How to improve your credit report.
First.. Make sure you make your payments on time. This is crucial, you can’t have good credit if you don’t make your payments on time.
Second.. Get a copy of your credit report. You might have to pay a little money out of pocket, but it will be worth it. Make sure your credit report contains all three bureaus. You should show Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian on your credit report. Take a look at all of the things that are reported to all of the different agencies. Not all creditors will report to all 3 bureaus. If you find inaccurate reporting make a list of what companies have reported the inaccurate information.
Third.. If everything is accurate, look at your balances versus your limits. For example: If you have a credit card limit of $2000 and you owe $1900 on the card. These types of ratios are not good and they pull your scores down. Typically they want to see you with a balance under 50% of your limit. Example: $2000 limit with a $900 Balance.
Fourth.. If inaccurate reporting occurs, take your list of creditors and dispute them directly with the credit bureaus. The creditors will have to be disputed to the bureau that they reported to. See what bureau the creditor reported the information to and dispute the information with that bureau. Once disputed the creditor has 30 day to prove the information the reported is correct. If they can not prove it is correct or don’t respond, then the information is removed from your bureau.
Fifth.. Keep in mind that every time you apply for a credit card, loan, or mortgage your scores can go down. Especially with credit cards. They make it so easy to apply, 3 or 4 application later your score has fallen dramatically.
Sixth.. If you are wanting to close out some credit accounts please remember that you should keep your oldest accounts. The bureaus like to see well established accounts with a good payment history. Also if you are planning on closing 5 or 6 accounts at one time, that can hurt your score as well. Try just closing one a month for six months. It shouldn’t hurt your score as bad.
Seventh.. Bureaus put you in categories with like credit people and rate you with them. So if you have had a Bankruptcy or Foreclosure then your scores will be based off of people that have been in those same credit situations.
Those are 7 basic things you can do and use to get your credit scores up and keep them there. If you have ever filed bankruptcy, don’t rely on the creditors to report that there collection was included in the BK. Doing the listed things above is a must.