Your credit report is one of the most important pieces of information there is about you. Lenders use your credit report in combination with your credit score to decide whether or not they want to give you a loan for a house, car or other large purchase. Insurance companies can even use your credit report to determine your rates and employers can use the information it contains to make hiring and promotion decisions. With so much weighing on the information it contains, it is important that your credit report shows you in the best light.
Pay your bills on time
Even if your past record of paying bills on time isn’t favorable, if you start paying your bills on time and continue to do it month after month, that faithfulness will be reflected on your credit report. If you can pay down balances and show that you are getting your debt under control that will balance out bad marks on your credit that aren’t so recent.
Cancel excess credit card accounts
Creditors don’t just look at the amount of debt you currently have when considering you for credit. They also look at the propensity for debt in your future. For example if the credit limit on all of your existing credit cards totals $100,000 then you have the potential to go $100,000 into debt, possibly making it hard for you to make your house or car payment. Trim down the amount of open accounts that are in your name. If you have tons of department store cards in your wallet, that you never use, close them and report that you closed them to all three credit bureaus. Instead of having a separate gas credit card, use one general use card for your fuel purchases. Don’t open new department store accounts just to save on your first day of shopping. The 10% you save on a $50 purchase can cost you much more in higher interest rates on a home loan down the road.
Remove inaccuracies from your credit report
While you can’t legally remove true and accurate information from your credit report, if there are inaccuracies reported, those can be fixed. For example if there is an account on your credit report that you didn’t open or a closed account being reported as open, you can have this changes. Simply acquire the documentation that proves there is a mistake on your credit report and submit it along with a request in writing to fix your report to the credit bureau that has published the in accuracy. |
