FreeCreditScore.com
Check Your Credit Report
If you have led a reasonably responsible financial life and still find you credit score unreasonably low, it is quite likely that false information or expired transactions have found their way into your credit report. Before 2000, customers could not view their credit reports for free and, therefore, could not dispute anything found in them. A landmark act, passed by the Congress, made credit-reporting bureaus, the companies that generate these reports, legally obliged to give anyone who asks a free copy of their credit report. This means that you can get your annual free credit report once per year. Go to one of websites of the big three credit-reporting bureaus in the United States: Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. Request a free credit report. Download it and got through every item to see that the information in it is accurate and fair. If you find a discrepancy, you can use the company’s online dispute tool to notify the credit-reporting bureau in question. Since your credit score is calculated directly from this information, it is essential that you spend time in checking whether or not you are being fairly represented. You can also go to annualcreditreport.com.
Keep Your Old Credit Cards
One of the first things consumers do when they realize that they have a low credit score is eliminate credit instruments like credit cards. While it is true that misuse of such things is what leads people into debt, eliminating them does no good to your credit score. You must know that there are a number of things that credit-reporting bureaus look when they rate and one of these things is the length of your credit history. For example, if you have a credit card that you have owned for decade, your credit history will be at least that long. A longer credit history translates into more reliability. You have been in the financial market for longer and, hence, are less likely to default on your payments. If you cancel that card, however, your average credit history is lessened and this reflects badly on your credit score. Be careful, therefore, to not make rash decisions and cancel cards. Just be more prudential and cease to use them.
Negotiate With Creditors
Your creditors report the information on your credit report to credit-reporting agencies. Things like late payments, for example, are individually recorded against your name. Something you can do is to ask creditors to delete this information from your record in return for a bulk repayment or on good faith. This works particularly well for smaller banks and individual lenders. It may not always be possible with a larger bank. It is, however, an option and a very effective one at that so make sure that you have given it a shot before you try anything else.
Turn Your Financial Life Around
A bad credit score is the result of poor financial behavior. The best and the most effective method of improving your credit score is to change the way you view money and credit. Start making payments on time and continue to do so for at least six months and you are guaranteed to see tangible results. Changing your financial behavior attacks the problem at the root. You will not only see your credit report clean up and your credit score rise. You will also see a marked improvement in your spending patterns and your attitude towards money. Always remember that the best solution to a problem, in this case, a poor credit score, is not always the easiest but it is, without a trace of doubt, the one that guarantees long-term results.