Steps to Rebuilding Damaged Credit
Keeping one’s credit rating on the right track in these trying economic times has proven to be difficult for many of us. You may know someone who has experienced pay cuts, job losses, and other fiscal dilemmas that capsized their monetary well-being. But regardless of your current financial situation, there is always hope for your credit rating.
1. Get to Know Your Credit Profile
The first step in rebuilding bad credit is to determine if you actually have bad credit to begin with. Believe it or not, many go through life assuming they have bad credit due to some past struggles, when in fact their credit rating is pretty good or even excellent. How
do you know the difference?
We will review your current credit bureau with you and advise you on your next step plan that is individualized to you and your credit. If your credit score falls below 600, most lenders would view you as having bad credit. If your credit score is above 740, you
generally have great credit. Anywhere in between, and you have what’s deemed as fair to good credit. Now that we know where you stand, let’s take a look at how to improve your credit…regardless if you are under a 600 or 700 you have room for improvement
and with the higher scores get better terms and rates.
3. Don’t Close Accounts
Your goal is to show creditors that you can use credit responsibly — in other words, that you can use your credit lines and make payments to them on a regular basis. How are you supposed to accomplish this without any open accounts? By keeping your existing
accounts open, it will allow you the opportunity to use and pay on them regularly, and over time this could help boost your credit score and your standings with lenders and creditors. We may even suggest ways to open secured credit accounts to help you
build your credit. No past credit we can show you ways we can build your credit with alternative credit trade lines…such as 12 month pay history on your utilities and cell phone accounts, even your auto insurance company can be a great alternative source.
Keep copies of the front and back of your cancelled rent checks…these are golden!
4. Always Pay on Time
This seems like an obvious step, but it always has to be driven home: your credit rating is mainly a reflection of your ability to pay on time. Even if you pay on time for several months in a row, then forget the next month, as a whole you have not succeeded in paying on time, and this will be reflected in your credit rating. Therefore, it’s important to remember not to just pay on time, but to “always” pay on time if your goal is to rebuild your credit. Over time, your good behavior will be rewarded with a better credit rating and
more financial peace of mind.
Having a credit score less than what it could be can hinder your financing options and make your existing options less favorable. If this situation sounds familiar, a call to The Mortgage Network at (513) 346 4070 may be best for you. We can determine if you need to engage a full service credit repair company or if we can resolve the matter right here for you. .These companies provide a fast, easy service designed to improve your rating and remove questionable negative items from your credit history. Any company that we would recommend has years of experience and expertise in repairing credit and is ready to help if needed.
Overcoming bad credit can be a difficult task to undertake by yourself, with so many credit bureaus to deal with and details on your credit reports to sort through. That’s where a proven help like ours should always be your first step.