect items, start with the correct ones. This does not always help, but sometimes it does. These are large companies and some of them keep bad records, or do not respond in the required 30 days. Just this week I had a 30 day late on a mortgage removed (I know pay your bills on time) I protested it, and then it was gone. IMPORTANT: when you dispute these items, do it after the incorrect items and do it a couple at a time. If the credit bureau feels your disputes are frivolous, they can throw them all out and not investigate any.
SETTLE ITEMS. Any item you still have on your report that shows a past due balance needs to now be brought current. If you have large collection items, settle them for less. Many times the company will accept 50% or less of what you owe.
TALK TO THE COMPANIES. Last thing you can do is talk to the companies. Collections remain on your credit for 7 years and judgments and bankruptcies remain for 10 years. If you can get these items removed, it certainly helps. Many times you can find a nice person at the office that can help you. It never hurts to ask. Back when I was in college, I had a judgment against me from the gas company. So last summer, I started emailing every address I could find on their web site. I said I was young and stupid and I learned my lesson. I then found a lady to help and a week later the judgment was off of my credit.
CREDIT BALANCES. Another funny thing your score looks at is how much of your available credit you are using. It figures if you have a $5000 credit card and you owe $5000 that money must be tight and you need everything you can get. But if you only owe $2000, you show restraint and don’t need to grab up that available money. So on credit cards, try to stay at less than half of the available balance.
CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING – This is a tough one. If you have a lot of bills, these can be good. However, words of caution, lenders view this as a bankruptcy. The problem is that many times you get a payment plan for like 5 years. Four years into the plan, the bank still feels you are in bankruptcy. If you filed for bankruptcy in the first place the bank sees you as four years out of bankruptcy. I am not a bankruptcy lawyer, but I often find people who have been trying to do the right thing and pay their bills, and the bank will simply not give them money. This is a very tough situation. If at all possible, talk to your creditors yourself, and try to get caught up and avoid bankruptcy as well as credit counseling at all costs.
PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME!!! This one was so important I though I would mention it again for those who may have missed it. According to Equifax, the average consumer was last late 19 months ago. If you want a tough to get loan, you definitely need to shoot for better then average credit.
These items should give you a good start on improving your score. I have had several clients that could not qualify for any loan, then 3 months later they received a conforming 7%. There is no secret; there are no expensive programs to fix it. Hard work is the answer.
Comments(0)
Thanks for the very informative article! I'm checking my credit today!
Good article, Drifter, thanks. That was truly a ride in Credit101. The article contained a lot of detail which is always great.
We are waiting on your next article.
The Furious One
I signed up for this site 10 minutes ago and read this article because it looked out place... this article has probably saved me from a great deal of wasted and frustating times. Thank you.
I just wanted to add to my article... I recent weeks I made a couple other good things for a quick boost...
1. I disputed about ten inquires with experian, and they just removed them- quick 5 point boost.
2. With equifax, I disputed everything negative the day before I needed to pull credit, I got an 85 point boost. I am assuming this is just temperary... they are still in dispute, so I do not know the outcome... But I got my credit report for my loan!
Great article, very informative. Forces you to take a reality check so far as your credit is concerned and offers solutions. Just what many Newbies need.
Drifter, enjoyed the article! Another approach to solving credit dealings is www.myfico.com. I pulled their report for $12.95 and got a 12 page printout that discussed my good and bad credit positioins and then told me how to make my report better!! Such a Deal! Anyway, you are right, there are no expensive programs only knowing what to do and paying your bills on time!!
good point allon,
I fogot to mention that with the two memberships that I have you also get detailed reports, score analysis, score simulators, on line disputing, etc. The big agvantage of these over MyFico.com is I can pull my report up to every 24 hours.
I downloaded several reports offline, equifax.com, experian 3 bureau report, mycreditreport.com, etc. Each showed different FICO scores. They were somewhat inconsistent. In addition, when I applied for a mortgage, the scores were different (markably lower). However the FICO scores between mortgage companies and the various reporting companies they use, ie. "Chase, INFO, etc." were consistent.
I believe if you want to see worst case scenario for your credit scores, let a mortgage company check your credit and ask for a copy.