Credit Repair: How You Can Help Yourself
Maybe you’ve faced some difficult times. Maybe you were, admittedly, a tad bit irresponsible at some point. Whatever the case, you’re credit score doesn’t shine, and you’re probably finding yourself jumping over hurdles to obtain any kind of credit or loan. Once obtained, you are finding yourself paying higher rates, or maybe you’re hearing “No way!” far more often than you’d like to.
The good news is there are things you can do to improve your credit situation. You have to know what you’re looking at as far as your credit score and debt, be ready and willing to face your credit score and work to improve it, and you must be committed to seeing the process through, as well as maintaining your credits score after improvement.
Hiring a Professional
Hiring a professional to help you to repair your credit is an individual choice. While it is not absolutely necessary – you can repair your credit on your own – it might e a wise idea for those who are not financially savvy or for those who fear treading the muddy water of credit repair alone. A credit repair specialist can advise you and help you to repair improve your credit score; they can even negotiate your payments for you, often saving you money off the original balance. However, the service does not come without a cost, so if you are willing to pay for help and feel you need it, there’s nothing wrong with doing so.
However, should you want to just take care of credit repair on your own, here’s some smart DIY tips to help you pay off your debt and improve your score. Even if you want to forgo the professional credit repair agent, you might still want to consider the invaluable services of a consumer credit counselor. They can help you to better understand your credit, finances and how to create a budget and stick to it.
Keep up with your credit report and score
You are entitled to one free report from each of the three credit bureaus every year. Take advantage of this and stay on top of things. Knowing your score and what’s in your report will help you tom pay down your debt and substantially improve your credit. Review the reports, highlight important things and dispute discrepancies. You want your report to be accurate and only you can ensure that it is.
Tackle those debts!
Find out what it is that you owe and who it is owed to. Bring accounts that are past due, but not yet charged off, up-to-date. Pay off those charge offs and work with debt collectors and creditors to make payment plans and pay off what you owe. Remember not to let your accounts in good standing wind up on the back burner while you take care of past due debts. It is not an overnight process. Take things one step, one payment at a time. Pay your current bills as usual and work to make payments you can afford on the rest.
Maxed out? Pay the limit back down
If you are maxed out on your credit cards, it is going to cost you in points on your credit score. Work to pay your cards down below the credit limit and then to pay them off completely. This will substantially improve you score. Remember, your total debt vs. your total available credit makes up 30% of your credit score.
Build that credit up
Once things are paid off, work hard to build your credit back up. Credit cards and loans that are being paid and reported on time are great ways to do this. Another way is to try and open a new credit card account and keep it below the max and paid on time. Only make one or two applications, so as not to impact your credit score with tons of credit inquiries. If your past credit negatively impacts your chances of getting approved for a regular credit card, try going for a store card of some kind. You could also try a secured credit card, which has a slim denial rate, since you pay a deposit for the card.
Follow these steps, and i due time, you will notice a major improvement to your credit score. Maintain it and you will open plenty of doors in the future that you never imagined possible before your credit was repaired.
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