As consumers continue to extend themselves by using more and more credit, their ability to repay their debts and loans is becoming harder and harder. As a result, the median credit score is taking a plunge and lenders are faced with turning away more business. Those who are seeking to get approved for a loan are left facing the facts of their repayment history and money management skills.
Before applying for the loan you need, there are a few steps every consumer should take before allowing lenders to take a look at your financial resume. The first thing you want to do is order a copy of your free annual credit report to review it for errors. Studies show that 75% of credit reports contain erroneous information, and 1 in 4 actually impact consumers in a negative way. You deserve fair representation, and the credit bureaus are required by the Fair Credit Act to review and respond to any disputes on your credit report within 30 days.
Once you have accessed your free annual credit report, it is time to work on your raise credit score strategy. This is a two part process: dispute credit report errors and find inefficiencies in your credit behavior. Here's what to do with your report:
1. Take out a pen and a highlighter
2. Circle any errors that are on your report including and make a notation as to why the item is incorrect: accounts that you have open but are marked closed, late payments that didn't occur, the wrong Social Security number.
3. Now take a look at your credit report and highlight any "problem areas" that are legitimate claims and may be hurting your credit score.
Now that you know why your credit score is what it is, it's time to take actionable raise credit score steps that will have the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time. Start with taking a look at your available credit to debt ratio and make sure it is below 30%. This is the fastest way to make an improvement in your credit rating, and can be done just by picking up the phone and requesting a credit limit increase (of course there are some tricks on how to make that happen every time). Continue to find other credit behavior issues that you can change to immediately increase your credit score.
From there you want to start the dispute process. Since this can take up to 30 days, you want to get started on this early. If you need to raise your credit score quickly, your best bet is to pick 2 or 3 items that are hurting your reputation as a borrower the most. This will get the reporting agency to work fast for you. Plus, if you submit everything at once, the reporting agency is less likely to take you seriously.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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By: mwiley1980 | 28-03-2008
How do you raise your credit score ?
What are the best ways to remove a 5 year old ...foreclosure?
By: motivated | 01-02-2008
what are the best ways to remove a 5 year old foreclosure of my credit report? Please be detailed, my email is kingswillrise@yahoo.com.
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How do I find out my FICO score? Also, how can I raise my FICO score and get better credit?
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